Free Republic

San Diego County parks have set four Easter egg hunts, but are keeping the affairs secular by renaming the featured hopper the “Spring Bunny.” Events over the next two weeks will feature different activities at each location. Some feature face painting and others pancake breakfasts. Eggs hunts are set at four county parks. Image courtesy of County News Center“But the constants at all of them will be a chance to meet the Spring Bunny and lots of eggs – thousands of them!” says the county, whose news release doesn’t use the word Easter. Last year’s release also avoided any religious...

**SNIP** Late last week, it came to light a class of seventh-grade female students at Stephen Decatur Middle School had been required to make clay models of male genitalia as part of the Family Life and Human Development program taught in county schools to students in grades 5-11. While most agree the course, which teaches students about their changing bodies and making good decisions, is an important one for the students, few agreed making clay models of the male reproductive organs was an appropriate component of the program. **SNIP** Luzier said the girls in the class made life-size male genitalia...

Culture challenge of the week: Easter makeoverOn Easter Monday, the White House will host its annual Easter Egg Roll. Before you applaud the Obamas for maintaining the traditional celebration, consider how things have changed. This year’s theme (Why does Easter Monday demand a “theme” apart from Easter itself?) is “Be Healthy, Be Active, Be You!” Yes, that’s right. The Egg Roll, an event that has been around for 135 years, acknowledging Easter’s importance in the cultural and religious lives of our people, has been reduced to a physical fitness promotion, with Michelle Obama as the Richard Simmons-style cheerleader. This year’s...

In a time of severe budget constraints, two factors explain why the White House can afford to welcome more than 30,000 people Monday for the 135th annual Easter Egg Roll: corporate sponsors and souvenir eggs. Nearly a century ago, Congress empowered the National Park Service, which oversees the Easter Egg Roll, to accept private donations for its operations. So when her twin boys came home from kindergarten and told her the Easter Egg Roll might be canceled, Victoria Knight-McDowell, owner and chief executive of Pine Bros. Softish Throat Drops, wrote a check for $25,000 to make sure that would not...

March 24 is Palm Sunday, which means that millions of Christians across the country will be celebrating Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem by carrying palm leaves, often shaped in the form of a cross, into their places of worship. Where do these palms come from? Most likely they have been imported from one of a few Latin American countries: Guatemala, Belize, or southern Mexico, for instance. And most likely, they have been harvested in a manner that is harmful to the environment. Harvesters are often paid by volume rather than quality, and they have a strong incentive to cut as many...

In our increasingly politically-correct society, Christmas isn’t the only holiday too hot to handle for school districts. Easter, another holiday rooted in Christian faith, is now being marginalized by governmental entities. School districts and cities across America are holding “Spring egg hunts” and similar events, frequently omitting the word “Easter” from calendars and public announcements. Consider these: • On March 16th, Flat Rock Elementary School in Anderson, South Carolina is holding a “Community Egg Hunt.” • West Shore School District will be holding its “PTO Egg Hunt” on March 16th. • New York’s East Meadow Schools will be holding its...

We’re familiar with the “war on Christmas,” but what about the war on Easter? It looks like it’s starting. An Ohio town has decided that the local East egg hunt is just too exclusive, and decided to rename this weekend’s seasonal event to “The Spring Egg Hunt.” Doesn’t quite have the same ring, does it? The controversy in Munson Township centers around the event being sponsored by taxpayers. A private sponsor has come forward, however, and is now offering to foot the bill:

FISHKILL – State Police are looking for the person who mugged the Easter Bunny in front of the Alps Sweet Shoppe on Main Street in Fishkill in the late afternoon on Wednesday. Just before 5 p.m., a woman, dressed in a white rabbit costume, was attacked by an unknown assailant as she stood on the sidewalk in front of the shop. The perp charged her and slamming her to the ground before fleeing on foot. The victim sustained minor injuries. The attacker was seen running in the area of the post office. He is described as being about 17 years...

It happens twice a year, at Christmas and Easter. The newsweeklies sometimes carry cover stories. The newspapers print items calling the reason for these seasons into question. This Easter is no exception, but the intensity level seems to have increased. This year's first attack came from St. Paul, Minn., a where local officials decided to ban the Easter Bunny from City Hall. They said it might offend some non-Christians, as if the Easter Bunny has anything to do with Easter's real significance. Apparently it escaped the notice of the city council that the Easter Bunny might offend Christians, because, like...