: "A church trying to teach about the crucifixion of Jesus performed an Easter show with actors whipping the Easter bunny and breaking eggs, upsetting several parents and young children.
People who attended Saturday's performance at Glassport's memorial stadium quoted performers as saying, 'There is no Easter bunny,' and described the show as being a demonstration of how Jesus was crucified.
Melissa Salzmann, who brought her 4-year-old son J.T., said the program was inappropriate for young children. 'He was crying and asking me why the bunny was being whipped,' Salzmann said."
Why are you whipping the bunny? Though someone undoubtedly thought this was a good idea, cooler heads should have prevailed. I remember attending a Christmas Eve service once where the focus was on the brutal savagery of the crucifixion. While Mel would have loved it, it bugged me. It was out of context and really robbed some in the congregation of that Christmas feeling.
Taking on the Easter bunny in this manner seems to completely deny the grace and acceptance of Christianity. While I know that Jesus threw the moneychangers out of the temple, I don't recall him being humorless or trying to frighten children. This comes out of some misunderstandings, I believe, about how people conceptualize their faith. I think these people think that if you belive in the bunny that you can't believe in Jesus. I think that is wrong. I am reminded of a great scene in Lone Star when Otis is explaining to his son about where African Americans hang out in town--"either at His Holiness Church, or Big O's. Most people choose both. It isn't like there is a line between the good poeple and the bad people." Life and faith are more complex than a simplistic black and white fundamentalism.
So, for Easter, on behalf of the rest of us, please leave the bunny alone.
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