23 Mar 2007

Tiverton, Rhode Island School Bans Easter Bunny

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In what the Providence Journal (if asked for login, use BugMeNot) describes as “a show of sensitivity,” the nincompoop Superintendent of a Tiverton, Rhode Island Middle School has banned the Easter Bunny.

It’s not that he has anything against rabbits, or even eggs, he’s just worried about the use of the word “Easter.”

The Easter Bunny was to have made a stop at a craft fair at the Tiverton Middle School tomorrow, appearing for photos with students as part of a fundraising effort sponsored by the school’s Parent-Teacher Council.

But Schools Supt. William Rearick called a halt to the use of the word “Easter” at a school event, just as the word “Christmas” is out of bounds in school publications and activities.

Instead of the Easter Bunny, the Parent-Teacher Council booth will offer photos with Peter Rabbit.

Similarly, Rearick said, he has told officials of the Tiverton Land Trust that a flier inviting children to an egg hunt cannot include the word “Easter.”..

Rearick nixed the Easter Bunny in response to a complaint from Burk, vice chairman of the School Committee.

Burk said yesterday that the appearance of an Easter Bunny at a school event would violate federal prohibitions against the public schools “soliciting or encouraging religious activities or participating in such activities.”

Read the whole thing.

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6 Feedbacks on "Tiverton, Rhode Island School Bans Easter Bunny"

Brenda Cibelli

To William Rearick-Rear-end– its not our fault Muslim and Jews have lame, boring holidays—leave American traditions alone!!!!!!!



Mr. McGregor

What in the world is going on in RI? I thought they were a tolerant bunch ever since they welcomed Roger Williams who fled the Puritans in Massachusetts back in the 17th century or thereabouts. O tempora, o mores!

Peter Rabbit stole the cabbages from my garden. I know the Easter Bunny, and Peter Rabbit is no Easter Bunny, and he is moreover certainly no sort of role model for today’s youth.

As a card-carrying member of ACLU ()



Judy

Mr. Rearick,
Have you completely lost your mind? We are in the fight of our lives in this country. A country that was founded on Christian beliefs and how dare you or anyone try to remove our traditions. Good wholesome traditions. You are trying to wipe Christianity out of this country and you must stop. You have made the islamic fascists quite happy with your decision. Like I said, we are in a fight against terrorism which is a fight against islam and you are aiding them as far as I’m concerned. Why can’t we have our traditions of using the words “Christmas” and “Easter”??? And how dare you try to destroy that.



Fred

Idiots, We got them in tiverton, Mr Reardick, did YOU work Good Friday or did you have the day off, Stay in Portsmouth if you dont like traditions…



Allen Pierce

Superintendent William Rearick:

A published article School Renames Easter Bunny “Peter Rabbit” names you, William Rearick, Superintendent of the Tiverton Public Schools as the initiator to rename the traditional Easter Bunny with a new alias “Peter Rabbit”, reportedly a “thief”. The article further states that you consider this traditional event “too Christian”.

First of all as “superintendent” of a public schools system, you should consider simple straight honest thinking for the benefit of those under your jurisdiction without warping traditional events and using/abusing religion as a means to undermine a traditional event that is appreciated by adults and children alike regardless of their races, color, religion or political affiliations, and no one needs you or anyone else undermining social and/or historical and/or religious and/or traditional activities that took decades to prove themselves a benefit and/or pleasure to the public in general.

Also, as “superintendent” you should have had more basic common sense than to give a traditional figure the name of a “thief” and alienate individuals and their families from a variety of walks of life and religions.

Most important of all there is or should be enough to keep you busy in a constructive manner teaching and supervising “reading, writing and arithmetic” without wasting everyone’s time and energy degrading, renaming and sodomizing an event appreciated by the majority.



Carol

Venerable Bede, a monk and an English historian of the early 8th century, writings show that he derived the modern word “Easter” from the Norse Ostara or Eostre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, to whom the month of April, and called Eostur-monath, was dedicated. This festival of spring took place around March 21 (modern calendar) when nature is in resurrection after the darkness of winter. In myths, the goddess Eastre who saved a bird whose wings were frozen from the harsh winter by turning it into a hare. This magical hare could actually lay eggs. Thus, this became a proposed origination of the Easter Bunny symbol. Prior to the Christian era, rabbits were also a symbol of fertility, aptly so for their reproductive abilities.

http://www.starstuffs.com/easter/index.html
Easter: Historical Origins of the Holiday



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