[mainestategop]

Yes and no.

There are aspects of Easter that have snuck in and crept in that have absolutely nothing to do with Christ's resurection or the bible.

One problem I believe is that the incident kicks off during the holiday of Eostre, a saxon goddess of fertility and festivity. That's where we get the word Easter pretty much.

It was all a coincidence.

I told my son that the Easter Bunny was probably jesus' pet. That usually works.

[sparklite2]

“Why is it raining, Momma?”
“It rains when Jesus is crying, honey.”
“Why is Jesus crying, Momma?”
“It’s probably something you did.”

[Mrs. Don-o]

I had problems viewing the excerpts, maybe you did too. You may not have read the part where Professor Ronald Hutton (a well-known historian of British paganism and occultism), in his book, The Stations of the Sun says that this supposed 'goddess' actually appears nowhere in Germanic, Saxon or Norse mythology.

Venerable Bede , a Christian monk, is the ONLY source for this supposed 'goddess,' and Hutton says Bede's overall knowledge of paganism is very dubious.

This is followed up by several other strong arguments against the so-called pagan connection.

If the excerpts are not visible on your screen, the original article historically debunking the "goddess" hypothesis is here:

http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/2009/april/was-easter-borrowed-from-pagan-holiday.html

[Rashputin]

I told my kids that bunnies, chicks, eggs, and the other stuff around Easter are all symbols of new life in the Spring and through Christ we can have new life eternally.

My son backed off a Methodist Sunday School teacher who was telling kids Easter was a pagan holiday by telling her that he thought even someone with a learning disability would understand that Christ represents a new life for those who believe in Him if you explained things they were familiar with were symbols of new life just like Christ is.

He was seven and his teacher told me about it and said she'd never thought of it like.

I figure the my explanation had worked out Ok.

[Tax-chick]

I told my son that the Easter Bunny was probably Jesus's pet.

My cat killed a rabbit last night and left the headless corpse by the back door. Happy Easter from your friendly nocturnal carnivorous predator!