Religious Holidays Essay

Religious holidays are specific days for religious observance. The word "holiday" derived from the notion "Holy Day", which originally only referred to special religious days1. Many days have been set aside for the many different religious holidays, including; Christmas and Easter in many countries. Each religious holiday has its own specific meaning, but the main focus of the religious holiday is Jesus Christ. People gather together to celebrate and worship Christ and others gather to worship Pagan Gods and objects. Depending on their beliefs. Christians often overlook the true meaning of the religious holidays practiced today because of the fact that the Christian holidays have been intertwined with the practice of Pagan religions, as well as the secular movement and influence of non-believers in Jesus Christ.

The true meaning of Easter is that God came in the flesh through his son Jesus Christ as a once and forever blood sacrifice that was an extension of the Passover, that if man accepted him as Lord and Saviour he will have eternal life. But Pagan's have brought in their practise as well. Bunnies, eggs, and the observance of planetary movements have nothing to do with the salvation of Jesus Christ. One of the religious holidays that have been influenced by Pagan practise is Easter. The name Easter is the first thing that was changed, the observance after the resurrection of Christ fell on the Passover and was celebrated by the Jews as the Passover still, but Pagan gentiles who came into Christianity brought along their practices, and gave it a Pagan name. The

Name Easter is from the Pagan sex goddess2 Eostre3, which was carried form the Assyrians to the Babylonians to the Egyptians to the Romans and into the present day observance of the holiday4. Jesus and all the disciples were Jews. God's word was given to the Jewish race and when the door was opened to the rest of the world to receive the salvation that Jesus offered, the Pagan element came in with their practices. Also on the day when the holiday is practiced, it revolves around the Pagan practice of sun worship 5 and planetary worship where Pagan practices usually fall on or near some planetary movement6; just like celebrating Easter after the spring equinox following the full moon7. Another example of this is Christmas, which is practiced three days after the sun reaches its furthest point from the earth, or the shortest day, and then starts to move back three days later. The Pagan's say the sun is reborn and invincible, which the Roman Catholic Church has also adopted. Sol Invites is used in the church today, which means the invincible sun taken from Pagan sun worshippers8.These are two small examples of how paganism has entered and taken over the true meaning of the religious holiday.

The influence of the secular world is brought into the equation through political correctness; it is no longer acceptable to say certain things beause one might offend a

Non-believer. If Christians were to say "Merry Christmas" to a non- believer, it could be offensive, so politicians in the secular world have created laws preventing people from celebrating religious holidays in certain atmospheres where there is a possibility of other religious beliefs being present and being offended. Christmas is a holiday that secularists are trying to convert by eliminating the word Christmas and simply using the word holiday. This