ONE VOTE FOR THE EASTER BUNNY....
I believe the saying goes "All the nuts aren't in the fruitcake." But I think you'll find a whole bunch in California. It seems as if every time you turn around there's an unbelievable story coming out of that great state. Today, the award goes to the municipal officials of Walnut Creek, California.
I'll be the first to admit that local government leaders, around the country, deal with some pretty difficult problems on a day to day basis and most do a commendable job. They have to handle police and fire problems, sewer budgets, emergency services, school concerns. Let's face it, they have their hands full. So you have to wonder how the Easter Bunny ever became a front and center issue in Walnut Creek. (That's right, I said the Easter Bunny!). Apparently, the great minds who sit on their municipal board felt that the term, Easter Bunny, was divisive! They determined that the term Spring Bunny would be more appropriate. Forget that Easter Egg hunt stuff. Give the kids what they really want...a Spring Egg hunt.
What's really amazing is that this story has been flying under the radar for five years! I guess people were too busy dealing with the assault on Christmas to even notice that the enemy had pulled a flanking maneuver and was attacking Easter.
I've been on this earth for some time now and I never met anyone who was upset over the Easter Parade, Easter Eggs, or even the Easter Bunny. And I'm talking about my non-Christian friends, too. If it bothers them that the Easter Bunny delivers candies one day a year or that people march down Fifth Avenue wearing their finest Spring attire, in something called the Easter Parade...well that's news to me.
I mention this issue in my media oriented blog because, in a way, this deals with marketing...branding. The leaders (and I use the term loosely) of Walnut Creek want to re-package...to re-brand the season. At least in their community. They want to purge their celebration of anything that might faintly acknowledge the existence of God and in this case Jesus Christ. Sure, the majority of the community may disagree with their position but 'screw them...they don't have the gavel....they don't have a vote.'
And then, of course, we have the opinion of academia.
"It's really not a big deal," said Lawrence Cunningham, University of Notre Dame theology professor. "I don't see any intrinsic value to the rabbit to the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
"The bunny is a fertility symbol with no religious connection to Easter," said Cunningham, the former Christianity editor for the HarperCollins Dictionary of Religion. "The egg, which was popularized in Greece, Russia and Eastern Europe in connection with Easter, does not have a religious connection to Easter. By taking away the term 'Easter,' these symbols to some extent return to their pre-Christian roots as symbols of spring fertility."
Mr. Cunningham....chill out! Go back to correcting your papers...PLEASE!
I'm sorry but these people have too much time on their hands. And this guy teaches at Notre Dame...a CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY! Ooy Vay!!
It's this kind of thinking that leads us to Sparkle Season and the Spring Bunny. What ever happened to good old fashioned tradition? We don't need to re-brand Easter...or Christmas. As a Christian, I welcome holidays of other faiths and beliefs. Holidays are happy times and God knows (dare I mention His name), we need more happy times.
Hey Walnut Creek...I know I don't have a vote...heck, you're probably thinking that I shouldn't even have an opinion....but if I did, I'd vote to keep the furry little Easter Bunny...and leave the Spring Bunny to Hugh Hefner.
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