Spring is sprung and the Easter Passover Vernal Equinox Fertility Festival is now upon us with all the vibrant symbolism of blood, bunnies, eggs, crackers, crucifixion, death and resurrection. In Greek mythology this is the time that the Vernal-Death goddess Persephone returned from Hades to bring the world back to life from its Wintery death, and reminding us that if we ever are on a weekend excursion to Hades not to eat the pomegranate seeds, lest we find ourselves the Endless Purveyor of Seasons. In Jewish mythology the spring festival of Passover celebrates the passing over of the Angel of Death in Egypt when all the faithful Israelites marked their door post with lamb's blood whilst eating barbecued Lamb and waiting, staff in hand and sneakers afoot, for morning light to bring liberation from slavery--and also perpetually warning us to beware of making our holiday plans with a travel agency named anything like Desert Tours or Desert Holidays. In the sequel, Passover II: Revenge of the Death Angel, Christians celebrate the brutal demise of the Christian Christ on the Cross at the hands of the Jewish religious authorities and Roman political system during Passover which was necessary to fulfill the unconditional love of the loving God by assuaging the conditional wrath and righteous vengeance of the holy and just God, who are mystically one in the same (a cosmic case of either multiple or borderline personality disorder); but leading joyfully to the Christian Christ's resurrection on Easter Sunday morning as the Eternal Easter Bunny (1), metaphorically speaking of course, who symbolically hides colorfully colored easter eggs, promising that if we diligently seek we will surely find them (well at least that is how my travel brochure from Desert Holidays advertised it.)
Not to be out done by the religiosity of the religious, this is also the season those who proclaim the joys of being without god, the dour Atheists, come out with their message of existential delight that to believe in nothing (except of course the veritable belief in the "belief in nothing") is the greatest joy of all. Unlike their traditionally religious brethren who believe everyone should agree with their supreme enlightenment, the Atheists believe that they are different from those others who believe that their beliefs are the beliefs that are most worthy of believing because the world would be a better place if we all believed the same beliefs that they believe--it is simply more obvious, more "rational", everyone should just get it the way they get it. And so goes the most recent overture to religious rationalism, by the actor-comedian Ricky Gervais, his Easter Message demonstrating this years traditional atheistic Intolerance of the Intolerant holiday diatribe.
The battle for the hearts and minds of the masses reprises in the hearts of the faithful. The term "religion" comes from the Greek meaning ritual indicating a prescribed way of doing and believing that draws people into a common focus. As a spiritual philosophy they are all forms of moralism, structured belief systems that by their nature of exclusivity and institutional compulsion divide people into the faithful and the unfaithful. While "love" and "relationship" are common focuses, the terms only apply to the convenient and necessary, Jesus' command to love one another only goes as far as you can keep from becoming soiled by the filth of the world. In moralism, relationship is fundamentally predicated on behavior; behavior defines what relationships are acceptable and worthwhile and conversely, where relationships are unacceptable, the Christian, Jew, Muslim, Atheist each describes a way to attack the world that is different from them and separate out-- Onward Christian Soldiers, Chosen People, Jihadists, and the Anti-Religious. Spiritual Abuse is the last acceptable way to hurt or even kill the infidel in one's midst--after all its God's will or the Rational thing to do. Hatred isn't hatred if God already hates them. Hatred is a virtue bestowed on the faithful.
Oops, did I say "hatred" I meant religious fervor. If your religion says homosexuals are an abomination, then it is religious fervor to call them horrible names, alienate them, and call for their absolute annihilation, in Jesus' name. If your religion says non-Muslims (as well as Muslims not of your favored sect) are infidels whom Allah hates, the righteous warriors of Allah have a duty to avenge Allah's honor and destroy the unfaithful. If your religion says you are the chosen race that God favors above all others, then oppressing and conquering a bunch of unchosen rif-raff who happen to be in the way of God's will is a blessing. If your religion says that only stupid people believe in God, then insulting them and desecrating their sacred symbols is just a free thinking Man's form of free speech.
Spiritual abuse as a sacred form of justifiable hatred has become the defining force of 21st century culture and society. From talk show hosts and politicians spewing venom to inspire hatred in their audiences to attack some targeted population, to Mullahs declaring Fatwas for the faithful to destroy the enemies of Islam, to Pastors invoking the political Messiah to justify their divisive right wing political hate-mongering, are among countless examples of the moralist impulse to stir fear and loathing in the heart of an otherwise compassionate people..
It is perhaps a truism to state that there will always be the henchmen among us who will blindly follow whatever calls to them, but in the heart of humanity stirs a deeper spirituality that defines us as something more than the instinctual drives to compete, survive, or dominate our surroundings. Beyond the fear and intrinsic vulnerability of our existence is our fundamental capacity to transcend our circumstances; to judge things not as they are but as they can or might be; to believe in the best of all possible worlds; even when the world may be crumbling around us; to see ourselves in others with honesty, compassion and generosity; to come together for the common good.
Whether you celebrate the Vernal Equinox, Passover, Easter, or just another weekend, the truth of our humanity is not in our beliefs or our religion, it is simply our capacity to care for one another in spite of our differences as fellow human beings.
May this season bring great blessing and joy to each and everyone.
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(1) For a deeper exposition of this version of the Easter message refer to theologian Chuck Jones' animated work A Wild Hare with Elmer Fudd playing the Angel of Death and Bugs Bunny playing the Eternal Bunny that perpetually defies him.
