My mother always said, "You don't have to go to church to be a Christian''. My parents were good people.
I attended a Presbyterian-Methodist boarding school (there were no secular boarding schools) and was a captive during the Easter period and every other Sunday when we would march off to church, alternating between the Presbyterian and Methodist churches.
I enjoyed many of the hymns, but the stories of heaven and hell, fire and punishment, miracles, and all the rest I found boring and inherently nonsensical. Every Sunday we sat and listened to the same nonsense.
Whatever I felt, Easter did seem to be taken seriously by most people but over the years it became increasingly commercial.
Once, shops of any kind were not permitted to open on Easter Friday and from memory, Easter Monday. Only religious events were permitted.
Over the years, more and more venues and businesses were permitted to open and now, it seems that everything and anything is open.
As Australia is now a country with multiple religions that are not Christian and people are becoming more secular, I wonder how long it will be before Easter gets the flick. Maybe the cancel culture generation will eventually turn to Christian holidays as something needing change and push for it to be changed. Oh, that would mean not getting two days off work for any of them who actually work.
Will Easter disappear? What do you think?
Robin
