> Actors Whip Easter Bunny at Church Show
>
> GLASSPORT, Pa. (April 8) - A church 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.''
|
address: General delivery, Portland, Oregon 97209-9998