REAL ART EASTER BASKET

Hoppy Easter!

Of course, I don't really celebrate Easter myself, but it's probably the most important celebration of the year for faithful Christians because it commemorates the most important philosophical element of Jesus-worship, the resurrection of the Christ. And I really dislike that. For Real Art's first Easter back in 2003, I posted a little essay, "EASTER GRINCH," explaining why I don't like the holiday. The long and short of it is that good and evil, when describing people rather than their actions, are very problematic concepts for me, which means that Hell, as an ultimate punishment for evil humans, becomes equally problematic, which means that the need for salvation from eternal punishment is problematic, too. In short, Easter represents to me a philosophical attempt to squeeze a round peg, the subtleties and nuances of human existence, into a square hole, the absolutist, black and white worldview of Bible-thumpers. I have great difficulty finding any excitement in that.

But, what the hell, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em. But by "join" I mean simply to take notice, in blog form, that it's Easter. So here you go.

First, some music:

PETER COTTONTAIL
Written by Beatrix Potter

(to sing along, click here)

Here comes Peter Cottontail,
Hoppin' down the bunny trail,
Hippity, hoppity,
Easter's on its way.

Bringin' every girl and boy
Baskets full of Easter joy,
Things to make your Easter
bright and gay.
He's got jelly beans for Tommy,
Colored eggs for sister Sue,
There's an orchid for your Mommy
And an Easter bonnet, too.

Oh! here comes Peter Cottontail,
Hoppin' down the bunny trail,
Hippity hoppity,
Happy Easter day.

Here comes Peter Cottontail,
Hoppin' down the bunny trail,
Look at him stop,
and listen to him say:
"Try to do the things you should."
Maybe if you're extra good,
He'll roll lots of Easter eggs your way.

You'll wake up on Easter morning
And you'll know that he was there
When you find those choc'late bunnies
That he's hiding ev'rywhere.

Oh! here comes Peter Cottontail,
Hoppin' down the bunny trail,
Hippity hoppity,
Happy Easter day.

(Thanks to infostarbase for the lyrics and music.)

Next, a more academic approach to the concept of Jesus-worship:

Historicity of Jesus

From Wikipedia:

Some scholars, notably Martin A. Larson, believe that Jesus existed, but that Christianity is based on the soteriology of Osiris and the ethics and eschatology of other beliefs, while the Messianic concept is a uniquely Jewish addition to the development of Christianity. More recently, writer Timothy Freke and scholar of mystery religions Peter Gandy, who wrote The Jesus Mysteries, think that Jesus did not exist as a historical figure but was in fact one of the forms of Osiris-Dionysus. CNN's David Dodson, in a review of their book, however, noted that "while the authors discuss many examples of elements of Osiris/Dionysus in the Jesus story, they virtually ignore the more direct ties to Jewish tradition and prophecy. This oversight undermines the credibility of many of their arguments, and could have the tendency to mislead the novice reader in this subject". On the other hand, the Canberra Times said

"The theory is not new. For two centuries at least, scholars have been aware of the intriguing parallels between the accounts of Jesus' life and that of preceding and contemporaneous figures such as Osiris, Dionysus, and Mithras. What is new is the powerful scholarship brought to the issue by authors Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy in The Jesus Mysteries, just published in Australia. The result, which draws strongly on the Gnostic gospels discovered at Nag Hammadi in 1945, is so persuasive that it is doubtful whether theological scholarship will ever be the same."

Click here for the rest.

So where do I stand on the issue of whether Jesus actually existed? I think it's probable that there was some sort of rebel-rouser in occupied Judea who served as a template for everyone's hopes and dreams, onto which everybody eventually projected their hopes and dreams. There's a good chance that he told people to love one another, but who can be certain? At any rate, I feel pretty certain that he did not come back to life after he was executed at the behest of fundamentalist religious leaders--after all, people don't come back to life once they've died.

Ultimately, none of that really matters to me. What I like about Jesus, whether he actually existed or not, is his philosophy of brotherly love and compassion for the poor and marginalized. I wish that Christians emphasized that over the magic stuff; it would certainly make the world a better place.

Finally, a festive picture courtesy of Star Costumes:



Hoppy Easter!

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