Easter per Sop.hie

So, we are fake Jews in this family. Jo.sh is a real, bona fide Jew, but the rest of us, well, we're a bit weak on the Jewish credentials. I'm a WASP through and through, but an atheist, although I do celebrate a secular Xmas. When we had kids, we wanted them to be raised Jewish, or at least sort of. According to Jewish LAW, the kids are not Jewish unless the ma is Jewish, b/c who knows who dad really is - but a mom can't be faked or lied about. Anyway, we take Sop.hie to a secular Jewish education co-op once a month, and it's cool, b/c she learns some of her Jewish heritage and culture, w/o having to get into the God mess. I try to take a factual approach to answering questions about religious belief, perhaps an oxymoron in and of itself, but it's my way. This week she had Good Friday off and asked me what it was.

S: What is Good Friday?

Me: I think it was - yes, it was when Jesus was killed. He was killed b/c people didn't like the things he was saying and so they put him on a cross to die. That's called being crucified. And because it was on a cross that's why you see crosses in churches - it's a Christian symbol. (Note: this part is factual, so easy enough to describe).

S: So what's Easter?

Me: Well, after Jesus was killed on Good Friday, Christians believe that a couple of days later, on Easter, Jesus rose from the dead, he was resurrected.

S: [makes scoffing noise] Once you're dead, you can't come back to life!!! You're dead.

Me: Well, that's true, but Christians believe that Jesus was the son of God and that it was a miracle that Jesus came back to life.

S: Well, *everybody* knows that the Easter Bunny isn't real.

Me: That's true.

S: And what do eggs have to do with rabbits? Eggs don't have anything to do with rabbits.

Me: Well, rabbits don't lay eggs, but both rabbits and eggs symbolize birth, so that's why they're for Easter.

S: But the Easter Bunny is *not* real.

Me: I know. That's true.

I told my friend D.M., a lawyer who used to be a minister, about this exchange. I was so proud of myself for giving a non-biased, honest description of Easter and asked if he wasn't impressed. He was not. He said I made it sound like hocus pocus instead of the will of God. I responded, "but I'm not a Christian." His response, "not yet." If he has serious work to do getting me to convert, I think his task w/Sop.hie is equally Herculean. My little rational empiricist, how I love her.