When you first talk to a rabbi about conversion, the two topics on the agenda are circumcision and, if you were raised Christian, what your thoughts are on this Christ business. Your wee-wee and Jesus, that's what you talk about, and in very serious tones too.
-
-
Christianity's moral inversion of strong and weak, rich and poor (e.g. seeing divinity in the violent death of an alleged criminal) and fascination with messianic millenarianism (e.g. bringing the Kingdom of God into being either in this life or the next) is a radical philosophy.
Show this thread -
It's understandable why the Roman world of the time observed it with ridicule and then alarm: It was a complete break with the values of the time. Even now, it's unlike most cultural worldviews (though its values, e.g., 'human rights', have spread along with Western hegemony).
Show this thread -
Long of way of saying: it's odd to see the Easter season 'from the outside' for the first time. Nothing quite like seeing what was once familiar as novel and foreign. It's an intellectual out-of-body experience: jarring and life-changing. A sort of religious phantom limb, almost.
Show this thread -
British PM Benjamin Disraeli (born Jewish, converted to Christianity) when asked by Queen Victoria what religion he *really* was, supposedly replied: I'm the blank page between the Old and New Testaments in the bible. It's an interesting middle ground.
Show this thread -
(As a personal note, I think I'm landing way before that blank page, somewhere in the middle of Ecclesiastes.) As a side note and total plug, we'll have
@holland_tom on BIG IDEAS this week, to discuss more about Christianity and Western thought.Show this thread
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
Also, is there any sound reasoning behind the ever-moving date, that doesn’t take Pagan-appropriation into account?
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
This is why some Christian denominations play consider them secular or semi-secular holidays. Ok to celebrate, just with the knowledge they are not based on the original Bible/Church.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
-
-
Funny. In Eastern Europe we don't have any rabbits at Easter but colored eggs and pasquas - cylindric sweet bread.pic.twitter.com/Y7np8MCrdf
-
Given the timing and the near-universality of some spring fertility ritual in every culture and religion, it's an interesting canvas on which to project all sorts of syncretism.
End of conversation
New conversation -
-
-
The rabbit has nothing to do with Easter. Everything to do with easter as promoted by commercial interests.
Thanks. Twitter will use this to make your timeline better. UndoUndo
-
Loading seems to be taking a while.
Twitter may be over capacity or experiencing a momentary hiccup. Try again or visit Twitter Status for more information.

