It was only a matter of time: The attacks on Easter has begun

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EASTER_BUNNY?SITE=CATOR&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2006-03-23-09-31-46


St. Paul (the city not the actual Saint) had banned the Easter Bunny...

Because it might offend Non-Christians.


First of all I am a Christian and the Bunny offends me anyway because it is completely non-Christian ans shameless merchandising to sell stuff that has nothing to do with what Easter is all about.


THe funny thing is that they are worried about the bunny offending...what about the name of your flippin town....you bozos.

:shrug:

what the bunny symbology came from?

They have historically been used to explain the Holy Trinity: three separate parts with different jobs all together as one thing.

from the Druids who used it to symbolize the triple goddess of the pagan Irish, the virgin, the mother and the crone. Since they believed in a trinity anyway, it was easy enough to get them interested in his Trinity.

Whenever a new religion comes into a culture, the best way to explain it is to use symbols people already know. I've often heard Islam and Buddhism explained with Christian termonology or symbols, and I don't think they're stealing anything, just using the best tools around. It's the oldest and best technique for missionaries of all religions.

The Church did end up doing a horrible thing in wiping out all competition, often in disgusting and horrific ways, I'm not saying they didn't. They should've treated anyone of another faith as their neighbor or even as Christ says to treat our enemies, which they weren't. Unfortunately, people don't always do as we are asked to do, and bad behavior on both sides can escalate a conflict into violence.

I'm Eastern Orthodox Christian, and the Catholic Church attacked our church during the Crusades, too. It isn't like that violence was only against the pagans.

one religion and ethnicity to try to dominate another religion and ethnicity in his tale of the Good Samaritan. In Christ's day Samaritans were a non-Judaic neighboring nation who also believed in the same God, but practiced their worship in a somewhat different way. They were non-the-less despised by the Jews and the feeling was reciprocal, much like the Sunni/Shiite thing today. Jesus told the tale of the Good Samaritan to illustrate his lessons of brotherly love and tolerance of those different from you.

I think that, if He were around today, He'd use an HIV+ gay married couple with kids instead. He used an example of someone the listeners had been conditioned to hate to show that everyone is our neighbor, not just people we like or live near. I wish more Christians realized that message and lived it.

Rabbits and eggs are both ancient fertility symbols.

the name of their main goddess, if I remember my Babylonian mythology correctly.

Things like Lent, Good Friday, and the celebration of the Resurrection are indeed Christian in name and content, but the Easter Bunny in both name and content are entirely secular (or pagan, depending on how connected you are to goddess religions).

I hadn't noticed the irony of a city named "St. Paul" doing this until someone mentioned it..LOL...

..guess not... ;-)

I think some Catholic scholar of many centuries ago traced the origins of Easter back to a celebration of the *ahem* rebirth of her son/lover/whatever? Regardless, I do remember that her name was Eostre. :)

though Eostre and Ishtar/Ashtore are linguistically so similar that there may be a common derivation.

It would make sense that the avenue into the English language would have been Germanic, though.

NT!

didn't he give up foaming for lent?

is he even catholic?

if I put a Yamaka on my bunny can I display him for Passover?

What if my bunny is a Christian - does he have to be hidden away?

What about the Easter Egg hunt on the White House Lawn - should that be banned too?

Are we allow to say HAPPY EASTER?

If your nickname is Bunny are you allowed in public during Easter?

BUNNIES OF AMERICA UNITE!

you'd better call my sister. She holds one every year for her grandchildren and their friends.

Save Our Bunnies!

but i think an easter platypus might be more appropriate since it lays eggs.

Really...they do.

Because then I morph into Whatsisname from Conair and say, "Put ... the bunny ... in ... the basket."

are Pagan.

:shrug:

No more pagan than most of our traditions for Christmas. The tree, the mistletoe, etc.

As a born again Pagan, I'd be offended NOT to have those two symbols of life and spring.

Instead of freedom of religion, we are heading toward only being free if you are a Fundie. I jumped that boat long ago and have no intention of climbing aboard again! I have this little thing about hypocricy... ya know?

Just that there is no Christian symbolism in it at all.

I can tell you that MOST of the Christian holidays, even the most holy of holidays, are rooted in Pagan ritual and celebration. If you read the history of the Christian religion from a purely sociological viewpoint, you will find that the early church leaders combined Pagan ritual and holidays to make the religion more palatable to those they were trying to reach. There is virtually no mention in the KJV Bible about celebrating holidays. There are even Pagan rituals that involve Frankincense and Myrrh...

;)

He brings the chocolate! :bounce: :bounce: :bounce:

How could it be, when it was adopted from Pagan rituals?

I'm a fundie turned Pagan myself, 10 years and counting. I like to call it taking the red pill. :hi:

Yeah, I meet a lot of people like us. And there isn't even a support group for recovering Christians either! Only a 12 step program... when you hear the church bells, take 12 steps in the other direction!


