Yes, Glassport is a town quite near Pittsburgh, where I was born and raised.  The area seems to have become quite surreal over the long years since I lived there.  Or perhaps as a callow, unaware young lad I just didn’t pay enough attention to the weird and wonderful locals. 

I’m not sure what to make of this. 

Actors Whip Easter Bunny at Church Show
Associated Press, Wed Apr 7, 5:18 PM ET

The story?  

GLASSPORT, Pa.  - 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."

Perhaps it is time to return for a visit.  It seems these folks have developed an entirely new genre of things – Surreal Fundamentalist Christian Performance Art. 

 

Hey, Andy Warhol was born and raised in Pittsburgh.  It’s still a happening place. 

 

Rick in Atlanta adds –

 

Finally, a pageant that expresses "The True Meaning of Easter!"  Yes, a little bit of Andy Warhol, but who can deny the additional influence of Mel Gibson?

 

What a world!