This week, teachers at Heritage Elementary School in Madison, Ala., were informed that using the word Easter was a no-no. It all began over plans to host a “quiz bowl” egg hunt where students would chime in to answer with egg buzzers and search for answers to questions in “Easter eggs.” But the principal said there would be no affiliation with “Easter eggs” in Heritage Elementary; the school will still hold an “egg hunt,” but it will be void of the correlation with Easter.
The principal, Lydia Davenport, states the school’s religious diversity among students prompted the decision. “Kids love the bunny, and we just make sure we don’t say ‘the Easter bunny’ so that we don’t infringe on the rights of others, because people relate the Easter bunny to religion,” she told a local news crew. “A bunny is a bunny and a rabbit is a rabbit.”
This is an example of hyper political correctness. I know very few individuals who think of Jesus when they think of the Easter bunny. Why? Because the Easter bunny, much like Easter eggs, Easter bonnets and Easter hams, has nothing to do with the religious aspect of Easter. Rather they are pagan traditions created for the fun celebration of a holiday.
If this principal says the “Easter bunny” is synonymous with religion and is banned, then she must also ban Christmas trees, since Christmas is about Christ’s birth; the four-leaf clover at St. Patrick’s Day, given St. Patrick was a Catholic saint; or other “holiday” symbols that might be offensive. There has to be some stopping point at which barriers are put up.
Ironically, for Christians, “Easter” is not even an appropriate term for our Sunday celebration; instead we commemorate “Resurrection Sunday.” Still, it is no wonder there is such controversy over this holiday.
The Resurrection has and will always be offensive. It was offensive the day Jesus stepped out of the tomb. His resurrection was surrounded by lies and deception of leaders who did not want to or could not believe.
For followers of Jesus, we have to consider that this controversy started 2,000 years ago and is not going to end. While Jesus’ purpose is to unite people, what He has done creates dissension.
It would be nice if we could come to an agreement and stop arguments about removing terms like Easter, but we can’t.
Just the other night my wife and I were reading 2 Tim. 3 in which refers to the last days before Christ’s return—days full of pleasure, selfishness and individuals unable to grasp the truth.
While no one knows the date of the Second Coming, we have seen these signs of the times over the last few years. We have systematically seen oppression of the Christian faith rise, and the removal of “Easter” from a public school is only one more reminder that Jesus is coming soon.
Jay Lowder is the founder of Jay Lowder Harvest Ministries and author of Midnight in Aisle 7.
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