They took the bench now... wtg.

When they refer to the origins of Easter, I assume they are referring to ancient spring fertility festivals that were celebrated in the Mediterranean region. They were based around the stories of dying and resurrecting gods such as Tammuz, Osiris, Dionysus, etc. As far as dating them ... I assume it's mostly from iconography. The Egyptians and Summarians had pretty good records of their day to day life, so those probably came into play, though I haven't been able to find any specific reference to "Easter" being celebrated 2500BC.

Of course, the name Easter is much more recent. It is taken from the Saxon goddess Eastre, which would have been adopted by the Christians (to help get the locals on board) around 800 or 900 AD.

Here is a story that isn't really atheisty but I find it adorable.....

A couple years back I was doing some volunteer work at a school with some special needs kids. It was before one Spring break and one of the kids came up to me looking confused. She told me that on Easter they paint eggs at her house. Than she asked me "why do we paint eggs anyway? Did Jesus paint eggs. I don't think he did, but my mom and dad won't tell me why. They just say that we paint eggs so the Easter bunny can find them. I don't get the Easter bunny either. Where does it live"? This kid was obviously searching for answers she wasn't getting at home. I wasn't about to tell her the Easter eggs are, to my knowledge, a symbol of fertility, but I couldn't lie either. Situations like those are hard. I heard of a student teacher getting in serious trouble for telling an 11 year old Santa didn't exist. I'm sure she would have been fired if she had said Jesus or god didn't exist.

On the subject of religion in schools, I have noticed that religious diversity is often promoted. I was reading a hand book that was talking about this and it read " we value every child in this school, whether that child be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Hindi, Pagan or Wiccan. It didn't mention atheist, or non-religious. I'm wording if that child would be made to feel as equal as it's more religious peers.

On a happy note, I was once reading a book to a kid on animals, and the teacher had inked out all Noah's Ark references. That gave me a warm fuzzy feeling.

It can be a tricky situation, I agree!!

I think that, obviously in a school and certainly in the elementary setting, that it's so not okay to tell a kid what to believe, not believe, what's real, what isn't, etc...

I think that your egg story is brilliant with that! It's cute and fun, and shows that even though we have strong beliefs, we don't have to even necessarily share them, and we certainly aren't here to brain wash other people's children.

I manage homes for persons with disabilities. For the most part, I just don't talk about my own beliefs, but I support theirs in any way I can. There have been occasions where I did actually have to lie, in a round about way, in order to allow someone to have the belief that gave them comfort. I don't feel like I should be responsible for 'educating' vulnerable adults or children to either side, but I do make both sides known if someone asks.

One of my guys, when I started working, would say "Maybe I'm an ATHEIST!" when he wanted to shock or scare staff. When he did it to me, I just said, 'Yeah, well, a lot of people are!'. He looked at me with big eyes and said "Well, maybe I'm a SATANIST then!!!" I gave him the same answer, and he hasn't brought it up in that way ever again. lol.