Skip to content
Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

Main Street Plaza

A Community for Anyone Interested in Mormonism.

God Is Dead: Happy Easter!

Hellmut, March 22, 2008March 22, 2008

To Lutherans Good Friday is the most important day of the year. I always regretted that Mormons do not properly celebrate Easter.

Thank heavens for Johann Sebastian Bach whose Passions relate God’s suffering like no other.

Good Friday is the day that God died and if there is a redeeming feature in Christianity, it has got to be that God became a mortal and suffered like every human being.

It doesn’t undo the suffering but gives it meaning by acknowledging and sanctifying it.

Thanks to Ned Flanders for inspiring this thought!

PS: Since it’s Easter, some free advice to Joel Osteen: you have a lot to answer for, man. A little more emphasis on suffering would do your parishioners a lot of good.

Atheism Christianity Death Jesus Christ Philosophy

Post navigation

Previous post
Next post

Related Posts

Spain Investigates Jay Bybee for Torture

March 28, 2009March 28, 2009

According to Harper’s, Spanish authorities are investigating Bush administration officials for torture. That includes the former BYU law professor Jay Bybee who signed off on John Yoo’s infamous torture memos. The premier Spanish newspaper El País reports that judge Baltasar Garzón is involved in the investigation. Garzon is famous for…

Read More

The Logic of Power and Salvation

April 28, 2008April 28, 2008

In disfellowshipping or excommunicating scholars (like Michael Quinn, Grant Palmer, and others) Church leaders create a theological paradox. Assuming that such actions are eternally binding implies that, regardless of researchers’ choices, it becomes impossible for them to obtain the benefits of the Savior’s atonement.

Read More

Ken Jennings interviewed by “friendly atheist” Hemant Mehta

October 19, 2007September 3, 2011

Be sure to check out this fabulous interview! My favorite highlights:

Read More

Comments (13)

  1. Guy Noir Private Eye says:
    March 23, 2008 at 2:43 am

    Just as Easter arrives (Happy Easter to all Christians), I am making plans to see HH the Dalai Lama in either Seattle or Ann Arbor.
    Hmmmmm.
    The way that LDS ‘sort of’ celebrate Easter is (just my opinion here) either comical or disgusting. It does, however, give the women an excuse/reason to pretty up.

  2. wry catcher says:
    March 23, 2008 at 6:32 am

    I believe that Good Friday is the most holy day of the year for all Protestants — that’s my understanding anyhow. There were actually more businesses closed here for Good Friday than there are on Sundays.

    I agree about the lack of Easter celebrations in the LDS faith (at least in my experience back when) — actually, I have always wondered at our complete lack of observation of the liturgical calendar generally. This is one of the reasons that LDS are often branded as non-christians. I think the average mormon doesn’t even realise this is one of the main pieces of “evidence” against mormons as christians. Our ignorance of the liturgical year is pretty bad. Combine this with our refusal of traditional christian symbols (cross, crucifix) and the heretical speculation that jesus may have been married (with more than one wife??), and there’s some big nails in that coffin. After all that, it makes no difference how large a font you spell JESUS CHRIST with in your logo, it just seems like protesting overmuch.

    It is neither here nor there to me personally, and I do think mormons are worshipers of christ, but they’re not “christians” in any accepted sense of the word. I’m not trying to derail this conversation at all, but it reminds me of the equality-vs-preside rhetoric — just because you try to redefine something so clear as “preside” into meaning “equality” doesn’t make it so. Likewise, redefining your own version of christianity and expecting others to recognise and accept it as being the same as the larger, more “normal” definition is not logical. So perhaps mormons should just be a “different kind” of christian, but should also acknowledge that fact.

  3. Seth R. says:
    March 23, 2008 at 7:33 am

    “So perhaps mormons should just be a “different kind” of christian, but should also acknowledge that fact.”

    Agreed. But some extra Easter traditions would still be nice…

  4. wry catcher says:
    March 23, 2008 at 7:36 am

    Just wanted to add that I think a lot of mormons want MORE christianity, and the fact that a holy day such as easter can pass with barely any recognition of it at church is frustrating for a lot (likely not a majority, though) of members at all levels of orthodoxy. To wit, this thread at BCC.

