VERSION|0.5.1|NAME|Stonyground|DATE|1362598056|CONTENT|It&#039;s funny, I visit here every day but sometimes just can&#039;t think of anything to say about the OP. Sometimes I can, but other people have already said it better that I could, so I don&#039;t bother to comment. Today, in contrast, I&#039;m full of it.

&quot;They&#039;ll be trying to co-opt the Easter Bunny next.&quot;

From the New Humanist Magazine, May 2004:

&quot;The Easter Bunny has found himself the latest victim of the sado-masochistic fervour whipped up by Mel Gibson&#039;s The Passion of the Christ. Young members of Pennsylvania&#039;s Assembly of God witnessed the flaying and beating of the hapless rabbit, as church leaders repeatedly told them &quot;There is no Easter Bunny&quot;. Melissa Salzmann, who brought her four year old son to the service, found it totally inappropriate for children: &quot;My son was crying and asking why the bunny was being whipped,&quot; she complained. Youth minister Patty Bickerton defended the gruesome show, saying: &quot;The programme 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.&quot; And public whipping, of course. Santa says he may skip Pennsylvania this year.&quot;

I would also add that Easter is nothing whatsoever to do with Jesus Christ, it is to do with spring, the world coming back to life after its winter sleep, and fertility, which, in agrarian societies, could mean the difference between being well fed, being hungry, or dying of starvation. |EMAIL|elizabeth@iww1967.wanadoo.co.uk|IP-ADDRESS|95.150.29.96|MODERATIONFLAG|