Banning the Word Easter

Alabama’s radio station WHNT reported that an elementary school principal allowed teachers and students to hold normal Easter celebrations, but banned the uses of the term “Easter.” The principal claimed her authority for this ridiculous rule was “religious diversity conflicts.” The school in Madison, Alabama, called Heritage Elementary, still had an egg hunt and a costumed rabbit, but Principal Lydia Davenport said neither could be referred to using the word “Easter.” She said it was ok to still feature a bunny, but she said, “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.” The principal allowed the egghunt to go on, but she ruled that the prizes had to be of different shapes rather than just eggs. No explanation was given about what restrictions were put on the egg hunt, but presumably it was the fear that somebody might slip up and call one of the eggs an “Easter egg.”

As you can imagine, some blog postings on the internet followed these ridiculous rulings. One parent wrote, “I don’t get upset about too many things, but this upsets me. What is this world coming to?” Another wrote, “I am a Christian and proud to announce it … but even non-believers enjoy a good egg hunt. And kids need to enjoy being kids.” I’m telling you about this ridiculous piece of news because listeners to this program need to face up to the fact that Christianity is under attack in the public schools, in the courts, in departments of education, and in public events of all kinds. The attack on the word “Easter” is not trivial. It shows the real nastiness of the anti-Christian zealots who want to make sure that our children never hear about God or Jesus, and not even about Christmas or Easter, except in their churches. In other words, it means banning Christianity from every public place or event or school. If the people listening to this program don’t stand up for what we believe, then who will?