It is Easter again, among the holiest of holidays on the Christian calendar. And this year the two Easters coincide, that of the Western Churches, Catholic and Protestant that is, with that of the Eastern Churches, Orthodox and more. It is also the Jewish Passover, which this year culminates, like the two Easters, on Sunday, 20 April 2025. This means a lot of festivities, religious ceremonies, special meals, fireworks and merrymaking. What this does not mean, though, is any discernible, lasting impact on the world from these celebrations of human encounters with the divine, and the gratitude, open-mindedness and kindness such encounters are supposed to engender in those who partake in them.
Drawing on the Christian tradition that I am more familiar with from my upbringing, Easter is the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus who died on the cross for the sins of humanity, with his subsequent resurrection marking the triumph of good over evil, light over darkness, love over hatred. This is consistent with the teachings of Jesus, as passed down to us through the Gospels, which are about love, forgiveness and inclusiveness. I wonder, therefore, why I seem to be one of few who notice a gross inconsistency between Christianity as the self-professed religion of universal love and the bloody deeds of Christian leaders of Europe and beyond, from slavery and colonialism to wars of all kinds, including the two World Wars. Is it me alone who cannot reconcile, on the one hand Christ’s teachings, and on the other the blessings provided by Church leaders to a nation’s troops that are expected to kill serially, even exterminate the enemy? This also includes enemies that are also Christian and whose own high priests bless the troops for good killing results against other Christians. All those wars between the British, the French, the Germans, the Russians and many others come to mind, and of course the ongoing carnage between Russia and Ukraine.
There is apparently no difference as far as the other two Abrahamic religions, Judaism and Islam, are concerned. Perhaps it is easier for them to justify horrific acts against “the other”, if love takes a back seat in their religious teachings and primarily applies to their dealing with people of their own faith and not “the other”. This would explain the regular carnage in the Middle East, most recently in Southern Israel, Gaza (ongoing), Lebanon and beyond. But would not explain the not-so-distant or ongoing wars between Iraq and Iran, or Iraq and Kuwait, the Syrian civil war, the war in Sudan, in Yemen and more. Going beyond the Abrahamic religions, things are no better when, for example, tensions arise between Hindus and Muslims in India, and so on and so forth.
What certainly explains everything, though, is the destructive impact of the pursuit of privilege and glory, money and power, at least by those who manage all these theatres of death, that is political and religious leaders, also business leaders and community influencers (to start introducing terminology from today’s social media reality). Instead of educating the public, politicians and their symbiotic religious leaders appeal to one’s lowest instincts, encouraging fear of survival and dispossession if “the other” prevails, while simultaneously cultivating a sense of entitlement and special connection to higher powers that reward killing others and endangering oneself “for the glory of God and Country”. Well, in case of secular or atheist country, replace God with “the Republic”, “the people”, “the Party”, their favourite “…ism”.
All this just to say that it is Easter again, spring is taking over the Northern Hemisphere with its colours and smells, life is returning in full force after winter’s hibernation. Lambs are slaughtered for the celebrations of Easter and Passover, as was the case for the end of Ramadan a few weeks ago. But even higher than the number of slaughtered lambs is the number of people finding their violent and premature end in the killing fields of Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, Sudan, Myanmar and many more. With arms often produced by the same religious nations, with politicians and industrialists proud of their religious beliefs but apparently also cognizant of the fact that factories need to keep producing, and arms production and trading is not bad business indeed. Going to church/mosque/synagogue, listening to enlightened sermons and learning about the universal Golder Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”) is something else, totally unrelated. And our lived communal / species schizophrenia marches on, in circles…
Post-script: A last-minute announcement, of an Easter ceasefire unilaterally declared by Russia in the Russia-Ukraine war, valid till the end of Easter Sunday. If the other side also accepts it, that just gives enough time for all to go to their resurrection liturgy / mass, hear the same Gospel talk about love and peace and life winning over death, and back to killing each other again, a few hours later.
Dr Georgios Kostakos is Co-founder and Executive Director of the Brussels-based Foundation for Global Governance and Sustainability (FOGGS). He has been a UN staff member, including with the Executive Office of the UN Secretary-General, the High-level Panel on Global Sustainability, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), and field missions for political affairs and human rights. He has also worked with think tanks, academic institutions and as a consultant on global governance and sustainability, peace and resilience.
