March 26, 2003
Some Easter baskets filled with toy soldiers By By RHONDA PARKS MANVILLE Easter is coming, and stores are brimming with goodies to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, the holiest day on the Christian calendar. Symbolizing the season of rebirth and new life are shelves stocked with chocolate and marshmallow candies shaped like eggs and rabbits, fuzzy stuffed bunnies and baby chicks in pastel colors, and festive Easter baskets filled with candy, dolls, and toy airplanes. And then there are the Easter baskets featuring plastic soldiers with gas masks and weapons. The placement of military toys into Easter baskets designated for small children has so offended one Santa Ynez Valley man that he has started a local drive via e-mail to get them off the shelves. "I'm not very religious -- in fact, I'm born Jewish," said Ethan Turpin, 29. "Although I don't have a religious connection to Easter, I have a sense of what is and what is not authentic and appropriate for the Easter holiday, or for a spring celebration, for that matter. "Whether people are for or against the war in Iraq, it's not appropriate to militarize a religious holiday." Mr. Turpin heard about the war toy Easter baskets on the Democracy Now radio program, and was surprised to find them at the Rite Aid drug store in Solvang, not far from his home. He asked the manager there to remove the baskets, and was told that his request would be delivered to upper management. The baskets range from $13 to $20 at various stores. As of this week, the baskets featuring cheaply made plastic war characters remained at Rite Aid, Wal-Mart and Kmart stores throughout the county, though Walgreens stores pulled the military-themed baskets last week, stating that while the corporation supports the troops and the country, "we did not think it was appropriate to include military toys in Easter baskets." The commercialization of Easter and other religious holidays is not new -- some object to the Easter Bunny and egg hunts as pagan intrusions -- but religious leaders in Santa Barbara said the militaristic twist is particularly disturbing in light of the Easter message. Some even found it shocking. "Oh, Lord," said the Rev. Virgil Cordano of the Santa Barbara Mission. "Easter and war are serious matters, and to capitalize on them for economic profit is in poor taste. From a religious standpoint, I pray for those in war, and that those who lose their lives will have eternal life and come to God. But these Easter baskets seem to be an uncalled-for association of two concepts and ideas, which is uncalled for."
The Rev. Bets Weinecke said she can't imagine why anyone would buy such a thing for a child. "It's obscene -- it really borders on pornography in some way," she said. "We would be abhorred if someone gave our children rubbers or prophylactics, and yet it's OK to give them weapons? What does this have to do with rebirth and renewal and hope? The whole thing is bizarre." The Rev. Thomas Inch of Grace Lutheran Church in Santa Barbara said that Easter "has gone the way of many things, in that we have forgotten or misplaced its original intent -- which is a celebration of who God is and what God does for us -- and reduced it to a commercial venture. Easter is about life. If you are talking about soldiers and gas masks, that is not what you are upholding."
Mr. Turpin, who has been active in local antiwar protests, said he opposes the Easter baskets on moral grounds. "I'm pretty aggravated by the idea of corporations profiteering from a war frenzy and encouraging little boys to learn to be violent," he said in an e-mail he sent out. "At a time when our leaders seem unconcerned with demands for peace, this is a way to locally challenge the militarization of society. Do it for the kids!" After receiving Mr. Turpin's e-mail, Ove Kargard of Santa Barbara said he was inspired to do something. "I think it definitely sends the wrong message to children, to include such war propaganda into the holidays, and I will ask that they be removed," said Mr. Kargard, a Lutheran and the father of 3-year-old Freya Kargard. "I think it's rather atrocious to have a loving holiday such as Easter be degraded in a such a way. It is disturbing, to say the least." The managers of several stores selling the military Easter baskets said customers are snapping them up, but feelings were mixed about whether there is any harm in it. Reuben Mota, the manager of a Rite Aid store in downtown Santa Barbara, said he put some of the baskets in the stock room after an antiwar protester at a recent rally complained. "He was very upset, and I told him I would put them away," Mr. Mota said. "But they are toys, and a lot of boys like to play with the Hummers and things like that. I liked it too, when I was a kid. I used to play with that kind of thing." The manager of another chain store, who requested anonymity, said the Easter baskets were selling well, though as a Catholic, he found them offensive: "It's commercializing Easter, but everyone has a right to their own opinion. If a person doesn't like them, they should boycott them. To each his own." |
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