Why don’t Mormons Celebrate Easter?

[2bizE]

Something I don’t fully understand is why Mormons don’t engage in the Easter spirit and include the Christian Easter Traditions? Ash Wednesday, Palm Friday,etc. It’s like we are Jehovah Witnesses during Easter.

[Palerider]

We recognize the import of the Savior's resurrection but we don't celebrate all those heretical Catholic practices that were introduced later. They are a sign of the Apostacy.

Except for the egg hunts. They're fun and they provide nourishment so Mormons turn a blind eye to their pagan beginnings.

[hmb]

We recognize the import of the Savior's resurrection but we don't celebrate all those heretical Catholic practices that were introduced later. They are a sign of the Apostacy.

Except for the egg hunts. They're fun and they provide nourishment so Mormons turn a blind eye to their pagan beginnings.

AND...the Easter Bunny really IS true!

[Palerider]

We recognize the import of the Savior's resurrection but we don't celebrate all those heretical Catholic practices that were introduced later.

Just realized I was writing "WE" in the above explanation. Isn't it crazy that even after name removal I sometimes catch myself thinking I'm still a part of the cult. Just shows you how deep the hooks are even when you've cut the lines.

Reminds me of something Steve Benson wrote to the effect that he still considered himself "Mormon" even after he had left the church. He said:

"Cut me....I bleed Mormon!"

[Hagoth]

AND...the Easter Bunny really IS true!

If Joseph Smith had said so we would have a committee of apologists documenting evidences for it. Did you know, for instance, that in ancient times people buried water-filled ostrich eggs in the sand to use as caches for crossing deserts? This is obviously a parallel to the Bunny's ritual of hiding eggs. It is also symbolic of Lehi crossing the Arabian desert to Bountiful.

[Palerider]

AND...the Easter Bunny really IS true!

If Joseph Smith had said so we would have a committee of apologists documenting evidences for it. Did you know, for instance, that in ancient times people buried water-filled ostrich eggs in the sand to use as caches for crossing deserts? This is obviously a parallel to the Bunny's ritual of hiding eggs. It is also symbolic of Lehi crossing the Arabian desert to Bountiful.

I think I see a parallel between the eggs and the brass Liahona! A round object found in the desert intended to give spiritual sustenance!

This! This is SO cool. I feel a quiver coming over me....

[moksha]

Something I don’t fully understand is why Mormons don’t engage in the Easter spirit and include the Christian Easter Traditions? Ash Wednesday, Palm Friday, etc. It’s like we are Jehovah Witnesses during Easter.

Over at the Mormon Sic et Non board, Dr. Peterson had an article about some of the celebrated days of the Easter week starting with Palm Sunday. To me, that signals the Church is inching towards a more traditional Christian understanding. He even mentioned in an article today about having a Jewish Sedar at his home. Break out the gefilte fish and matzos.

[hmb]

AND...the Easter Bunny really IS true!

If Joseph Smith had said so we would have a committee of apologists documenting evidences for it. Did you know, for instance, that in ancient times people buried water-filled ostrich eggs in the sand to use as caches for crossing deserts? This is obviously a parallel to the Bunny's ritual of hiding eggs. It is also symbolic of Lehi crossing the Arabian desert to Bountiful.

I think I see a parallel between the eggs and the brass Liahona! A round object found in the desert intended to give spiritual sustenance!

This! This is SO cool. I feel a quiver coming over me....

I don't think the Liahona was made of chocolate, therefore it's of much LESS value.

[nibbler]

Because it's too hard to work Joseph Smith or the church into the center of the celebration?

[Hagoth]

Over at the Mormon Sic et Non board, Dr. Peterson had an article about some of the celebrated days of the Easter week starting with Palm Sunday. To me, that signals the Church is inching towards a more traditional Christian understanding. He even mentioned in an article today about having a Jewish Sedar at his home. Break out the gefilte fish and matzos.

I know Mormons who celebrate Jewish traditions: Light the menorah, Sedar at passover, leave out a chair for Elijah, etc. Their patriarchal blessing gives them a backdoor pass to the club. At least they're genuinely time-honored traditions, compared to hanky waving and singing praises to the 19th century man who communed with treasure guarding spirits.

[alas]

Because it's too hard to work Joseph Smith or the church into the center of the celebration?

I know this was put up as snark, but I do think it is close to the real reason.

Issue #1 My oldest brother went to Korea on his mission. They couldn’t start teaching with the first discussion because, gee, was it Buddha who appeared to Joseph Smith? The Mormon church starts with an assumption of Christianity. It never actually teaches Christianity. Or really seldom teaches the Christianity. Mostly it assumes Christianity, then teaches how Mormons are different. There has been some effort to improve this, but it is still a big problem. Jesus Christ is kind of in the background as we teach about the restoration. We don’t exactly teach what it was that supposedly was restored, because you are already supposed to know it.

Issue #2 we don’t really celebrate anything at church. Things get mentioned, but not celebrated. Think about how Mormons celebrate Christmas. It gets mentioned at church, but the celebration all takes place at home. Once my kids grew up and left home, I realized how much Christmas is a home centered celebration. There is so little at church. Oh, sure, the secular efforts to make you buy stuff is every where. And you can’t escape Santa and Rudolph. But the Christ part of Christmas is almost totally home based. We sing a few carols at church, and maybe have lessons for the kids, but basically nothing changes at church. We do not observe advent, in fact most Mormon confuse advent with the 12 days of Christmas because they don’t know how to even celebrate any of the religious aspects of Christmas. What are the 4 candles for advent even about? Most Mormons haven’t a clue. Let alone that the 12 days of Christmas start Dec 25 and go to Epiphany on Jan 6. I have live in Germany twice, so I got to see the celebration of more than the economic spend spend spend spree that Christmas has become in the US. Their society openly celebrates the religious aspects of Christmas that in the US is either inside the church buildings or at home, but mostly forgotten in a commercial spending spree.

It is the same with Easter. We sing a couple of carols and other than that, maybe a talk or lesson, or it gets completely forgotten. The celebration if there is any it at home.

Issue #3 I think it is the same thing as happened to the Jewish holidays when Christianity got started. They didn’t apply to the new aspects of the religion, so they faded into oblivion. For 200 years they probably kept some of the old Jewish holidays, but they faded into the background of the new aspects of the religion. They kept the same book and still believe in the God of Abraham, but the culture changed.

In our culture we celebrate May 15, as the restoration of the priesthood and July 24 as our “Exodus” celebration, and we celebrate Smith’smass in Dec, those usually get mentioned at church, and we celebrate the holidays of our larger culture along with the larger culture, but that isn’t observed at church. Just like the Christians celebrated the same holidays as the pagans in the cultures where they converted people.

[Corsair]

We recognize the import of the Savior's resurrection but we don't celebrate all those heretical Catholic practices that were introduced later. They are a sign of the Apostacy.

Except for the egg hunts. They're fun and they provide nourishment so Mormons turn a blind eye to their pagan beginnings.

It should be noted that Jacind Ardern, New Zealand Prime Minister and Ex-Mormon, did declare that the Easter Bunny (and the Tooth Fairy) were considered essential workers. This announcement was made specifically to the children of New Zealand.