In Taiwan they have "Tamale Festival" and "Dragon Boat Festival" and "New Year" but no "Easter." All three are heavily commercialized, because businesspeople naturally hope to profit from travelers, by selling cakes and candies et cetera for people to share with their families.
Each of humanity's hundreds of cultures has such holidays, each with its spiritual aspect and commercial aspect.
As abstract and bizarre "Tamale Festival" may seem to you, Easter is equally bizarre to billions alive today.
The spiritual message of Christianity is precious, of course, but it is wrong to discount messages from other cultures.
During the Vietnam war, Buddhist monks protested American state terrorism by setting their bodies on fire and calmly enduring death - which worked, inasmuch as you and I and most Americans recall this image, though we recall nothing else the Vietnamese people have ever done.
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In Taiwan they have "Tamale Festival" and "Dragon Boat Festival" and "New Year" but no "Easter." All three are heavily commercialized, because businesspeople naturally hope to profit from travelers, by selling cakes and candies et cetera for people to share with their families.
Each of humanity's hundreds of cultures has such holidays, each with its spiritual aspect and commercial aspect.
As abstract and bizarre "Tamale Festival" may seem to you, Easter is equally bizarre to billions alive today.
The spiritual message of Christianity is precious, of course, but it is wrong to discount messages from other cultures.
During the Vietnam war, Buddhist monks protested American state terrorism by setting their bodies on fire and calmly enduring death - which worked, inasmuch as you and I and most Americans recall this image, though we recall nothing else the Vietnamese people have ever done.
Sincerely,
B. McNett
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