Easter is right around the corner. Someone please explain to me where the Easter Bunny came from and what does some giant rabbit and psychodelic colored eggs have to do with the ressurection of Jesus. Same goes for Christmas. How does some fat man from the North Pole riding in a sled being pulled by flying rodents with antlers have to do with the birth of Christ. Were these characters concocted by the Anti-christ to distract us from the true nature of Christ on these “holidays”?. Someone please elaborate 
I don’t know about the bunny. Eggs symbolise birth (aka rebirth?)
I’m a non-chocolate-liking atheist. Sue me.
Okay, I can understand the eggs symbolizing birth (somewhat), but why the wild colors? I’ve always thought wild colored eggs to be a sign of them being either rotten or deseased :eek:
Whatever they meant in the start has long since vanished. Sparkly, pretty? With chocolate inside? Yep sounds good (to the masses)
Reindeer are NOT rodents.
They are insects.
Actually, you may have the whole thing backwards, because some of these traditions have deep roots; It may well be that Jesus was something that the Christians brought along to distract people from the Easter Bunny.
Basically, the Christian holiday and the Pagan holiday (beginning of spring and all that) got mixed together. “Easter” is an approximation of the name of the old Saxon fertility goddess, and her symbols were the egg (new life) and the hare. I’ll let others fill in the details on whether the mixing was intentional, and for what purposes.
I’m pretty sure there was a Straight Dope report on this. Lemme do some searching.
Here’s one from Cecil:
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_009.html
Here’s some other sites with info about the origins of the Easter Bunny and Easter Eggs
Easter is the old Pagan Spring festival, hence it’s date depends on the sun and moon (Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox). Spring festivals mark life and rebirth so has rabbits and eggs.
Well DUH! If there wasn’t an Easter Bunny, who would hide the eggs? Sheesh!
Who would hide the eggs?
The Easter Woodchuck!
/got nothing.
In our part of the country, a “Woodchuck” is what we call a person who would be called a “redneck” in other parts of the country.
So I have an image of the Easter Woodchuck as an unshaven guy in a mullet, with bad teeth, dressed in a dirty old flannel shirt, driving a car with the doors welded shut, passing out eggs.
The Christians felt that they too needed a bunny to compete with . . .
Hare Krishna
Shouldn’t you be asking the Christians about that? They’re the ones who appropriated the celebration for their own purposes.
My mommy always told me not to take the coloured eggs from the scary man.
The bunnies lived in the hill that Jesus was crucified on and they didn’t want the crosses plugging their holes.
Thank you, Eddie Izzard.
The spring holy day is the cellibration of the renewal of nature. Chocolate, Easter, and Christ sort of got tagged on later.
Because Jesus never takes the time to hop around like a bunny, delivering chocolate and painted eggs to people.
Ranchoth
(“All right, who bit the ears off the chocolate Jesus?”)
In **Lamb: The Gospel according to Biff, Christ’s childhood pal ** by Christopher Moore, it is because Joshua(Jesus) once said something to the effect that “I like bunnies. I hereby command that whenever something unpleasant happens to me, there be bunnies.” Or words to that effect. I’d say crucifixion counts as “something unpleasant.” 
The real question is why would the idea of a giant rabbit delivering consignments of colored eggs and chocolate or a rotund gent with flying reindeer traversing the globe in one night to bring tiny tots toys be any more preposterous than dead tissue reanimating itself after being in the grave for 3 days or a virgin giving birth?
Does anyone else get the idea that Joseph was a sucker for “get-rich-quick” schemes and pyramid marketing scams? I mean, come on! This guy must believe * anything* you tell him! Man, have I got a used car for him!
Jesus was in a coma.