[kirklancaster]

Easter is a Christian festival. The celebration is - not of Christ's death on the cross - but of his resurrection, and it does not matter how many times someone denies this or naively maintain that 'times change' it remains incontrovertible FACT.

The giving of eggs at Easter is a celebration of new life and represents the 'Death and Rebirth' element of the Resurrection.

The fact that - like Christmas - Easter has been abducted by materialistic non-believers and its simple pure message corrupted, does not mean that the original meaning is lost to a great many people around the world -- despite what some atheists claim to the contrary.

As Kaz has said; change is not always for the best, and we are now teaching our children to value materialism more than truth, and instead of instilling in them hope, we are creating massive problems for them which will trouble them throughout their lives; namely, false aspiration and expectation of materialistic possessions which only a very few of them will ever achieve, and which the majority of them, therefore are destined to eventually and inevitably feel like frustrated failures and 'worthless'.

Just like the subliminal effects of glossy advertising, reality TV shows and other media influences which 'condition' our kids to aspire to false and superficial 'ideals' based on materialistic possessions and 'designer' lifestyles, this 'hijacking' of Easter and Christmas and the conversion of their simple messages into ones of materialistic desire and greed, is a recipe for disaster.

Of course, some of you younger, brighter, more sophisticated people will disagree, but, hey; "C'est la vie".