Easter Bunny Tyranny

We're more than half way through the season of Lent which means that the great celebration of Easter and the resurrection of Christ is nearly upon us. This year Easter Sunday falls of April 1st, which is Fool's Day. A bizarre situation has been reported in recent days which unfortunately is not a joke.

Actually, the reports were about the positive outcome of a chilling decision on the part of the Hamilton Children's Aid Society.  Frances and Derek Baars, who describe themselves as a Christian couple with "strong religious faith," took the Children's Aid Society of Hamilton to court in April 2017, about a year after two girls in their care — aged three and five — were taken away and their foster home was closed because they would not tell the kids that the Easter Bunny was real.

The couple said the Easter Bunny was at the core of the dispute and argued telling children in their care the character was real was a violation of their religious beliefs. CAS conceded that the children were well cared for and that the Baars told them that they would be hiding chocolate eggs for the girls to find. Fortunately the Superior Court Judge ruled in the couple's favour and they are able to foster children again, although they now live in another province. I hope the Baars received compensation for their legal costs.



Um, CAS, the Easter Bunny is not real! Of course, neither is Santa Claus, and some households choose not to uphold this grand deception either. Many moons ago we decided to tell our three children the truth about St Nick and swore them to secrecy with their friends. Remarkably, they kept that promise, they got plenty of gifts at Christmas, and none of them seemed to be traumatized. It's interesting that the two of them who have young children have opted not to follow our example, which is their choice. It was amusing this past Christmas, just the same. Our delightful grandsons came up the stairs Christmas morning, full of wonder about Santa's visit. It was so much fun, but our younger daughter (30) who decided as a child that Santa was real because it suited her purposes admitted she felt a little queasy upholding the deception with her nephews.

Did you hear about this nonsensical situation? Is this one more example of a secular and materialistic culture imposing it's values on those who have religious convictions? How do we uphold the meaning of Christmas and Easter? Should we gather over chocolate to talk this through?