When my girls were small we didn't celebrate Easter. What we would do is put together a 'Spring Basket'. It was filled with all the candy and toys but we were simply celebrating the end of winter. (Mind you, in VT and WI there are 9 months of winter and 3 months of bad sledding).
At Christmas, we told our daughters that there was no Santa Claus for which my mother accused us of being child abusers. However, after telling them the truth we would have fun pretending that all these creatures were real. Their favorite was the Tooth Fairy who brought them a whoopie cushion.
We don't celebrate "Easter" (Ishatar....etc.) But we love to snack on Cadburry Eggs and Chocolate Bunnies. And biting the heads off "Peeps" (those marshmellow chicks and bunnies) is a hoot!
I suggest to our families at church that they refrain from the bunnies and eggs at Easter - which I prefer to refer to as Resurrection Sunday. They need to be clear about what we are celebrating.
And then they can go to the store the day after and get a great deal at the candy sales! They need not use it as "Easter" candy, but I see no problem with kids getting candy eggs and bunnies (and parents not paying an arm and a leg for it)!
We keep Santa Claus and and Easter Bunny distinctly seperate from the religious significance of each holiday.
Santa and the Bunny are as real as Barney and Dragontales to my kids, they are make believe to them. God and Christ are real to them, and we work very hard at making that distinction. :dueling:
For example, we celebrate the birth of Christ Christmas Eve, and Christmas morning are about presents that we give to them. For Easter we will celebrate Resurrection Sunday, and do eggs and baskets on Saturday as a spring fling kind of thing.
We don't do the Easter Bunny. In fact I don't think my son even knows who it is. Until last year he didn't know who Santa Claus was either since they aren't germane to the religious nature of these days. As to Barney- :smash: .
[b:a8c53374ce]Actors Whip Easter Bunny at Church Show[/b:a8c53374ce]
By Associated Press
April 7, 2004, 5:18 PM EDT
GLASSPORT, Pa. -- 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.
Patty Bickerton, the youth minister at Glassport Assembly of God, said the performance wasn't meant to be offensive. Bickerton portrayed the Easter rabbit and said she tried to act with a tone of irreverence.
"The program was for all ages, not just the kids. We wanted to convey that Easter is not just about the Easter bunny, it is about Jesus Christ," Bickerton said.
Performers broke eggs meant for an Easter egg hunt and also portrayed a drunken man and a self-mutilating woman, said Jennifer Norelli-Burke, another parent who saw the show in Glassport, a community about 10 miles southeast of Pittsburgh.
"It was very disturbing," Norelli-Burke said. "I could not believe what I saw. It wasn't anything I was expecting."
[quote:010cf6733b]
A church trying to teach about the crucifixion of Jesus performed an Easter show with actors whipping the Easter bunny and breaking eggs
[/quote:010cf6733b]
[quote:ebd6638431][i:ebd6638431]Originally posted by Optimus[/i:ebd6638431]
why? [/quote:ebd6638431]
After I was saved , Santa and the Easter Bunny left our home (as did all Hallows Eve)
The Catholic church compromised the truth of the Gospel in my opinion by adding to them the pagan images .
We do not talk of Santa , we place names on tags .
I do not give Chocolate bunnies , etc
The baskets our kids got had Kites and baseballs and other spring activities along with some chocolate .
I do not believe that it is a sin to celebrate the holidays with" secular " symbols because there is now no condemnation for those that are in Christ Jesus.
As Paul once noted
"All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not"
We're a tad odd (when my husband was alive) because we did the eight days of Passover because of my Jewish heritage and then we 'celebrated' the resurrection of Christ. Never have even liked calling 'it' Easter since from what I have read Easter has pagan connections. So we basically had the idea that if Christ being an observant Jew did something than it was good enough for us.
As for Easter candies etc I do buy the pastel coloured Hershey kisses because the colours are pretty. I also make an egg tree from blown and decorated eggs our hens lay. Eggs are Ok with me because they are part of the Passover seder. And our hens are hatching cute chicks this time of year.
I do know that this is a hard time for me because Ron died a few weeks ago and making special meals and seeing him so happy and smiling was all I needed to know he loved me.
[quote:9414f98871][i:9414f98871]Originally posted by pastorway[/i:9414f98871]
[b:9414f98871]Actors Whip Easter Bunny at Church Show[/b:9414f98871]
[color=Red:9414f98871][size=24:9414f98871]Patty Bickerton, the youth minister[/size:9414f98871][/color:9414f98871] at Glassport Assembly of God, said the performance wasn't meant to be offensive. Bickerton portrayed the Easter rabbit and said she tried to act with a tone of irreverence.
"The program was for all ages, not just the kids. We wanted to convey that Easter is not just about the Easter bunny, it is about Jesus Christ," Bickerton said. [/quote:9414f98871]