Those jokers really screwed with me. I was totally into the Christian scene and even had my own music "ministry" beginning at the age of 13. They hated me for the questions I asked that they could not answer, and they hated me for the rock 'n roll I tried to introduce to the youth choir... I'm a much happier person now without all that oppression:)

Must be the War on Easter...
that being said, Easter has the BEST candy out there--bar none.
It's my favorite chocoholic Holiday.;)

an attack on Easter.

with all the GOOD candy at Easter...you eat PEEPS?
:puke:;)

save Easter from attack!

Peeps rule!

You make the baby Jesus cry. :cry:

:spray:

They are probably the only candy I won't eat.

1 Peep
Ovaltine
2 Triscuits

It gives me great joy!:D

BTW: There was a photo of a Peep Messiah, praying over other peeps at the Terri Schiavo kookfest last year. Anybody know where it is?

filling.

The original had 3 styrofoam Peep Disciples.:rofl:

:rofl:

"Ralph, Jesus did not have wheels."

What Ms. Hoover didn't know is that THIS one does!

:rofl:

Now that is just wrong . . .

How do they stay together in the microwave?

:spray:

in my town. How could the Easter Bunny offend non-christians, I would think it would be the religious part of Easter that would offend non-christians.

:silly:

ergo he didn't believe in a corporeal resurrection from the dead. In fact,
St Paul believed that Jesus would be revealed incarnate only at the end times,
ergo the naming of the city as St Paul has nothing to do with Easter.

In fact, Paul preached a Jesus whose struggle against death took place before the Earth was formed,
whose word was revealed through divine revelation, not as part of a human existence.

Check it out.

where in the world did you come up with that?

Hell, I'm an atheist, and I know the history and bible better than quite a few of them.

The history of the early Xtian church is a fascinating subject, much more interesting than
the myths that surround its orthodoxy. How many 'persecuted' Xtians even know that
modern Biblical scholarship has conceded that 10 out of the 14 epistles written by Paul
were of spurious or doubtful authorship? Hebrews isn't even attributed to Paul, while
Second Thessalonians is an obvious forgery that avers First Thessalonians is a
forgery!

Paul supposedly wrote 25 years after the "death" of Jesus...and not until 17 years
after his "vision" on the road to Damascus. He didn't know Jesus. He believed his
knowledge of Jesus was divined from visions and trances, not from anything the
disciples said or taught (""The Gospel which was preached of me is not after man,
for I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it" (Gal. i, II, 12).

But then, ignorance is bliss, isn't it?

Why the hell would anyone do this anyway? The Easter Bunny is not offensive to me as a Christian OR Pagan symbol. Stuff like this actually feeds the illusion that we, as liberals, are after Christianity in this country. It seems like a waste of time and offers the fundamentalists one more thing to take the focus off what is really important:GETTING BUSH AND HIS ADMINISTRATION OUT OF OFFICE AND BEHIND BARS.

honoring an orthodox Jew, HAM?

Cause there aren't any more holidays to give to the pork lobby...sheesh...get with the program.;):sarcasm:

mother-in-law's day?

Your mother in law might think you are insinuating she is a swine.:evilgrin:

Not to split hairs or anything ... :silly:

of course. :evilgrin:

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, it's lamb.

Where in the New Testament does it mention the Easter Bunny? I think I missed that part, and I've read the gospels pretty thoroughly. Must be in one of the lesser-known epistles? Or maybe it's from one of the obscure parables presented in the gnostic gospels?

Or perhaps it's another one of those local pagan symbols sanctioned by the Holy Roman Empire... ya think?

I couldn't resist.:evilgrin:

who's pregnant?

Women striking their husbands and men lifting women three times...

"On Easter Monday the women had a right to strike their husbands, on Tuesday the men struck their wives, as in December the servants scolded their masters. Husbands and wives did this "ut ostendant sese mutuo debere corrigere, ne illo tempore alter ab altero thori debitum exigat" (Beleth, I, c. cxx; Durandus, I, c. vi, 86). In the northern parts of England the men parade the streets on Easter Sunday and claim the privilege of lifting every woman three times from the ground, receiving in payment a kiss or a silver sixpence. The same is done by the women to the men on the next day. In the Neumark (Germany) on Easter Day the men servants whip the maid servants with switches; on Monday the maids whip the men. They secure their release with Easter eggs. These customs are probably of pre-Christian origin (Reinsberg-Düringsfeld, Das festliche Jahr, 118). "

http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05224d.htm

:evilgrin:

But, in keeping with tradition in my household, I bit the ears off every one of them!

But oh so funny!

The stated reason for the change is concern over "offending" non Christians.

That's wrong.

The right reason would be that the state should not endorse, or give the appearance of endoring, any religion. It's not a matter of offense, but of principle.

The Bunny has no religious value to begin with. Unless you are talking about a pagan religion and even that is a stretch.

If the objection is to it being n EASTER bunny, then it is difficult to subscribe religious connotation based on a a theological link. It is not the least bit related to religion except in a name and that is not Christianity's fault

"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."

It may seem insignificant, but I don't think it should be displayed by the city.

That said, as these things go I think it IS insignificant and not worth much effort.

