ABC News recently reported that a Rhode Island public school district superintendent named William Rearick demanded that those organizing the appearance of an Easter Bunny as Tiverton Middle School rename the performer Peter Rabbit “to be conscious of other people’s backgrounds and traditions.†A state legislator has responded by introducing an “Easter Bunny Act.â€ÂÂ
As an atheist, I see no reason why we can’t call an Easter Bunny what it is. After all, WHY is “Peter Rabbit†making his appearance at this particular time of the year? Are the youngsters not supposed to know it’s connected to Easter and its traditions? Perhaps they will just have to whisper to each other what the reason is. Indeed, an odd thing about this is that while Easter is a specifically Christian holiday, the Easter Bunny is a perfectly secular tradition that grew out of it much like Santa Claus and his reindeer. Perhaps a truthfully labeled Easter Bunny could spark and interesting and informative discussion for the children about how religious traditions lead to secular ones.
It does no harm to those who celebrate neither Christmas nor Chanukah to see nativity scenes and menorahs at December. Crosses and reproductions of the Ten Commandments may be appreciated for their cultural and historical value.
We live in a country that guarantees religious freedom. People can practice any religion they wish to or they can choose, as I do, to practice no religion at all. However, this does not mean and should not mean that we must rigorously scrub all religious symbols, or even things as tangentially connected with religion as the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus, from the public square.