  5. wry catcher says:
    March 23, 2008 at 7:39 am

    Heh, Seth. I think we posted at the same time. Jinx.

  6. Sister Mary Lisa says:
    March 23, 2008 at 10:52 am

    Wry, your link doesn’t have a post attached, although it does got you to the site. Could you tell us the title of it?

  7. Sister Mary Lisa says:
    March 23, 2008 at 10:53 am

    get, not got. 🙂

  8. wry catcher says:
    March 23, 2008 at 11:21 am

    When I click it, it goes to the post I’m referencing, so I don’t know what/how to fix it…

    But the post’s title is embedded in the URL:

    http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2008/03/your-monday-poll-16/

  9. chanson says:
    March 23, 2008 at 11:30 am

    Wry — It’s because I snuck in and silently fixed it. 😉

    It’s possible that Mormons don’t do enough to celebrate the crucifiction and resurrection, but why stop at the halfway measures favored by so many churches these days? These guys are really serious about it…

  10. Wayne says:
    March 23, 2008 at 1:27 pm

    Hellmut

    Thank you for reminding me what Easter is all about. It is so easy for me to forget.

  11. profxm says:
    March 23, 2008 at 7:37 pm

    Ahh… Killing gods. We mortals are a strange breed, aren’t we? We celebrate killing gods (I only find this inspirational when members of SG-1 kill the Goa’uld or Ori). We also celebrate eating them. Funny, that…

    I celebrated Easter the best way I ever have – I went to Spamalot!

  12. Kullervo says:
    March 24, 2008 at 11:15 am

    “Strange” compared to whom?

  13. profxm says:
    March 24, 2008 at 8:40 pm

    Good point – strange compared to… Well, I don’t know to whom, exactly. Maybe other animals? I don’t know of any other animals that kill and eat their gods, but then they don’t have gods, do they?

    So maybe killing and eating your god is normative. That seems like it should be weird… 🙂

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Mormon Alumni Association Books

Latest Comments:

  1. termal kamerayla su kaçak tespiti on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesJune 21, 2025

    termal kamerayla su kaçak tespiti Ekip çok organize, kaça?? an?nda bulup çözdüler. https://bence.net/read-blog/25188

  2. Cara B. Klein on My conspiracy theory #2April 26, 2025

    Wow, I had never thought about it in that way before You have really opened my eyes to a new…

  3. chanson on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 16, 2025

    The haiku at the end is lovely. Sounds like a great book!

  4. Donna Banta on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 14, 2025

    I imagine anyone who has tried to change the church from within will identify with Kitchen's story. I especially like…

  5. Johnny Townsend on LDS vs LGBTQ:  Nathan Kitchen sheds false binariesApril 14, 2025

    This was a painful review to read. For many years, I held the same hope, that the LDS church would…

8: The Mormon Proposition Acceptance of Gays Add new tag Affirmation angry exmormon awards Book Reviews BYU comments Conformity Dallin H. Oaks DAMU disaffected mormon underground Dustin Lance Black Ex-Mormon Exclusion policy Excommunicated exmormon faith Family feminism Gay Gay Love Gay Marriage Gay Relationships General Conference Happiness Homosexual Homosexuality LDS LGBT LGBTQ Link Bomb missionaries Modesty Mormon Mormon Alumni Association Mormonism motherhood peace politics Polygamy priesthood ban Sunstone temple

Awards

William Law X-Mormon of the Year:

  • 2023: Adam Steed
  • 2022: David Archuleta
  • 2021: Jeff T. Green
  • 2020: Jacinda Ardern
  • 2019: David Nielsen
  • 2018: Sam Young
  • 2017: Savannah
  • 2016: Jeremy Runnells
  • 2015: John Dehlin
  • 2014: Kate Kelly
  • 2013: J. Seth Anderson and Michael Ferguson
  • 2012: David Tweede
  • 2011: Joanna Brooks
  • 2010: Monica Bielanko
  • 2009: Walter Kirn

Other Cool Sites!

WasMormon.org
©2025 Main Street Plaza | WordPress Theme by SuperbThemes