Odd and Ends on Easter

When I was a kid, I always wondered what the word "Easter" meant and where it came from. I knew Easter didn't have anything to do with the East, though east is part of the word, as it is in German, "Oster", "ost" meaning east. I was so curious about this, that I even looked in the Bible for it. I found that the word "Easter" does not occur anywhere in the Bible, which made me even more curious.

Finally, I asked my father's brother, the preacher, about it and he didn't know. A few years later, I found it on my own. "Easter" comes from the Pagan goddess "Eostre", who is some sort of fertility goddess. who was honored at the coming of spring.

I find it quite telling that the biggest Christian holiday of the year is named after a Pagan goddess.
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While out driving around, I've noticed these tacky metal signs with the ten commandments printed on them, popping up in yards all over town, like an infestation of crabgrass. They are slightly smaller than a realtor's "For Sale" sign one might see in someone's front yard.

At the same time, I've noticed more and more cars with large bowtie ribbon stickers supporting various causes, "Support Our Troops" and "God Bless America" being most common, stuck on them. And I mean stuck on the painted area of the car and not the bumper. I see these even on new cars, and I think that surely these people know that these stickers will ruin the car's paint job and lower the car's value when it comes time to trade it in?

Why do they find it necessary to advertise their beliefs by either planting tacky looking signs in the yard or by making their cars a rolling billboard? Surely one can support the troops without having to ruin their car's paint job in the process?
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I read yesterday that Prince Charles is being required by the church to formally apologize to Camilla Parker Bowles' ex-husband for having an affair with her before the church will agree to marry them.

For one thing, it's none of the church's damned business how Charles and Camilla came to be together; it's a personal, private matter between those involved.

Secondly, does the church require this of every couple they marry where one or both partners committed adultery to begin the current relationship? I'm guessing not.

Having been together for so long in good times and bad, Charles and Camilla are already married in every way that counts, and the church ceremony is just a formality. It's too bad that they can't just tell the church to take a hike and be done with it.