Christian seders, chocolate seders, marijuana seders: Why non-Jews like Passover so much

[rug]

Fatima Hoque dips parsley in salted water during the Seder dinner hosted by the All Dulles Area Muslim Society (ADAMS) Center April 17, 2016 in Sterling, VA.

By Julie Zauzmer April 22

People of all faiths came together for what is traditionally a Jewish ritual feast. The salt water symbolizes the salty tears that the Jews shed while enslaved in Egypt.

The cheerful Virginians gathered around their Passover seder table, laden with matzah and charoset, had just said the second blessing over the grape juice when the loudspeaker crackled to life.

“Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar!” the call to prayer interrupted their seder. And the Passover participants rose from their seats, for a Muslim worship interlude in their Jewish service.

- snip -

The food, the reenactment, the child-friendly hunt for a hidden piece of matzah — all of that appeals to her atheist congregants, most of whom do not come from Jewish backgrounds, she said.

“We tell the story of the seder not because we believe that God delivered people literally out of Egypt, or that God can literally deliver us. It’s not about belief,” she said. “It’s about, maybe, about hope.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2016/04/22/christian-seders-chocolate-seders-marijuana-seders-why-non-jews-like-passover-so-much/

[struggle4progress]

1. Looking at it from the outside, I see a very meaningful holiday:

it tells us that the oppressed matter; that they might find some allies even in the households of their oppressors; that sometimes we should be willing quickly to leave everything we know behind; that escaping bondage is not the journey of a single day ...

[rug]

2. There's a lot in the Passover story for almost anyone to take away.

[AtheistCrusader]

4. "Humans make shit up"

Ta-da. Covers all bases.

[AtheistCrusader]

5. Aren't there enough real, actual, existing oppressed peoples to choose from?

Why make shit up?

[AtheistCrusader]

3. So, the salt water symbolizes nothing then.

Because there is no direct evidence of any such thing ever occurring.

“We tell the story of the seder not because we believe that God delivered people literally out of Egypt, or that God can literally deliver us. It’s not about belief,” she said. “It’s about, maybe, about hope.”

Well, that's not bad. That's close to the truth. Because god didn't deliver anyone out of anywhere.

So, it's about making shit up, which is apropos to the bible.

[rug]

6. Boy, Passover really gets your goat.

Now I know why bitter herbs are part of the Seder.

[AtheistCrusader]

7. Passing off bullshit as historical basis for imaginary friends and the doctrinal baggage that comes

with them gets my goat yes.

If there was some evidence that Exodus was a historical event, that would be one thing. To date, it's not.