Jesus is risen. Let's eat Ham!

Easter was never a big holiday in my house during my childhood. We weren't really a church family. My parents both had a religious upbringing - Mom's was a southern Baptist experience (Can you say amen? amen. I can't hear you... AMEN.) Dad's experience was a bit more uptight. I envision judgmental homemakers in hats and white gloves with drunken husbands and shameful secrets. I'm not sure if it was adult onset rebellion or a desire to sleep in on Sunday but we seldom went to church as a family.

I don't see this as a huge loss - we are not a broken family and we do have a sense of faith. It is very personal and not forced.

As an adult doubts about the Sunday school version of Jesus and the bible have set in. I have faith in a higher power and find many things about organized Christianity to be comforting and calming. I do not however, think that it is necessarily healthy to focus on the super theatrical portions of biblical history.

My friend Yazmine spent her Sunday morning watching some guy reenacting the resurrection at the Eastside-Way-Nutty-Evangelical-Believe-in-Jesus-But-Voted-For-Bush Church. Yaz is there because of a marriage to a very normal and delightful guy with a wack-a-do mother. She endures it and holds her tounge while these so called men of God spout what would sound to most people (if they could take a step back) as xenophobic propaganda. Yaz uses her forced Sunday experiences as a sociological study in how and why the Red States are so different from us Blue Staters.

I can not force myself to believe that only Christians are going to have a happy afterlife. I think there will be many "born agains" who will be shocked to find themselves in the hereafter with Buddist, Muslim and *gasp* Jewish people/spirits -- whatever. Heck, there may even be atheists there - wouldn't that be kind of funny. God introduces Oral Roberts to someone who never even heard of God, let alone donated money to the Trinity Broadcasting Network. That my friends would make me laugh.

So, I didn't mean to get into or open up a grand religious debate. Go ahead, post hate replies telling me I'm going to hell, but before you do ask yourself... what would Jesus post?