What does Easter have to do with Google?

On a day intended to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, some Christians were upset that Google didn’t post a creative doodle showing their support for Easter. Citing support for various other holidays and notable celebrations, social media lit up with opinions of what Google should have done.

Some in Hollywood shared their opinionthat Google didn’t make an Easter doodle because “they loathe Christians.” If that is true, I’m not sure I want Google depicting one of the holiest days of the year.

While I am certainly no fan of Google, the idea that Google is somehow obligated to create a special Easter doodle is unrealistic. I really don’t want to come to the defense of an organization that, in my opinion, has an active disdain for conservative views (and any view not approved by Google). Unfortunately, it looks like I have to defend them.

First, let’s not forget, Google is a corporation. The main purpose Google exists is to make money. Presumably, everything Google does is for the purpose of creating revenue and gaining a larger market share. This means Google is first and foremost in the business of making money, not celebrating holidays.

With this in mind it is reasonable to conclude that it might make sense to honor Easter and the 2.2 billion people around the world celebrating this holy day. One could even make the case that it makes good business sense to find a way to endear yourself to nearly one-third of the world’s population in some small way on one of the holiest days of the year.

To be fair, Google has honored many people since it first started creating the now iconic doodles. Men such as Les Paul, Freddie Mercury, M.C. Escher, Charlie Chaplin, Heinrich Rudolph Hertz, John Lennon, and Mark Twain have all been honored.

Women like Aleta Jacobs, Alice Paul, Harriet Tubman, Aubrey Hepburn, and Sally Ride have also been honored.

Events such as the first day of winter, the first day of summer, Halloween, Martin Luther King Day, Ramadan, and International Women’s Day have been featured too. With all the people and the days that Google has remembered, it is more than a little suspicious that they left out Easter.

But, let’s ask ourselves, does it really mater if Google doesn’t post a doodle celebrating Easter? Does it somehow change the day and our celebration of the risen Savior? Is our efforts best spent criticizing Google on social media on a day intended to remember that Jesus is alive?

Furthermore, consider what would happen if Google did post a doodle. Is there any chance that Google would be able to create a doodle that would satisfy all 2.2 billion self-professing christians in the world? No, there’s not a snowball’s chance…well…you get it.

If Google did post a doodle it would immediately be attacked for being too secular, forgetting some crucial element of a “proper” Easter depiction, or favoring one group of Christians over another. It would be called racist, sexist, homophobic and every other label currently thrown around our culture. Regardless of what Google chose to post, it simply would not be good enough. Such is the culture we live in, where assumptions are good enough to draw conclusions and attacks can be mounted based on those assumption-based conclusions.

Christians, we need to reconsider what we choose to get upset about. We can undercut our own validity by allowing an absence of silly cultural practices upset us. If we are going to get upset, let’s make it something worth getting upset about.

For example, pro-abortion advocates have been lobbying Google to censor pro-life search results. That’s a reason to get upset. A recentarticle reports:

“Business Insider reportsa group of abortion activists rode bicycles behind Google’s shuttle buses Tuesday in San Francisco with signs claiming, “Searching for abortion care? Google will send you to fake, anti-abortion clinics.”UltraViolet and Credo, two pro-abortion groups connected with Planned Parenthood, organized the protest, according to the report. It’s all part of a larger smear campaign against non-profit, volunteer-based pregnancy centers.”

Planned Parenthood, well-known for disseminating misleading or false information now has affiliate groups asking Google to censor search results aimed at helping women find pro-life pregnancy centers. Their reason? Because they believe these centers are “fake.” The irony is lost on them I’m sure.

It’s a factual conclusion to say Google is not a fan of conservatives or any organization holding conservative views. It is not a bridge too far to think that Google would agree to censor some search results. Perhaps, instead of being upset over a silly doodle that is here one day and gone tomorrow, we should focus our attention on weightier matters.