He's pagan, he's lusty, but everyone loves The Bunny

The Easter bunny has become a sacred cow.

While Santa Claus is criticized for the commercialization of Christmas, and trick-or-treaters who dress up as the devil or Britney Spears (excuse us if we're repeating ourselves) are scorned in some circles for diverting the focus of All Hallow's Eve, the Easter bunny just keeps hopping along, lumped in with folklore mainstays such as the tooth fairy and Bigfoot. People who don't believe in them tend to ignore them rather than complain about them.

The irony of this free pass is that, unlike St. Nick -- who at least traces his roots to a religious figure, a third-century Roman Catholic bishop who is the patron saint of, among other things, merchants and children -- the Easter bunny has its roots in paganism. Researchers have traced its family tree to ancient fertility rites.

Christian missionaries discovered that many of the tribes they were trying to convert already had spring festivals celebrating fertility. The rabbit was one of these celebrations' main symbols, so the missionaries simply co-opted it to fit their needs.

"The Christian church did not try to eliminate the cultures it became part of," said Rolf Jacobson, a professor at Luther Seminary in St. Paul and an ordained Lutheran minister. "Rather than being intrusive and imposing itself, the church would analyze the holidays that already existed and incorporate them as they could. One of the things they would do is borrow the symbols that already were in use."

Even the name Easter was "borrowed" from the ancient Saxons, who marked spring with a festival honoring the goddess Eastre. One of her earthly symbols was -- you guessed it -- a rabbit.

There is a Christian group called the United Church of God that is opposed to Easter in its entirety. On its website, gnmagazine.org, the Ohio-based denomination argues that since Jesus never specifically endorsed Easter as a holiday, it remains a pagan rite and all the symbols associated with it, including the Easter bunny and Easter eggs, are irreverent.

So, why the disparity in the treatment of holiday symbols? We took the question to a cross-section of local eggheads.

"I don't know," Jacobson admitted. The subject of bunnies, Easter or otherwise, never arose when he was getting his Ph.D. in divinity.

"There is no mention of rabbits in the Bible" beyond the assumption that Noah had a couple of them on the ark, he said. "In fact, there's no mention of bunnies or colored eggs."

He said that Easter's lower commercial profile likely spills over into goodwill for the bunny. Parents don't feel pressured to spend hundreds of dollars on the latest computer game module that will turn their kids into joystick junkies. Instead, they buy bags of chocolate and, if they play their cards right, can end up eating half of it themselves.

(Each of us has to deal with our own conscience when it comes to conning the children out of their sugary booty.)

"He -- or it, although my wife calls the Easter bunny 'she' -- is so obviously cartoonish," Jacobson said.

That cuteness is crucial, said Karal Ann Marling, a University of Minnesota professor, author and pop culturist. The bunny is cuddly, while Santa could use a shave.

"It's hard to get ticked off at a bunny," she said. "Santa is this big, fat, old guy; it's possible to be angry at him. But the bunny is too fuzzy. You don't hate fuzzy stuff."

Maria Teresa Agozzino, associate director of the American Folkore Society, said that another element shielding the Easter bunny from criticism is that it's mostly a regional icon.

"The Easter bunny is a culturally relative phenomenon," she said from the association's offices at Ohio State University. "It's not that big in Europe. They do the eggs, but they don't make that big of a deal out of the bunny. That's mostly American."

"The celebration is much more focused and clear-cut," Jacobson said.

None of which addresses the underlying issue: Where does the Easter bunny get the eggs in the first place? And doesn't it muddle things up birds-and-bees-wise to imply that a mammal lays eggs?

"My 3-year-old son just asked me that the other day," Jacobson said. His answer: Don't look a chocolate-giving bunny in the mouth.

"The bunny is going to bring you gifts," he said. "Kids figure out pretty early that they're going to get something out of this."