The Easter Bunny — secular icon that offends Christians and non-Christians alike!
On the non-Christian side …
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.
And, evidently, some Christians, too.
Eggs and bunnies are not just innocent symbols! Like Easter, they have origins in ancient paganism. The Encyclopedia Britannica says, “the conception of the egg as a symbol of fertility and of renewed life goes back to the ancient Egyptians and Persians, who had also the custom of coloring and eating eggs during their spring festival” (1960, art. “Easter,” vol. 7, p. 859). It seems like nothing involved in Easter has pure background except the resurrection of Jesus. It’s a shame that such a marvelous event has been so perverted by association with heathen customs.
Eggs Ralph Woodrow in his book, Babylon Mystery Religion, writes that the egg tradition goes all the way back to the ancient Babylonians! Woodrow writes, “They believed an old fable about an egg of wondrous size which was supposed to have fallen from heaven into the Euphrates River. From this marvelous egg—according to ancient history—the Goddess Astarte (Easter), was hatched” (1966, pp. 152-153). The Easter bunny that supposedly lays these eggs is equally of pagan origin—it is also a fertility symbol. Obviously, these are not just innocent customs!
I think I may have to buy some extra Easter Bunny decorations this year. Just because.
(news blurb via Avocet)
Bunny!