Origin of the Easter Bunny

Informant: The Easter Bunny, what’s up with that? Why is there an Easter Bunny? So basically, when Jesus was in the cave, there was a big boulder in front of it. One day, a giant bunny came around and kicked the boulder out and Jesus rose.

The informant was told this story every Easter morning by her father.

Collector: Did you have a religious upbringing?

Informant: I’m technically Catholic and went to CCD but my parents were very sacrilegious so that played more into my views than anything I learned at CCD.

Collector: What’s CCD?

Informant: A catholic after school program.

Collector: Why did your father tell you this story?

Informant: He’s just a goofball and sacrilegious so I think he just made it up at some point as a funny joke/sarcastic explanation.

Collector: Have you heard a similar story?

Informant: I’ve never heard a similar story.

Collector: Is it ever told with variation?

Informant: He always tells it the same exact way.

The informant never believed the story had any validity but found the story very funny and entertaining.

In families that don’t identify as heavily religious, it seems very common that funny or parody stories of religious holidays begin to appear. This could be because non-religious families participate in the holidays out of cultural or consumerist reasoning rather than faith and therefore hold little sentiment about its sanctity.