With Easter just around the corner, I thought I’d share this little piece I wrote a few years back when the annual “They’re trying to ban Easter!” outrage kicks in.
Sometimes our greatest enemy isn’t ‘them’, it’s ‘us’.
It’s us believing the bullshit.
It’s us agreeing to be divided and conquered.
It’s us being hateful instead of tolerant and accepting and kind and loving.
It’s us mindlessly regurgitating the shit we see and read on social media, without the ability to stop and think about the world we are creating by doing so.
It’s us lacking the ability to apply any level of critical thinking to what’s going on us around us.
It’s us unwilling to spend even a moment considering the consequences of our words and actions.
It’s us not realising ‘the world’ we so frequently have an issue with, isn’t a ‘thing’ but the sum total of what we all say and do.
It’s us using negative words and phrases like ‘political correctness gone mad’ and ‘slippery slope’ to justify divisiveness.
It’s us being fucking assholes to other us-es when most of the time, they’re really not so different to us.
It’s us having an issue with making concessions and changes and progress to be kind in an increasingly complex and diverse melting pot of a world.
And for the record, not that I or almost anyone of any faith that I’ve ever spoken to could give a flying fuck, Cadbury did NOT stop using the word Easter. (Although if I was them, and I didn’t want to have to discount stock the day after Easter, I’d probably leave the word ‘Easter’ off as many products as I could and continue to sell them at full price.)
Please don’t be ignorant. Or misguided. Or uncaring. Or intolerant. Or disrespectful. Or a bit of a cunt.
Be awesome to each other. 
Oh, and here’s what I’m fairly certain is an actual statement from an actual person at Cadbury.
“We have used the word Easter in our marketing campaigns for years, and Easter is clearly stated on several of our packs where it makes sense and where there is appropriate space,” a spokesperson told BuzzFeed News. “It also features prominently on our point of buying displays, with the tagline ‘Deliver a little joy this Easter’, and it’s mentioned on the back of some of our Easter products. We invite people from all faiths (and none!) to enjoy our delicious seasonal treats, which can be found around Easter time.”
This blog originally appeared on Facebook, Easter 2018. Sadly, the same thing still happens every. single. year.
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