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Easter is strange - even the catholic holiday is sort of a mixed bag (as you know, I was raised catholic as well).

In a strictly religious sense, easter is a holiday celebrating the christ's resurrection, and many christians consider it the most important christian holiday.

However, in a cultural sense, Easter sort of predates christianity, and some scholars speculate that the easter celebration was sort of "tacked on" to pagan fertility celebrations and other springtime rituals. The whole easter egg deal is a remnant of some of these pagan rites.

In a religious sense, Buddhists of course have no reason to celebrate the resurrection of christ because most buddhists don't believe that christ was divine. Many don't even believe that he died on the cross. In a sense, we could say that christ was reborn as all beings are reborn, but there is no reason to celebrate it, being as it is just part of the natural cycle of things.

However, to maintain peace in the family and to walk the middle path, american buddhists should take every opportunity to celebrate any holiday with their family. If it makes grandma and mom happy then there is no reason not to go through all the motions. Only you will know that the motions don't have as much meaning to you.

Although I get the sense that many christians also "merely go through the motions" as well :P