A study released last week by the Barna Group revealed that Americans consider Easter a religious holiday for the most part, but few people know the holiday’s true origin.
Not only that, but college-aged people — the 18-25 category — were the least likely to know what Easter was or even celebrate it, the study found. Americans have become more confused about defining holidays as society grows more and more religiously diverse, the study suggested.
At the beginning of February, the Barna Group took a random sample of 1,005 adults selected from across the continental United States, age 18 and older, to study the celebration of Easter. About two-thirds (67 percent) of Americans surveyed related the holiday as something religious or spiritual. But just two percent said they thought it was about the birth of Christ and another two percent said it was about the rebirth of Jesus. Only 1 percent related it to the second coming of Jesus, while 3 percent just thought it was a celebration of spring or a pagan holiday.
Looking at the non-religious segment, 13 percent of Americans said they were not sure how to describe Easter. Many of their recurring answers were spring break, rebirth, hiding eggs, candy, children and bunnies.
“These facts are true,” said freshman Kevin Thibert after analyzing the statistics. “The media has misrepresented Easter with the Easter bunny and hiding eggs. I am pretty sure that Easter is about the ascension or resurrection of Jesus. However, it has been unclear to me because the church and the media gets confusing.”
But perhaps some of the confusion surrounding Easter is understandable.
“Easter is not a spring holiday, as any Christian from the southern hemisphere would remind us,” said professor Joe Henderson of the Torrey Honors Institute.
“The time of year Easter occurs is determined by the date of the historical event it celebrates, the resurrection of Jesus, which occurred on a Sunday at the time of year Jews celebrate Passover.”
Henderson was shocked that people could be so confused.
For those who celebrated Easter as a religious holidays, Evangelicals made up the largest portion at 93 percent, while 81 percent said they were born again Christians and 77 percent were weekly churchgoers.
People 45 to 63 were most likely to celebrate. Not far behind was the 64 and over group. People, 18-25, the youngest group surveyed, were the least likely age to even say Easter is a religious holiday let alone celebrate the holiday.
Biolans’ non-Christian family members don’t necessarily see Easter the same way Biolans do.
”My uncle on my dad’s side of my family knows what Easter is and knows who Jesus is, but still doesn’t buy it,” said freshman Caroline Johnson. “He would never attend a church service. My dad witnessed to him many times, but he still feels really justified in the reasons for his lack of belief.”
Junior Melissa Gutierez explained how Easter was once just a ritual for her family.
“My dad is from a Catholic background,” she said. “For most of his family, Easter is the only day they go to church. This is just how it has always been. My grandma would kind of drag them to go.”
Lastly, the study examined Easter and evangelism. Only 31 percent of churchgoers said they would invite people to come to Easter services. Women, parents of young children, those who attend small churches and Protestants were most likely to actually invite people to church on Easter.
The Barna researcher behind the project, David Kinnaman, alluded that Christians may be partly responsible for this lack of understanding.
“Perhaps most concerning, from the standpoint of church leaders, is that those who celebrate Easter because of the resurrection of Christ, are not particularly likely to invite non-churched friends to worship, suggesting that their personal beliefs about Jesus have not yet translated into a sense of urgency for having spiritual conversations with their acquaintances,” he wrote in the study.
