A COVID Easter.

A COVID Easter.

It is rare to have all three major religions celebrate the main holiday which defines them at approximately the same time, and this year it happened. Judaism is the smallest group, but from it sprang the other two. It is the faith in one invisible God who created the world and remains in the lives of the believers. He has abilities or powers superior to earthly humans and can order nature to obey. Take it or leave it, it is your choice.

The Jewish people celebrate a historical event called the Passover. A long time ago the Hebrews were endangered and sought refuge in Egypt only to find themselves enslaved, working for sustenance with no way out. A prophet named Moses reconnected with God and used God’s power to inflict ten plagues upon the Egyptian Empire and free his people.

The Hebrews lived for generations in their promised land, suffering colonization by empires, until the Romans were in charge. At that time, according to prophesy a son is borne to the one God, and he becomes the Messiah. Unlike other saviours, the young man advocates peace, tolerance, love, and equality as the way to salvation. The established church in the Jewish temple of worship is threatened by him and collaborates with the Roman colonizers to crucify him and finish off his Nazarene sect. They kill and bury him only to discover that he rose again. We celebrate this event as Easter.

About six hundred years later a new prophet, Muhammad, started a religion he calls Islam, “servants.”  The Muslims fought against the rich families who dominated the Arab peninsula, each worshipping their own Gods. When Islam was established one of its main pillars was the observance of fasting during the month of Ramadan. All able Muslims are to fast all day for a month so they will experience and remember the plight of the poor. Another pillar of Islam is almsgiving.

In April 2020, the three main holidays converge closely together. It is an interesting coincidence. The year 2020 also happens to be when a world pandemic that has no known cure is raging around the globe and also an economic system popularly known as the free Market is collapsing for several reasons.

I searched opinions about the unusual events and was inundated by the opinions expressed by experts, religious people, and laypeople. At times like this, people’s imagination as well as researched and intellectual opinions go wild.  What is not just imagined is the fact that an invisible virus is infecting humans very easily and is threatening to kill millions. We have no other defense but run away and hide in our homes.  This strategy is guaranteed to starve us if we don’t take the right organized action. Some are naming the catastrophe, the eleventh plague.

The coronavirus COVID 19 is a human killer attacking equally. It doesn’t discriminate, kills humans as if we are all one race or nation. The world comes to a stop. Some nations have been preparing for the eventuality and they have better survival rates while others tossed caution to the wind and suffer the results. It takes years to build good health care. Canada chose the middle ground and is poised to succeed in saving most of its population and a significant portion of its economy. It doesn’t look as rosy for our only neighbour.

In the present age, the biggest enemy of humanity is its own greed. Just as in the religious stories which we are celebrating, large portions of the human population are not sharing the great wealth which humans produce. Great achievements have been made, yet most people are threatened with the possibility of not being able to sustain themselves and their families.  

COVID 19 is a horrible enemy,  yet it may prove to be a great equalizer. We are witnessing a huge increase in human deaths, enough to make everyone pay attention. What COVID doesn't know is that our economies are disproportionately hurting the poorest. A huge portion of the human population is facing destruction. People all over the world will not stay home and die of starvation without taking whatever action they can to save themselves. When death is imminent humans throw caution to the wind.

Here in Canada, the government is taking steps to prevent disaster. Our healthcare that was ravaged for years is still coping and our improved social safety net will save us from the worst. We are unrolling something close to Universal Basic income and there will be money to restart the economy.

South of us, the situation looks way more alarming and any possible corrective action may miss the deadline. The truth is, I am scared for our neighbours.

 The COVID virus may be just a random phenomenon of nature. It may be a tool of the devil or God. It could be the alien invaders that science fiction writers have been anticipating for generations taking the planet away from humans. I wouldn’t know any more than you do. It is killing people indiscriminately, scaring people to death and ruining the world’s economies. It shows some positive aspects as well.

Some kids in China noticed, for the first time in their lives,  that the sky is blue, not brown. A news reporter from Venice mentioned dolphins in the famous canals, which normally stink like a sewer. Two reporters asked Prime Minister Trudeau why are we not just converting to “Universal Guaranteed income” since we can afford it.

Society is waking up and realizing what we have done and what we could do better. We can develop an economy for the common good instead of for the good of a few. Don’t let our resources hide in tax-free havens. That is where the money would come from.

Canada will come out of the current disaster better than it was before. All the money which the government is spending to keep us alive will work through the ranks and rebuild what we lost plus more. Resurrection is possible.  

Here is a link to my blog: https://thesimpleravenspost.blogspot.ca/  Feel free to check other articles and comment.