Outrage Over the Easter Egg Hunt Controversy is Ridiculous

As you’ll no doubt be aware by now, the National Trust has renamed their annual Easter Egg hunt as the ‘Great British Egg Hunt’. The Church of England has decided that this is an example of faith being airbrushed out of Easter…because nothing says ‘Christian faith’ like looking for chocolate eggs in a grassy field. The Archbishop of York John Sentamu also got on his moral high horse over this issue, declaring that this decision was ‘tantamount to spitting on the grave’ of John Cadbury. This is on account of the fact that John Cadbury was a Quaker who made the chocolate that the National Trust use for their hunts, and so obviously he must be spinning in his grave.

There are two issues at play here. The first is the startlingly lack of self-awareness that some of the Christian community in Britain are displaying in this discussion (if it’s possible to call hysteria a ‘discussion’.) Believe it or not – sorry for this Archbishop – Easter actually started off as a Pagan festival. The exchange of eggs is common across cultures, and in the Pagan tradition they represent fertility (hence Easter’s occurrence in Spring.) Do the Pagan leaders of Britain stand up and complain that their beliefs are being ‘airbrushed out’? Of course not! Why? Because they are not like petulant children who hold a deep desire to be the only people who take centre stage.

That little detail is all rather trivial in comparison to the much more serious issue. Theresa May – the Prime Minister of the secular United Kingdom – has waded into this controversy by denouncing the National Trust’s decision as ‘absolutely ridiculous’, and earnestly told reporters that she doesn’t ‘know what they’re thinking about’. Before I continue, allow me to add a little aside: Mrs May made those comments a few hours before she jetted off to suck up to the murderous regime of Saudi Arabia. You know; the one where women are not allowed to drive, homosexuals are viciously punished, and (ironically, considering the news) Christians are not allowed to worship openly.

There are much more important issues - such as child poverty - facing the country

Theresa May presides over a country where four million children live in poverty. A country where a seventeen year old asylum seeker was attacked in Croydon simply for existing. Yes, a country where people are being denied the right to die at home because of the dramatic lack of funding for social care. And what does she choose to speak out about? What name should be given to children looking for chocolate in a field.

To make matters worse, her government is introducing measures that will make people suffer. In her first Budget, it was made clear that housing benefit would be stopped for the under-21s (as arranged by David Cameron.) Undoubtedly, this will mean that we will see an increase in homelessness. Think, for example, of a young gay person who is thrown from his home at the age of eighteen. It is unlikely that he will be wealthy enough to rent a property, let alone buy one. He cannot, however, apply for housing benefit: he will have to fend for himself. This could mean ‘sofa-surfing’ (an act which many people feel violates their dignity), and will almost definitely end in homelessness. It goes without saying that there are other reasons this could happen.

Jesus Christ didn’t stutter when He said ‘whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers, that you do unto me.’ Imagine if He were to pay another trip to Earth. He would take one look at those getting angry about chocolate eggs, a look at those who cannot afford to feed themselves and their families, and catch the first train back to Heaven in absolute horror.

Can you really blame Him?

Daniel Clark is a writer for Student Voices. Read his articles here >