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April 9, 2004

Why Are They Whipping the Easter Bunny, Mummy?

by Red Wolf

United States: It's no big surprise that loony fundies tend to be out of touch with the community, but a church in Pennsylvania found itself to be out of touch with its congregation when their Easter play combined The Passion of the Christ with the Easter bunny.

A church in western Pennsylvania 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.

Performers Whip Easter Bunny At Church Play - NBC, 7th April 2004 (via Neil Gaiman's Journal).

Posted in Love Thy Neighbour at 03:57. Last modified on July 14 2009 at 16:45.
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» Flogging of the Easter Bunny from Elwing's weblog
So, I first hear this from my family over "Easter" dinner on Saturday night. Apparently a church in Glassport (where my cousin Jenny used to live), flogged the easter bunny in a presentation to show that Easter isn't just about... [Read More]

Tracked on April 11, 2004 4:11 AM

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