Christmas vs. Easter--A bit blasphamous.?

[rockerweenie]

I'd like to know why everything will close around 5pm on December 24th and remain closed until Dec. 26th for Christmas but this isn't the case for Easter. On Easter, not only is every gas station and convienience store open but so are all the restaurants, fast food places, stores like KMart and Walmart (who are closed on Christmas), grocery stores and the like. Amazingly the mall was closed, though.

What I don't understand is Easter is the more sacred of the two holidays. Yes Christmas is a "sacred" day, but it is only the birthday of the Christian savior. Easter is when he died for our sins and the miracle happened that he rose to heaven. I think, and many other people think, that this is much more sacred than a birthday thus making Easter the more sacred of the two holidays.

I just don't understand why, even in my small religious community that could close down for 3 hours on Good Friday for the vigil, things are open on Easter.