The Easter Bunny

It's Lent, which means Easter is coming soon. How do I know? Because one of my neighbors has this garish, tacky, giant inflatable Easter Bunny on their front porch. And on each side -- a giant inflatable carrot.  

Pagan Bunny?

But not everyone gets into the Bunny.

This story cites a survey, a bit dated, to discuss how Christians are divided on the whole Easter Bunny thing.  Nearly half don't think the Bunny belongs, that he has potentially Pagan overtones (worship the rabbit?  Only Bugs, voted the most popular cartoon character of all time).  Over a third of Christians (39 percent, the smart ones) say the Easter Bunny is not bad.

You won't find a lot of surveys about what people know about religious holidays or, specifically, about the Bunny.  Try searching for "easter" in pollingreport.com and you draw a blank.  Christmas gets a lot more attention as a holiday, such as the semi-ridiculous "war on Christmas" issue from a few years ago (only 42 percent thought there was such a war, 48 percent said there wasn't).  I'd argue there is a war for Christmas, given all the continuous bad music we're forced to listen to in December.

But the Bunny?  Curiously, even suspiciously, ignored.  You can find some silly surveys asking "Do you believe in the Easter Bunny?" (more say "no" than "yes," and should not get anything in their basket).  And even important ones, like what part of the chocolate Easter Bunny do you eat first.  Ultimately, across the Net, you'll find the Easter Bunny lumped with Santa Claus and others and ask -- should we lie to our children?  Of course we should lie to our children.  What a dumb question.