"St. Paul City Office Boots Easter Bunny"
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Easter Bunny has been sent packing at St. Paul City Hall.
A toy rabbit, pastel-colored eggs and a sign with the words "Happy Easter" were removed from the lobby of the City Council offices, because of concerns they might offend non-Christians.
A council secretary had put up the decorations. They were not bought with city money.
St. Paul's human rights director, Tyrone Terrill, asked that the decorations be removed, saying they could be offensive to non-Christians.
But City Council member Dave Thune says removing the decorations went too far, and he wonders why they can't celebrate spring with "bunnies and fake grass."
two problems with this. and one of them is NOT the removal of the deocrations.
1) as a christian, I am offended by the easter bunny. it's a freakin' rabbit that has nothing to do with easter. perhaps, mr. terrill should have been more specific and called it offensive to "non-Americans." more appropriate, i think.
2) as a christian, i can never think of a situation where i would be "offended" by another religion's decoration. i mean, if i saw a jewish sign that read "happy yom kippur" i would not think twice about it. then again, the jewish community would probably never put up such deocrations in public.
they still have respect for their holidays.
A toy rabbit, pastel-colored eggs and a sign with the words "Happy Easter" were removed from the lobby of the City Council offices, because of concerns they might offend non-Christians.
A council secretary had put up the decorations. They were not bought with city money.
St. Paul's human rights director, Tyrone Terrill, asked that the decorations be removed, saying they could be offensive to non-Christians.
But City Council member Dave Thune says removing the decorations went too far, and he wonders why they can't celebrate spring with "bunnies and fake grass."
two problems with this. and one of them is NOT the removal of the deocrations.
1) as a christian, I am offended by the easter bunny. it's a freakin' rabbit that has nothing to do with easter. perhaps, mr. terrill should have been more specific and called it offensive to "non-Americans." more appropriate, i think.
2) as a christian, i can never think of a situation where i would be "offended" by another religion's decoration. i mean, if i saw a jewish sign that read "happy yom kippur" i would not think twice about it. then again, the jewish community would probably never put up such deocrations in public.
they still have respect for their holidays.
posted by cade at 7:22 AM
6 Comments:
I can't agree with you more about this...you hit the nail on the head. What could they find even remotely Christian about the Easter Bunny? And what American is offended by Easter Bunny/egg/colorful stupid decorations?
cade how dare you! don't you understand that this is just one more shot fired in the war against the eater bunny and Christians?!
we are being persecuted damn-it!
we are a...
i can't do it. i just can't do it. it is too easy.
i do wonder however, how the jewish religion could comodify their holy days.
but i don't think i want to touch that one.
mike- we should TOTALLY start up a jewish-holiday-marketing jugernaut. it could be huge.
oh wait. it would be awful. nevermind.
also, how does one become a "human rights director"? is it a job-job, an elected position? and how do i become one?
i can sit around all day and complain about what's offensive and fair to everyone like a champ. a champ i say.
Technically, it's I who should be offended, but I'm not, actually. Be it bunnies or crosses draped in purple up for decoration, it's still commercialization and therefore, mostly ignored.
From “history of the Easter bunny” on askyahoo.com:
The Easter bunny has a long history as a pagan symbol that predates the Christian holiday. In fact, our sources suggest that early Christians purposefully co-opted the pagan hare to popularize their own holiday.
Quite a few pagan cultures hold celebrations in the spring. It's the time of year when plants return to life after being dormant all winter and when animals mate and procreate. These festivities celebrate the renewal of life and promote the fertility of crops, animals, and even people, which was important in these agrarian communities. The Saxons believed in a maiden goddess of fertility named Eastre or Eostre (Oestre in Latin) and honored her with a spring festival. Hares and rabbits were considered sacred to Eastre because they are notoriously fertile animals.
In the second century A.D., Christian missionaries tried to convert northern European tribes. To help make Christianity attractive, the missionaries turned pagan festivals into Christian holidays. The pagan Eastre festival occurred around the same time as the Christian celebration marking Christ's resurrection so the two celebrations blended into one, rabbit and all.
Over time, Eastre became Easter, and the symbolism changed as well. Instead of the Easter rabbit symbolizing fertility, the rabbit may symbolize an innocent, vulnerable creature that can be sacrificed, similar to the lamb. To Christians, these innocents are tokens of Christ and the sacrifice he made.
The Easter bunny we know today was influenced by German traditions dating back to the 1500s. German children believed that the Oschter Haws (a magical rabbit) would leave them a nest of colored eggs at Eastertime if they were good. Pennsylvania Dutch settlers brought this tradition to America in the 1700s.
On a related note, eggs have long been a symbol of rebirth and thus associated with spring celebrations. In the 600s, Pope Gregory the Great forbade the eating of eggs during Lent (the 40 days proceeding Easter), and this helped make eggs a special treat at Easter. Many European cultures also have old customs of decorating eggs and giving them as gifts.
krista-
thanks for that input. very interesting. glad you took the time to post it.
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