We’re both educated in various religions and the thought is if the children want to pick one when older and fully informed, they can. It’s their choice and we’re not brainwashing them (of course, living in the West Coast of Scotland so adds to that challenge, but that’s a post for another day).

Anyway, despite going to a Protestant non-denomenational school, which you would imagine teaches all faiths (as long as they are Protestant) we had our first major hiccup with the Muslim faith the other day…

Dear Daughter has weekly swimming lessons (and she’s not bad, can’t swim in a straight line to save herself though) and two of her wee pals there are lovely little girls raised as Muslim. The mum – from Lanarkshire – is a great mix of Muslim faith and Scottish practicality, so we all get on fine and fab, though I’m sure to some halfwits in this country, even speaking to someone who can spell Muslim marks you out as a terrorist sympathiser.

Anyway, last weekend, the girls were pointing out that they receive chocolate eggs – as you would for this time of the year – but they get to eat them before Easter Sunday because they don’t believe in Easter (a simple explanation is here but basically Muslims don’t believe Jesus was killed on the cross or resurrected as such.) which quite intrigued madam.

Fast Forward to Easter Sunday dinner and she’s speaking about how the girls got to eat their Easter eggs early “because they don’t believe in Easter and that means Muslims don’t believe in the Easter Bunny so they get to eat their eggs early.”*

Now, I always thought these kids you hear of who think Christmas is about Santa and so on were a wild myth, but now we have it that Easter is all about the Easter Bunny (come back next year when we do the Stations of the Cross and crucifixion with a bunny.)

On the one hand, parent me finds it hilarious (as does agnostic boy) but the part that’s about knowing your culture/other religions is mortified (what makes it even worse is that she was at church with the school on Wednesday. Clearly paid a lot of attention there then).

I think it will be Mel Gibson’s The Passion instead of Muzzy tonight…

* The writer in me was mortified at her leap in logic though: if they don’t believe in the Easter Bunny surely they shouldn’t receive eggs as there’s no bunny to deliver them. That’s what she should have been asking…