One idea that seems to be really popular amongst angry, blue-haired, crystal-obsessed cat moms on the internet is the idea that Easter is actually a pagan holiday and was taken over by the Christians to push Christianity onto the people. Their basis for this is the fact that we have culturally adopted things like egg hunts and the Easter Bunny, which were traditionally used as pagan symbols of fertility. However, though we have adopted those things, Easter is still a fundamentally Christian holiday and here’s why….
One of the popular theories behind Easter is that the holiday is actually a pagan celebration celebrating the Saxon goddess, Eostre, who was a fertility goddess who was celebrated around the spring equinox and had bunnies as her sacred animal. While this theory seems legit at first, if you actually go and do some research, you’ll find how ridiculous this idea is.
First of all, Eostre was seems to have been an incredibly obscure goddess as the only mentions of her include a whopping one passing reference written by the Venerable Bede in the 8th century. That’s it. One reference is all that this theory is based on. Moreover, no one has found anything that even suggests that Eostre was worshipped. There are no shrines, writings, or any other documents that suggest her existence in the minds of the Saxons.
Secondly, the word Easter comes from the Old Germanic word “Ostarâ”, which meant “east.” It also has roots in Latin, with some speculating that it has it’s roots in the term “in albis”, which is “dawn” or “daybreak” in modern Spanish or Italian. This means that the word “Easter” is simply an Anglicized version of this. Though some will still claim that Ostarâ is another name of Eostre, even then, I would say that this is bogus given the fact that there are words that can mean several different things and those words can have their meanings dumbed down over time. This theory still falls prey to my previous debunking of the idea that Easter was a celebration of Eostre.
Third, there is yet another idea that Easter has some obscure ties to Ishtar (because her name is somehow pronounced as “Easter” which…huh?), the Assyrian goddess of war, fertility, and sex for much the same reasons as the idea that Eostre is the true reason for Easter is floating around. Just because these fertility goddesses – and many other goddesses, mind you – had bunnies and eggs as their symbols doesn’t mean that Easter is a pagan holiday.
Have we adopted some of that imagery? Yes. But that doesn’t make Easter innately pagan. It just means that we needed something cute and fun for the kids to do while the parents either slept in or got ready for church.
Lastly, Easter’s origins as being a Christian holiday are not only strongly attested to in the Bible, but are also confirmed by multiple historical sources outside of the Christian church. It is the oldest Christian holiday on the calendar – yes, even older than Christmas – and its events have more historical and religious references to back them than any of the theories that Easter is a pagan holiday do.
Until next time,
M.J.
The Tanuki Corner 
Easter recalls the almost annual blood libel & ensuing pogroms. Easter an abomination to the Jewish people.
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I would like to point out that most Christians nowadays don’t have any idea what blood libel is. Even I had to Google it to find out what it was so I could write this response….
Easter is not about celebrating something that is blatantly evil. The story of Easter is the story of how Jesus came into Jerusalem during Passover, was arrested by the Sanhedrin and tried, then sent to Pontius Pilate who, under pressure of the crowd, sentences Jesus to death on a cross. While at first, it seems like the Christians are blaming the Jews for Jesus’ death (which may be why you see it to be a celebration of blood libel), in reality every single person, past, present, and future put Jesus on the cross because he was dying for everyone’s sins to save us from the wrath of God. That’s just the truth of the matter.
Anyone who uses Easter as a celebration of the horrible atrocities that the Jews have faced and still face today are not Christians and will answer to God at the last judgment for their words and actions. True Christians recognize the importance of the Jewish people and have often helped them. For example, during the Holocaust, it was primarily Christians who did not believe in what the state-controlled church was saying that were the ones who helped the Jewish people the most.
If I may ask, who is telling you this? I have never heard anything like what you are saying where I live in the U.S.
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He is Risen!
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Gazans elected Hamas as the government of Gaza in 2006. Gazans guilty of the Oct 7th Abomination war as the Japanese People whose attacked the US on Dec 7th 1941. 2000+ years of Easter pogroms stinks to the hilt of the high heavens. That Goyim ignore their war crimes against humanity only proves that Xtianity utterly and totally bankrupt as dead spirituality.
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Post Gaza War Peace Plan
Key Israeli minister backs proposal for ex-Palestinian PM Salam Fayyad run post-war Gaza
July 26, 2024 by Baruch Yedid – TPS
Israeli officials are quietly throwing their support behind a United Arab Emirates proposal to install a former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad as the head of a PA administration in post-war Gaza.
Salam Fayyad, “Minister [of Strategic Affairs] Ron Dermer expressed full support for the Emirati proposal,” Israeli and Arab political sources confirmed to The Press Service of Israel. “This idea is acceptable to Israel, aligning with Defense Minister Galant’s ‘defense islands’ plan” which would develop local administration in various areas of Gaza.
Representatives of the US, Israel and UAE met last Thursday to discuss Gaza’s post-war governance.
Key to the discussions was an Emirati proposal to establish a new, revised Palestinian Authority in Gaza, potentially headed by Salam Fayyad, the former Palestinian Prime Minister. Fayyad, an economist by profession, is not affiliated with the Fatah movement and has a reputation as a critic of Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Fayyad’s candidacy is reportedly supported by the United States, Saudi Arabia, and the Emirates.
The Emirati plan involves multiple components, including establishing a reformed Palestinian Authority that operates independently of Abbas’s control. An Arab source familiar with the discussions told TPS-IL, “This reflects the sentiment in some Arab countries that advocate for the slogan ‘No Abbas, no Hamas.’”
The plan also proposes the presence of Arab and foreign forces in Gaza to maintain public order. The Emiratis envision Egyptian, Moroccan and Qatari participation to create a security corridor spanning from north to south in the Gaza Strip.
Israeli officials welcomed this approach, emphasizing the importance of a moderate Arab coalition.
“We do not intend to reinstate Abu Mazen’s rule in Gaza, as he is considered irrelevant,” high-ranking sources in the Israeli security establishment told TPS-IL. “The involvement of Saudi and Emirati forces is crucial, especially with the shifting strategic focus towards the Iranian issue.”
The sources explained, “Both the Emirates and the Saudis are not fans of Abu Mazen and they want to turn their strategic attention to the Iranian issue from now on.”
In a gesture possibly related to these diplomatic efforts, Israel on Wednesday approved the transfer of 250 wounded and sick Gaza residents to the UAE for medical treatment. The patients will be transferred from Gaza to the Ramon Airport in the Negev and then flown to the UAE. The Emirates has taken a leading role in providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, including building hospitals and supplying food and medical supplies.
The aid deliveries have been partly coordinated through Muhammad Dahlan, a former senior Fatah official and rival of Abbas now living in exile in the Emirates.
At least 1,200 people were killed, and 252 Israelis and foreigners were taken hostage in Hamas’s attacks on Israeli communities near the Gaza border on October 7. Of the 115 remaining hostages, 39 have been declared dead. Hamas has also been holding captive two Israeli civilians since 2014 and 2015, and the bodies of two soldiers killed in 2014.
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