An Easter Story

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Eerie Parallels in the Celebration of Life and Death
A Mata Musing

Even non-believing historians acknowledge the existence of Christ - his birth and his crucifixion. Leaving aside any heated battles of "Messiah or not", it is Easter weekend. A holy time for Christians, and usually a commencement of Passover for Jews. However this year, because Judaism dictates Passover cannot start before the spring equinox and the calculation differences in today's calendars and the Hebrew calendar, Passover will not start until the end of April.

Historians place Christ's death on the Hebrew Calendar date of Nisan 14th, Preparation Day for Passover. While dissent reigns as to whether it was a Wed, Thurs or Friday, most believe it to be a Thursday. However, just as theologians admit Christ was not born on the day we celebrate as Christmas, he also did not die on the day we celebrate as Good Friday.

Yet we are creatures of regularity and structure. And just as we have altered Washington and Lincoln's birthdays to allow us a 3 day holiday, man has settled in on specific dates to honor the birth and death of a Messiah.

Thus yesterday, on our current calendar marking Good Friday, the Christian world honored the death of Christ, and soon to celebrate his resurrection on Easter Day.

The timeline of events of Christ's death ring of an eerie familiarity. On Nisan 14, Christ was arrested and condemned to death by the Sanhedrin... the name given to the highest Jewish judiciary and administration in that century's time.

On the morning of Preparation Day for Passover, Christ was taken to Pontias Pilate, the fifth Roman procurator of Judea. Pilate defers the fate of Christ to the local authority, Herod Atipas, the ruler of Galilee and Perea, and the son of Herod the Great who ordered the deaths of male infants in the effort to thwart the life of the then heralded Messiah.

After brutal treatment by Herod's soldiers, Herod returns Christ to Pilate for judgement. Biblical accounts infer that Pilate tried to free Christ, believing in his innocence of a crime. Yet the majority of citizens still cried for his death. Christ is again flogged, and handed over for crucifixion, ultimately honoring the wishes of the Sandedrin and the citizens.

Christ dies on the cross the same day, as thousands of lambs are being slain for Passover.

Today, at the same time we remember a Messiah's death, we await the death of Terri Schiavo. I awoke this morning pondering the parallels. While I do not suggest Terri is a Messiah in the religious sense, she is a messiah by the second definition - that of an unlikely professed or accepted leader of some hope or cause.

Like Christ, it is a death ordered and sustained by the nation's highest judiciary power, and carried out despite half-hearted attempts to intervene by the country's leaders and legislators.

And just as in the days of Christ, the majority of citizens support Schiavo's death... support given not because they know the intimate legal details of Judge Greer's "clear and convincing evidence", but because they have superimposed their own ideals as Terri Schiavo's.

Humanity has been here before. Death sentences by order of a judiciary, and supported by public opinion. We failed then, executing an innocent. Today we are failing again.

It is almost prophetic to note that we, as humans, appeared to have learned little from the events of so long ago. Again history repeats itself as we fail to stop such a cruel end to one who has committed no crime. All of this is happening in the beacon of freedom and human rights to the world.

This week, our judicial system has proven their arrogance and power is equal to the Sandedrin of old. They ignored a Congressional mandate to re-exam in full - de novo - the trials and arguments of Schiavo's parents and, instead, merely glanced at procedures over a period of hours, and allowed the decisions of an underling at one of the lowest levels in power to be upheld without question.

When darkness ensued in the hours after Christ's death, the cries were raised, looking for those to blame. The same is happening even before Terri draws her last breath. Many are prepared to lay such blame at the feet of Gov. Jeb Bush, and no doubt, the President.

Like Pilate, "washing his hands" of responsibility, the Democrats and some Republicans, with wary eyes toward public opinion polls, are already furiously backpeddling to avoid political fallout for merely doing their Constitutional duties and directing the court jurisdiction to the federal arena. Shameful to find so many of our Congressional members do not posses the honor and convictions to hold to their beliefs without checking polls for popularity.

The consequences of a perceived heartless and hypocritical America are many. Imagine the field day Islamic terrorists will have with Terri's death. While preaching humanity and protections of the innocents to the world, we stand by, allowing a woman to die by refusing water and food - even orally. An action that is no conflict with the orders for removal of a feeding tube.

Do the parallels and injustice end merely with the judiciary death sentences that befell both Christ and Schiavo? I don't believe so.

The fall of the Roman Empire was approximately 80 years after the death of Christ, preceded only by their rapid moral decline. Persecution and brutality were rampid in those days. And I suggest that America's moral decline will lead us to a similar fate in our future.

Already the new superpowers (China and India), driven by increasing profitable industrial economic bases, are starting to rise. It is not hard to envision in our grandchildren's future, a very diminished America and dependent economic structure as many EU countries are today. We will be left as a nation with only services as our primary exports.

As our morality is forced into "progressive" thinking, and our dependency on foreign nations for the very basics of life - textiles, steel, energy and copper - increases, we will seal our own fate.

All this, despite the lessons of history before us. Amen. So be it.

A Happy and blessed Easter to all believers. And the rest of you? May you enjoy a great tasting Belgium chocolate rabbit...