Easter is a beautiful holiday, not because of chocolate eggs laid by bunny rabbits, but because of the spiritual teachings; the community gatherings in prayer; and, most importantly, the theology that is the basis of all denominations that worship Jesus as God. As winter turns to spring, evil is defeated by good in the expression of the resurrection. While it is not a Jewish holiday, it is a special time for all religions that worship Jesus as God, and it should be honored and respected for at least that reason. But it is also a holiday filled with important spiritual lessons even for those of other religious traditions.
Which makes the recent actions of the Biden White House truly despicable.
Led by Jill Biden, the White House is not accepting any decorated eggs in their annual Easter egg contest that include religious symbols or overtly religious themes. Besides being offensive to any person of any faith, it is actually insidious theologically.
Easter, and the entire Lent season, is entirely about the journey of Jesus, his death, and his resurrection. Even more than Christmas, it is an overtly religious holiday; for while Christmas celebrates his birth, Easter celebrates his willingness to suffer for others and his spiritual divinity through death and resurrection–the very basis of the faith.
But the Biden White House wants to remove all of that beauty, which has inspired millions of people for two thousand years, and only celebrate painted eggs. And in making Easter a holiday about painted eggs and losing the religiosity, they are theologically attempting to destroy a religion.
That is not a hyperbolic statement, for painted eggs have nothing to do with the death and resurrection of Jesus. They are symbols of the exact opposite.
Most scholars agree that the tying together of eggs to Easter was a way to integrate pagan cultures into an embracing of Christianity. Many indigenous cultures had springtime holidays celebrating the yearly rebirth of nature and associating it with evil being triumphed over by good. The symbol for many of these cultures were eggs, for the hidden life that was inside of them waiting to come out in the same way spring would reveal itself. Additionally, eggs were thought to be unique among foods as they are the one food that gets stronger the more it is cooked; and it became an analogous symbol in many cultures that suffering could make a person stronger. Early Christians took that symbol and used it as a bridge into these pagan cultures to introduce and integrate Jesus as God into these cultures.
So what has Biden really done by prohibiting religious symbols on the Easter eggs? The White House is now taking the belief in Jesus and removing it entirely from Easter. The Biden White House has unilaterally decided to proselytize paganism rather than Christianity. They are consciously encouraging children nationwide to stop believing in Jesus.
As a rabbi, I find that beyond disgusting and dangerous.
An attack on any religion is an attack on all religions. It’s why I stood with my Catholic brothers and sisters protesting the L.A. Dodgers’ decision to honor an anti-Catholic hate group, and it’s why I’ve stood side by side with pastors who were being persecuted by the state. It is the reason why I am so emphatically a “Christmas warrior” who loves being wished a Merry Christmas and why I never want to hear a sanitized “Happy Holidays.”.And even though Easter is not “my holiday” per se, I am willing to stand with traditional Christians who want Jesus and his teachings to remain the foundation and an integral part of Easter celebrations, including egg decorating.
The White House’s removal of Jesus from Easter creates an inherent pressure on children to let go of the belief in the miracle of Jesus and embrace secularism. All American children would love for their art to be chosen by the Bidens, and so they will learn that in order to be honored, they must let go of Jesus. For children already being bombarded with anti-religious values regarding gender, sexuality, and more, this is an alluring proposition: Paint Easter eggs without religion and you may be rewarded by the president of the United States. Let go of the resurrection and embrace the pagan practice of egg art, and you may find great rewards.
Although I don’t accept Jesus as my personal savior, Easter is an important holiday for those who worship Jesus. As a Jew, I believe that God wants you to be the best Catholic, Christian, or person of faith that you can be. (Part of the reason Jews don’t proselytize is that we believe if you are a Christian or of another religion, that’s what God intended you to be.) Easter eggs decorated with detailed religious imagery are a powerful way of teaching children to value their religious traditions in a fun way and help them to grow into adults whose lives are centered around their faith.
For the Bidens to remove the symbology from the practice is dangerous to all people of faith. To take Jesus out of Easter is a conscious effort on their part to replace religion with secularism; to replace the Kingdom of God with the kingdom of the secular state. It is a core practice of Marxism, and it must be called out by all people of faith.
Perhaps there is a Catholic or Christian group that can hold a competing Easter Egg decorating contest, where only religious images can be used and where the prize for winning is not a trip to the White House, but a trip to Israel to walk the path of the Via Dolorosa and a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. But by whatever means possible, all people of faith need to fight against this latest attack on religion by the Bidens.
I pray that each of us may find a renewal of our connection with God during this holy time, and that we reject the secularism that is fighting to take over the world.
Happy Easter!