This is from Ray's Lake of Fire, part 16 C.
http://bible-truths.com/lake16-C.html ------------------------
CHRISTMAS TREES, EASTER EGGS, AND SHEILA-NA-GIGS
Most religious festivals of the world have something to do with sex or fertility. The Christian Holy Days are no different. They ARE in fact, little more than these same pagan festivals with Christian orientations.
EASTER:
Semiramis was the wife/mother of Nimrod the mighty hunter whose kingdom was Babel (Gen. 10:9-10). From there I will just quote from lasttrumpetministries.org, as their site has a concise history of Easter:
"She [Semiramis] taught that the moon was a goddess that went through a 28 day cycle and ovulated when full. She further claimed that she came down from the moon in a giant moon egg that fell into the Euphrates River. This was to have happened at the time of the first full moon after the spring equinox. Semiramis became known as "Ishtar" which is pronounced "Easter", and her moon egg became known as "Ishtar's" egg." Ishtar soon became pregnant and claimed that it was the rays of the sun-god Baal that caused her to conceive. The son that she brought forth was named Tammuz.
Tammuz was noted to be especially fond of rabbits, and they became sacred in the ancient religion, because Tammuz was believed to be the son of the sun-god, Baal. Tammuz, like his supposed father, became a hunter. The day came when Tammuz was killed by a wild pig. Queen Ishtar told the people that Tammuz was now ascended to his father, Baal, and that the two of them would be with the worshippers in the sacred candle or lamp flame as Father, Son and Spirit. Ishtar, who was now worshipped as the "Mother of God and Queen of Heaven", continued to build her mystery religion.
The queen told the worshippers that when Tammuz was killed by the wild pig, some of his blood fell on the stump of an evergreen tree, and the stump grew into a full new tree overnight. This made the evergreen tree sacred by the blood of Tammuz. She also proclaimed a forty day period of time of sorrow each year prior to the anniversary of the death of Tammuz. During this time, no meat was to be eaten. Worshippers were to meditate upon the sacred mysteries of Baal and Tammuz, and to make the sign of the "T" in front of their hearts as they worshipped. They also ate sacred cakes with the marking of a "T" or cross on the top.
Every year, on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox, a celebration was made. It was Ishtar's Sunday and was celebrated with rabbits and eggs. Ishtar also proclaimed that because Tammuz was killed by a pig, that a pig must be eaten on that Sunday. By now, the readers of this tract should have made the connection that paganism has infiltrated the contemporary "Christian" churches, and further study indicates that this paganism came in by way of the Roman Catholic System. The truth is that Easter has nothing whatsoever to do with the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Similar legends abound in Northern Europe: Scholars, accepting the derivation proposed by the 8th-century English scholar, St. Bede, believe the name Easter is thought to come from the Scandinavian "Ostra" and the Teutonic "Ostern" or "Eastre," both Goddesses of mythology signifying spring and fertility whose festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox. Traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of fertility, and in colored Easter eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring, and used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts.
Regardless how accurate all of these histories are in every detail, one thing is for sure. Rabbits and eggs are symbols of fertility, and all pagan and heathen cultures worshipped sex and fertility. Therefore, Easter is pagan, and the Church has absolutely no authority for gracing this pagan sex and fertility festival with the Name of Jesus.
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We all have to do the best we can in the situation we are in.
I know what you mean Deb, I think I will have some in my family who want to have 'fun' doing Easter things. Since I won't be involved in it with them, it really hampers things for them. Oh well, I have to put up with them doing those things in my presence, my girls are teenagers but still like to dye eggs
So they have to put up with me
not doing it with them.
We can pray for one another
mercy, peace, and love
Kat