Here’s a funny news item, courtesy of Ed Brayton’s Dispatches from the Culture Wars. Joe Kovacs, the executive director of the Christian news website World Net Daily, has penned a column arguing that Easter has roots in paganism.
So, in addition to revealing that he is clueless about his own religious holidays (he’s only figuring this out now?), he also displays a stunning lack of consistency:
The very first commandment of the Big Ten is perhaps one of the most overlooked in everyday life. In just eight words, it states: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). Sounds simple enough. Christians would never put another god in front of the true God who made the universe—right?
Wrong.
Most Christians, whether knowingly or unknowingly, violate this very first commandment of God each year by placing before God the actual name of a pagan goddess of fertility and the dawn.
In case you haven’t figured it out by now, her name is—believe it or not—“Easter.”
That’s correct, folks. The word “Easter” is actually the name of an ancient, heathen goddess who represents fertility, springtime, and the dawn.
Some of her symbols are flowers, bunnies, eggs, the sun and the moon. Who’da thunk?
What makes this so funny is that World Net Daily has long been one of the loudest defenders battling against the mythical “War on Christmas.” Just a few months ago, folks there were accusing the ACLU and secular retailers of attempting to kill Christmas. Now, the executive editor is trying to kill Easter.
Someone really needs to point out to Kovacs that this Christmas holiday that he so staunchly defends each year has pagan roots too.
