(April 3, 2015 at 10:38 am)FreeTony Wrote: Where does the Easter bunny fit in? Was he an apostle, or perhaps even one of the Trinity?
As Tonus already indicated, rabbits have to do with fertility. Which is also why there are Easter eggs. As this is early spring, one can easily see the connection with (re)birth and fertility, as things are renewed. This has been celebrated in many cultures for a very long time.
Basically, Christian holidays took over earlier, pagan celebrations, and incorporated some of the details to keep the locals happy. Think about the fuss you would have if you want to stop people from celebrating something they have traditionally celebrated. It is easier to convert people if you allow them to keep some of their local customs (and thus, we also have in Christianity the idea that circumcision is not required, as that would diminish the conversion rate considerably).
With Christmas, the tree has to do with earlier pagan celebrations, and the timing is near the winter solstice. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to think that Jesus was actually born on December 25, even if he existed at all. But celebrating then keeps the holiday time when people were already celebrating anyway, and so Christianity just gave a different explanation for the celebration, without stopping people from doing the celebrations they were already doing, even allowing them to keep some of the details, which really make no sense as far as Christianity is concerned.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
