What is Easter?



What is Easter?



Easter Sunday, traditionally one of the two cornerstone dates in the Christian calender, is shrouded in mystery in terms of origin, meaning, reality and symbolism with a huge variety of interpretations claiming definitive truth on the meaning of Easter. Importantly, regardless of the evolution of the concept of Easter, we must ask, what is Easter to us, today?

In the Bible we are told that Jesus entered Jerusalem for his fatal final few days during the Jesus festival of the Passover, a celebration of their freedom from enslavement, so immediately we have a concept. The idea of Jesus' arrival on the scene as the son of man was a fulfillment of a prophesy laid out in the Torah so to place his death and celebration of his resurrection at the same time as a major Jewish festival goes some way towards usurping that religion in favour of the new Christian faith. The parallels drawn between the freedom from bondage of the Jewish slaves in Egypt and the emancipation from sin offered by the death of Christ are striking. Without going too much into the mingling of Jewish traditions and celebrations by certain Christian sects it is important to note the arrival of Easter as a continuation of the Passover by another name.

This practice of the exact date of celebrating Easter proved contentious until that great leveller, the Council of Nicea of 325, decreed a regulated period of the year, under the Gregorian calender, in which Easter Sunday must be celebrated. But the date aside, what impact does the celebration of Easter have on life at the time? To some people, the role of Lent and the idea of sacrifice would have played into the hands of ancestral belief in sacrificing to the Gods in return for favourable results. Breaking Lent after God has repayed your loyalty with the ultimate sacrifice, his son, creates a connection with the worshipper needed in a monotheistic religion where it is difficult to see God in the trees and the sun, where god is an abstract concept. So for the worshipper in the early centuries of Christianity, Easter would have served to created a bond of mutual sacrifice, laid in place the notion that death was not a finality and instilled a belief in the greatness of a God who could show such restraint as to allow this to come about (quite different from the war-mongering God of the Old Testament).

The crucifixion is a whole narrative whose different forms and structures people have fought and died arguing over, so I only seek only to jump to modern times and view the relevance of Easter to us today. So we have seen that it is a continuation of a Jewish holiday, rooted in the fulfilment of a prophesy, designed to show, through the crucifixion, that this God was all powerful and yet restrained, and that only through him could the promised land be reached. Well we must look at the central themes then; Sacrifice, Rebirth, Restraint and Faith. In Ireland, the Easter Rising of 1916, soaked in the language of blood sacrifice and the rebirth of Ancient Ireland, borrows directly from the biblical narrative, bending it for political aims. Yet it doesn't have to be thought about in such broad brushstrokes, these four themes, central as they are to the perpetual struggles between the sects and tribes of Christians still arguing their worth and practical implication, need only to be interpreted by individuals as a sort of compass, a guidebook of sorts, with the story of Easter and the crucifixion, and even the resurrection, as just another parable, albeit quite a strong one, the likes of which the four gospels were keen to put into the mouth of the living Jesus. The noble notion of sacrifice for a greater good, of putting the collective above yourself, the idea that every man, every movement, every moment can have a rebirth, can be saved and that nothing is ever as desperate as you may think, these are two cornerstones of the modern interpretation Easter. Added to this the ideals of restraint in the face of provocation, a nod to the art of diplomacy and a frown on those who act with impetuousness, and faith, in yourself, your ability, your family, whatever you want to have faith in, are vital to any modern reading of the Easter story.  

So Easter today may not be signs of the cross and long prayers of submission but that is not to say that the central message does not ring clear, the notion of rebirth, being loosed from the bondage of whatever restrains you, this imagery is timeless and universal.

The Normans



Norman Knights

 Fantastic Podcast and Website detailing the creation of Normandy and the Rise of the Norman Civilisation

http://normancenturies.com/

Softly, Softly Start a Revolution

Analysis of the shape of the unrest in Lebanon, in contrast with it's neighbours

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/14/world/middleeast/14iht-m14-anti-sectarianism.html?ref=world

The End of an Affair?

Recent CIA activities in Pakistan have further soured relations between the two countries.

http://www.truthout.org/node/943

Fort 'Freedom' and the Turning Point of the Emancipation Movement

Emancipation Cartoon from Harpers Weekly

The stumbling evolution of the framing of the Emancipation Proclamation of 1862, beginning with a legal argument over 'contraband'

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/magazine/mag-03CivilWar-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=magazine

Irish Democracy?

State of the Nation:

http://www.independent.ie/opinion/columnists/gene-kerrigan/gene-kerrigan-transfer-of-power-now-truly-complete-2607419.html

Europe Sharing the West's Burden?

The end of American Unilateralism?

Recent French and British leadership with regards to the crisis in Libya and the pro-active French stance on the growing civil war in one of it's former colonys, the Ivory Coast, may reveal a turning point in European interventionist policy and reassertion of Europe's role within the world.

The history of European intervention outside of its geographical borders is relatively long and quite well known but European leadership on international affairs subsided post World War II and practically ceased to exist as the Cold War escalated throughout the 1950s and 1960s. At this juncture the burden fell to the USA to export and protect western liberal democracy and the capitalist system, a role it seemed to relish under successive administrations. Under the previous administration however, the policy of unilateral intervention, particularly military intervention, reached an impasse. The American voters woke up to both the financial and actual cost of their governments adventures, with trust in the American way of doing things viewed with suspicion among allies and enemies and a general anger in Europe at America's perceived cultural ignorance, lack of forward thinking and unilateral dismissal of the UN whenever it suited them. 

The current American administration seem to have taken some lessons of the Bush years on board and applied them to it's own foreign policy. In effect what President Obama is doing is allowing limited American intervention in areas that may affect American interests, but stressing the limited nature of the mission and the fact that America will not lead. By doing this Obama is pleasing those who claim that America cannot afford another war, he is keeping the military action 'low-key' so as not to stir up further resentment in the Muslim world for the US and he is ceding a large degree of control and responsibility to the office of the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. 

So the pressure fell to a European Union, some of whose member states recent actions in promotion of democracy in the Mediterranean can claim a degree of blame or responsibility for the recent instability along the Sea's southern coastline. With Germany's Chancellor facing a difficult election this year she chose to dither and offer conflicting reasons, Italy cited the refugees they would inevitably be inundated with, France, not for the first time in European history, led the charge, followed swiftly by the UK. Taking this initiative and stressing that this would be a NATO led mission with primary strikes led by Europeans Sarkozy has opened a new chapter in the relationship between Europe and the world, especially it's African neighbours. Is Europe willing to provide another counter balance to China's growing assertion of its sphere's of influence? Is Europe willing to usurp the tainted presence of the American mission in the middle east, particularly with regards to Iran, and try create lasting stability in the region? Or is this merely a muscle flexing exercise by Sarkozy and Cameron, something to appease the voters at home and keep the oil pumping?