Easter:

Ostara, the goddess of spring, fertility, and rebirth, also known as Eostre. Appears at the spring equinox. Bunnies and eggs are part of the myths and festivals.

As with other "christian" holidays, there are strong links between the christian celebration of christ's resurrection and the pre-christian pagan dieties and seasonal observances.

The church was, and is, determined to conquer, reshape, and reserve all "holidays" as holy only to their doctrine, but that determination doesn't give them ownership. I wonder what Jesus the Christ would have thought of that practice?

Another chance to whine about how you're being persecuted, Perky?

When will you get the fuck over yourself already?

I was laughing at the Irony of a town named St.Paul bannint the Easter Bunny because it might offend Non Christian,

There is no persecution, Ithink it is silly. Why do you isiste on trying to pick a fight where one does not exist?

A city named after a religious figure hundreds of years ago banning pagan (in actuality, cultural through their common use) displays isn't really ironic. Silly, I agree, but not ironic.

Perhaps I jumped on you a bit harshly. I suppose the "war on easter" title threw me off, as I've seen you whine about being persecuted before. So, I apologize for telling you to get the fuck over yourself (though I still believe you should remember that when you DO whine about being persecuted).

I'll retire from the possibly-expected battle and agree that this situation is dumb.

I would think Non-Christians would be more upset than the town being named for a Christian Saint far more then they would or should be upset by the Easter Bunny. I fo not think the Christians co-opted the Easter Bunny. Although I don't disagree that they may well have co-opted a pagan holdiay at Easter and Christmas.

We Christians never have had a huger number of Original Thinkers. I am still trying to get my hand arounf the guy who came up Christian Aerobics.

If they were really worried about not offending non-Christians, they would change the name of the city to Just Plain Paul, Minnesota!

First the war on Christmas, now the war on Easter. What's next? The war on the Sabbath?

The war on JESUS.

Watch. It's coming.

Check this thread out:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x718308

War on Forks! War on Cigarette lighters! War on Single Serving Sugar Packets! War on Gaffer Tape! War on Rubix Cubes! etc.

Christians are trying to kill off the poor Easter Bunny?

For Shame!

That's my fave!

mikey_the_rat

No wonder the rest of the world think Americans are the dumbest people on earth.

in my sock drawer..

I hope the great goldfish leaves me a few more this year

FYI Dead resurrected guys don't make very attractive tablescapes (just sayin)

I like the bunny.

now that's worth going to war over.

What's easter without a chocolate bunny?

other as they greedily rampage across the lawn trying to hoard as many colored eggs as they can. Parents, desperate to have their kid's picture in the paper, put unbelievable pressure on the egg hunters, sabotage other children in the hunt, and yell obscenities at the sponsors.
And that would be a shame.

What the Hell does the Easter Bunny have to do with religion? I'm all for non-Christians not having Christian stuff shoved in their faces, but the Easter Bunny is reaching a bit. It's like Santa Claus not being a religious symbol. The Easter Bunny & Santa are the secular symbols of their respective holidays.

Tammy

A pagan symbol of fertility, because "it might offend non-Christians".

Is the city being run by total imbeciles, or are they just trying to start another uprising of the religious right?

:cry: "There's a war on Easter! Those non-Christians won't let our precious children even have an Easter Bunny!" :cry:

Surely even the dimmest Fundie bulb can grasp the symbolism of a pink, moist, quivering heart-shaped object being pierced by a long, hard shaft.

That's right: DILD O'REILLY

Email him at
oreilly@foxnews.com

Maybe his head will explode on-camera.

Strange what centuries of being the dominant religion has done to Christians' perceptions of being attacked.

As others have noted, I'm sure there are more than a few Christians who are offended by the Easter bunny, considering he's NOT IN THE BIBLE. No eggs, no pastel colors, none of that.

So keep in mind that this also respects the beliefs of OTHER CHRISTIANS, Perky.

the government of a city named "St. Paul" is concerned that non-Christian would be upset form a Church-State perspective by a non-Christian symbol like the Easter bunny is both silly and incredibly myopic.

It is just funny and Ironic. "The war" part was simply being sarcastic.

since we have "In God We Trust" on our currency, it should be just fine to post the 10 Commandments in every school and courtroom.

Its the friggin Easter Bunny

Which I agree is funny because Easter itself, especially the word, is certainly not Christian.

But in the interests of tolerating different religious beliefs, I can see why such a display would be unacceptable.

Or should the majority faith get to proudly display their propaganda, while everyone else has to be quiet or be shunned?

should ever be displayed on government property.

I don't think their should be school sponsored prayer in homeroom. I don't think intelligent design should be part of a curriculum/

Chiefly because I do not think the state should be doing what the Church does not want to do itself in any other context. It is the height of irresponsibility on the part of the church to let otherd "proseltyze" for them. It trivialize faith and attempts to make it a civil religion and is its shameful

to spread more crap about people attacking Christianity, again. Does Rove pay you?

The War on easter was completly tongue in cheek Thewh ole thing both myopic and very silly and full of Irony. I think if you read any of my other post on this thread you will readily see that.

It is in dvd, isn't it?