Megachurch Does Not Use "Resurrection" or "Calvary" in Easter Invitation
The head preacher of a church that has several locations says he does not want to be off putting or make nonmembers feel like outsiders. So, in Easter advertisements he leaves out the bloody and magical stuff.
In what has become comical, the internet lit up with outrage. Many shouted Easter is about sin, blood, death and a magical resurrection. How can you have Easter without the gruesome stuff? The head preacher published a statement assuring everyone the story will be told in their Easter services.
It's smart to market Easter as about dressing up, bunnies, baby chickens and colorful eggs. At its roots, that is before Christianity, spring was a time of optimism. Its roots were not dead people hanging from poles. Today's Christianity is driven by the capitalistic market. If those who buy the product, people in the pews, want Easter to be about colorful eggs and bunnies instead of murdering people, it's going to be about the former.
Year after year, I read Christian pundits who shout, "We must hang on to the resurrection. It is the key to the appeal of Christianity. It is that we can all be resurrected after we are dead." This is foolish thinking. Christianity can live on without the Jesus death and resurrection tale. I would guess few in the pews would defend this story are historical truth. Preachers at Eastertime can talk up Spring as a time of newel and optimism. They can skip over the gruesome Bible story with its not believable ending. Time spent cheering people up is time well spent.
The blood sacrifice in Christianity appears to be an adaptation from earlier cultures. While I've read about many of them I, today, Googled "ritual blood sacrifice." There are countless studies and tomes written about sacrificing humans to please Gods. I clicked one at random, "25 Culture that Practice Blood Sacrifice." For reasons I do not understand, sacrificing humans to please gods has some degree of universal appeal. That, of course, is the reason tomorrow, Easter Sundy, thousands of preachers will tell again the tale of Jesus murdered. If you enjoy hearing the mythical tale of blood sacrifice followed by the myth of victory over death, go for it.
Just remember, when you own death comes, just like mine, you will not win like Jesus. There is no evidence anyone has ever come back to life.
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