Easter: consumerism vs religious holiday
Amelia Lorrimore asks whether Easter has more to do with supermarket shopping than religious belief in the 21st century.
For a Christian, Easter begins with Shrove Tuesday, or ‘Pancake Day’: a day when traditionally, people would chuck together all of the foods they had in their cupboards to make pancakes. This would use up all of their luxury food and enable them to fast for 44 days - excluding Sundays. The fasting period is more often known as ‘Lent’ and symbolises Jesus’ sacrifice as he roamed the desert for 40 days. Lent is concluded on ‘Holy Thursday’ with a midnight mass, and on ‘Good Friday’ Christians are allowed to celebrate and feast, share decorated eggs - which were traditionally stained red to symbolise the blood that was shed at Christ’s crucifixion - and come together to celebrate the crucifixion and rebirth of Christ. However, the religious motives and symbolism behind Easter, Lent and Pancake Day have been steadily forgotten as more and more people become agnostic or atheist, as a result of the past few centuries offering more freedom in religious beliefs, and scientific developments becoming more accredited. This loss of Christianity and belief in the resurrection of Christ has left many of these religious celebrations open to exploitation, and has led to them becoming more commercialised and consumerist.
Nowadays, few people decorate eggs themselves. Eggs are bought from chocolate shops like Cadbury’s, Thorntons and supermarkets, bringing them a large profit in Spring. The lack of understanding that many people have about religious holidays, like Easter and Christmas, leads people who are not religious into participating simply because everyone else is, without the slightest clue what any of it means. The holidays have become, for many, less about religious beliefs and more about tradition, as we continue in the rituals of the year that have been handed down over generations.
There is a high level of consumerism around Easter, with people buying eggs, chicks and lamb teddies, Easter decorations and many more Easter festivity items, because they want to continue the tradition of Easter, without necessarily thinking about the church at all. Companies have taken advantage of this and produce a huge quantity of items to be sold at Easter, which have nothing to do with the traditional religious foundation of Easter. How many eggs do you see with a Christian symbol on them? They’re all packaged prettily and in a way that is appealing to the eye - definitely not something that was the aim of the original decorated eggs, as they were designed to look covered in blood.
If you went to a Church of England or Catholic or Christian school, you are sure to have heard about the origins of Pancake Day, and been told the tales of the people who cleared their cupboards on Ash Wednesday. But the same cannot be said about children brought up in non-religious primary schools and whose parents aren’t religious. Similarly to how Easter eggs have been advertised, Pancake Day has been promoted in shops, as a day with an excuse to give your children a sweet treat for breakfast - another day which is seen as tradition, rather than a religious celebration, by many non-religious people. Due to the way it is advertised and promoted by supermarkets children are bound to beg their parents to let them participate. The participation of agnostic and atheist people who don’t believe in the origins of Pancake Day maintains the tradition but overtakes the religious history that founds Pancake Day.
Other foods which are eaten around Easter that have religious symbolism include: Hot-Cross Buns and Easter Lamb. The Hot-Cross Bun has a cross to symbolise the crucifixion of Christ and spices to reflect his embalming. Lamb is a traditional food to eat on Easter Sunday, as it symbolises the Lamb of God. However, nowadays the symbolism is lost to people who don’t believe in the religious origins and it becomes simply a tradition for this time of year, exploited by supermarkets. This is largely down to the fact that Easter has become a more social event, rather than a religious event.
Overall, it seems that Easter has become a highly commercialised holiday which is largely down to the decrease in religious observance in the 20th and 21st century. However, this is not to say that the religious history is forgotten, as regardless of how many agnostic and atheist people there are in the world, there are still Christians who celebrate Easter with remembrance of Christ, and therefore it will never become truly over-run by consumerism.
Amelia Lorrimore Year 12
For a Christian, Easter begins with Shrove Tuesday, or ‘Pancake Day’: a day when traditionally, people would chuck together all of the foods they had in their cupboards to make pancakes. This would use up all of their luxury food and enable them to fast for 44 days - excluding Sundays. The fasting period is more often known as ‘Lent’ and symbolises Jesus’ sacrifice as he roamed the desert for 40 days. Lent is concluded on ‘Holy Thursday’ with a midnight mass, and on ‘Good Friday’ Christians are allowed to celebrate and feast, share decorated eggs - which were traditionally stained red to symbolise the blood that was shed at Christ’s crucifixion - and come together to celebrate the crucifixion and rebirth of Christ. However, the religious motives and symbolism behind Easter, Lent and Pancake Day have been steadily forgotten as more and more people become agnostic or atheist, as a result of the past few centuries offering more freedom in religious beliefs, and scientific developments becoming more accredited. This loss of Christianity and belief in the resurrection of Christ has left many of these religious celebrations open to exploitation, and has led to them becoming more commercialised and consumerist.
Nowadays, few people decorate eggs themselves. Eggs are bought from chocolate shops like Cadbury’s, Thorntons and supermarkets, bringing them a large profit in Spring. The lack of understanding that many people have about religious holidays, like Easter and Christmas, leads people who are not religious into participating simply because everyone else is, without the slightest clue what any of it means. The holidays have become, for many, less about religious beliefs and more about tradition, as we continue in the rituals of the year that have been handed down over generations.
There is a high level of consumerism around Easter, with people buying eggs, chicks and lamb teddies, Easter decorations and many more Easter festivity items, because they want to continue the tradition of Easter, without necessarily thinking about the church at all. Companies have taken advantage of this and produce a huge quantity of items to be sold at Easter, which have nothing to do with the traditional religious foundation of Easter. How many eggs do you see with a Christian symbol on them? They’re all packaged prettily and in a way that is appealing to the eye - definitely not something that was the aim of the original decorated eggs, as they were designed to look covered in blood.
If you went to a Church of England or Catholic or Christian school, you are sure to have heard about the origins of Pancake Day, and been told the tales of the people who cleared their cupboards on Ash Wednesday. But the same cannot be said about children brought up in non-religious primary schools and whose parents aren’t religious. Similarly to how Easter eggs have been advertised, Pancake Day has been promoted in shops, as a day with an excuse to give your children a sweet treat for breakfast - another day which is seen as tradition, rather than a religious celebration, by many non-religious people. Due to the way it is advertised and promoted by supermarkets children are bound to beg their parents to let them participate. The participation of agnostic and atheist people who don’t believe in the origins of Pancake Day maintains the tradition but overtakes the religious history that founds Pancake Day.
Other foods which are eaten around Easter that have religious symbolism include: Hot-Cross Buns and Easter Lamb. The Hot-Cross Bun has a cross to symbolise the crucifixion of Christ and spices to reflect his embalming. Lamb is a traditional food to eat on Easter Sunday, as it symbolises the Lamb of God. However, nowadays the symbolism is lost to people who don’t believe in the religious origins and it becomes simply a tradition for this time of year, exploited by supermarkets. This is largely down to the fact that Easter has become a more social event, rather than a religious event.
Overall, it seems that Easter has become a highly commercialised holiday which is largely down to the decrease in religious observance in the 20th and 21st century. However, this is not to say that the religious history is forgotten, as regardless of how many agnostic and atheist people there are in the world, there are still Christians who celebrate Easter with remembrance of Christ, and therefore it will never become truly over-run by consumerism.
Amelia Lorrimore Year 12
