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I don't think they are but I don't feel comfortable doing them because they're almost always tied in with or run by a church in my area. I haven't figured out Easter as a non-religious family yet so we've been skipping baskets and egg dyeing while T is still little. Lol

To me, Easter =Christian. Hunting for eggs filled with candy doesn't have anything to do with Christianity. I was raised Lutheran but I never equated the Easter bunny and hunting eggs with the religious part of the holiday...

I do not consider egg hunts or the Easter bunny religious.

Jew here I consider it a secular Christian thing, like opening presents on Christmas. Not something I'd do, but I don't think it is specifically related to Jesus.

However, if a friend invited us to a non-religious hunt, I'd have no issues participating.

Yah I agree with @cam: ! The origins are definitely religious, but I celebrate a secular Christmas, Easter and Halloween and don't have a problem with it.

But some religions are sensitive about certain other religions - like how some religions are sensitive about pagan holidays like Halloween and witch-themed books like Harry Potter. I've heard there's something similar going on between Orthodox Jews and Christmas, so maybe that's part of it?

I think orthodox Jews are going to be a little more strict about celebrating another holiday that IS a Christian holiday, even if the particular activity isn't Christian.

But I had an easter egg hunt last year, and every single other family who attended was Jewish, haha. But no one was orthodox.

I agree with @cam: - not really religious but definitely related to a Christian holiday, like a Christmas tree or opening Christmas presents. I was raised catholic. I guess I wouldn't be surprised if a Jewish family participated or declined to participate for religious reasons.

That said if we visited a family that was another religion and they wanted to do something (like a Seder dinner or something), I would be happy to have my kids participate as long as it was appropriate.

My husband and kids are Jewish, but I'm not. I think my husband actually feels more comfortable participating in the explicitly religious activities--while clearly establishing that he is a guest--than the non-religous cultural activities. (He goes to Christmas Eve mass with my family, but Christmas trees make him squeamish.) For him, I think it's as much about getting lost in the dominant culture as a violation of his religious principles. I think he would be ok with kids participating in an egg hunt, but only if it was part of us being good guests. (We wouldn't seek out an egg hunt for just our family, for example.)

And I just saw your comment about Christmas gifts. Now that we have kids, we've opted out of Christmas gifts. So I agree that I don't see the logic in your family's objection, but I guess everybody has their own comfort level. If you want to do it, it seems reasonable to just say you are doing it and they can opt in or out.

I have no religious beliefs and only celebrate holidays in a secular way, and I'd totally do an egg hunt. It could be that if your SIL was raised Jewish she might not be familiar with what's involved and might think maybe there's something more religious than it is.

I would explain that's just hidden plastic eggs and candy, but that you can do it before they plan to arrive.

One other maybe interesting bit: we almost never have to think much about what our family does on Easter because it's normally Passover and DH doesn't feel comfortable eating out of the house. (So he makes me a special Easter breakfast of eggs and matzah )This year is unusual that the two don't overlap!

I said sort of -- I think they're religious, but pagan, not Christian.

While they are obviously associated with a Christian holiday, I find Easter egg hunts to be totally secular.

I am on par with almost everyone else. While it is associated with the holiday it has nothing to do with Christs resurrection

@Mrs. Tiger: why would they come to an Easter meal then? I know people can decide whether they feel comfortable with but I find a bit odd that they do gift exchange on cams and can eat candy later but can't hunt eggs because that part is related to the resurrection.

We're Agnostic and have always celebrated Easter with the Easter bunny, Easter baskets, Egg hunts, and food! I know it originally has Christian roots, but I celebrate it for fun, just like I celebrate Christmas!

@Mrs. Tiger: you're right, this is a bit of a stumper! I can't separate the bunny/eggs from the resurrection--I feel like a fraud and an imposter participating in any of it, and I don't know any other non-Christians or even secular Jews who will celebrate Easter in any way. my parents raised me as an atheist, and while we did do secular Christmas, we never even acknowledged Easter--it was too "true" of a holiday, whereas (maybe unfortunately for Christians) Christmas felt like a totally fun, Americanized, commercial enterprise to them--plus my dad would every year prattle on about how the true origin of Christmas is the pagan rebirth of the sun. he needed the justification, I believe

I agree with SIL. Celebrating Easter, like Christmas, is a religious holiday, along with the stemming tradition. I don't see how it is not!

The Easter bunny as well- just do a little research and see how it is tied to Christianity (those wondering about the Easter bunny- seems secular, but is a tradition with symbolic meaning brought by Christianity.) (Raised German Lutheran here!)

As @looch pointed out- the eggs are symbolic in Christian religion; participating in an egg hunt is then, by definition, participating in a Christian tradition.

Although evergreens have tradition and meaning in pre-Christianity, many tie the lighted tree to Martin Luther (said to be the first to place symbolic lights on the tree) and the modern tree did originate in Renaissance Germany. The lights represent the light of Christ through the darkness...

I'm Jewish and would feel weird about an easter egg hunt. No it's not "religious", but what parts of most cultural holiday traditions really are? I see you said they've done xmas gift exchanges with you in the past too, so I can see how you'd be confused (I'd opt out of that for the exact same reason).

It has nothing to do with the symbolism of eggs or anything like that - that it's a Christian thing associated with a Christian holiday! It's not part of my family or culture or experience as a Jew. No christmas trees, no easter eggs, nothing related to anything Christian. It can be hard to imagine but it's true. To me it would be no different than inviting you to a passover seder - yes it's super fun with wine and food and family, but it's still a culturally Jewish event. You may think oh that's fun and novel! But may or may not be comfortable participating. If that makes sense.

@LCTBQE: The celebration of Easter is pagan too. This article gives a decent background: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/apr/03/easter-pagan-symbolism