What is the Anglican attitude towards the Easter Rabbit? You may think this a funny question. But I am asking it in earnest. For evangelical fundamentalists the Easter Hare is a pagan invention - which may well be so, but I do not mind - and it endangers your salvation - which I do not think. What do you think?
I doubt most Anglicans can even tell you why rabbits are associated with Eastertide. It's a concept that comes into Christianity from the German Lutheran church, and probably stems ultimately from the hare as a symbol of fecundity in Medieval Christian iconography. There was also a Northern European belief in medieval times that hares could reproduce virginally, due to their mistaken belief of hares being hermaphroditic in nature, and thus inevitably drew comparisons to Christ's virgin birth. Immigrants brought the old stories to America, and it thus became a seasonal folk tale, much like that of Santa Claus. You assert that the Easter Hare is a "pagan invention", but I see no evidence for that. Can you cite some sources for that assertion?
In case some do not know what the Easter Rabbit is: More about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Bunny
Here is a source: https://www.theguardian.com/comment...ly a pagan,the ancient symbolism still works.
If you ask, 'What is the Anglican attitude towards ...', you will receive many answers because there are a great many attitudes within Anglicanism. In my parish church we have no problems with the Easter Bunny, Father Christmas, Hallowe'en, etc. An acquaintance of mine went to a parish church where their priest banned anything that was joyful. While I do not believe we can have a free for all and do whatever we please, being a Christian shouldn't make your dour.
I know. Then I ask: What are usual and frequent or maybe typical Anglican attitudes (plural!) towords the Easter Rabbit?
I don't really plan on teaching my 2 toddlers anything about the Easter rabbit, or easter eggs. Easter is the holy resurrection of our Lord, which is hard enough to focus on when you have a million distractions. Around Lent and Easter we go into double-focus on scripture and on the Lord. I am thinking of getting a set to match the Christmas nativity scene, something that my kids can visualize the cross, the tomb, and the resurrected Lord. At least in my family, adding non-Christian elements to easter would dilute the message, and confuse them.
I find it a bit strange that German Lutherans should have invented the Easter Rabbit. But then again it was Dr. Martin Luther himself who invented the "Christ Child" or Christkindl as gift bringer for Christmas. Trouble was: The Catholics in South Germany and Austria adopted the Lutheran Christkindl with such an enthusiasm, that the Lutherans in North Germany forgot about it and created a Santa Claus or Father Christmas (Weihnachtsmann) instead. Now the former Protestant Christchild counts as typically Catholic!
Not being a fundamentalist, I not only have no problem with fun secular holiday traditions like the Easter Bunny, I actually see them as having a positive value for religious practice, especially for children.
Now you are talking! Yes, I know that attidude: "This Easter Rabbit is a very baaaaaaaaaaaaaad thing, because it draws attention away from Jesus Christ!" That is the attitude of strictly fundamental Evangelicals. And for them the Easter Rabbit is not only pagan, but even satanic!
For some over-pious people, the very name "Easter" is already pagan and satanic: https://www.aop.com/blog/the-truth-about-easter-traditions
I imagine, without having commissioned an opinion poll, that most Anglicans have no issue with it, and if they thought it was pagan they still wouldn't. There's nothing intrinsically wrong with appropriating a pagan habit or tradition if it's made secular. The problem would be with idolising or worshiping the Easter bunny. At which point it wouldn't really matter if it was a pagan invention or a christian invention. If someone thinks the Easter bunny is pagan they're likely getting the holiday of Easter confused with a semi-modern symbol of it. Like saying Santa Claus has something to do with the Roman God Saturn, because some people think Christmas has pagan origins (also bunkum). If they're right it still doesn't matter. I think easter chocolate tastes better in the shape of a bunny instead of an egg, so I'll keep buying the bunny anyway.