Best wishes for a Happy Passover and a Happy Easter as well as a Blessed Ramadan ahead of Eid in May.
I make no apology for mentioning the holy days of all three monotheistic religions together in one sentence.
After all both Christianity and Islam come from Judaism.
Jews, Muslims and Christians have Abraham as their spiritual father. They all also have Moses as one of their main prophets.
Similarly, all three religions use the Hebrew scriptures. In fact, the part of the Bible that Christians call the New Testament, is a book written by Jews, for Jews about a Jewish man and his Jewish followers.
The Christian period of Lent is similar to the Muslim Ramadan in that both require fasting, prayer and almsgiving. They both get the idea of fasting from their origins in Judaism. All three faiths believe that fasting should not only be external, but should lead to an internal transformation.
So there are certainly similarities and links between these three faiths. There have even been examples of all three coexisting peacefully, such as in the Iberian Peninsular in the 8th-10th Centuries.
But extremism in religion has led to far too many forced conversions and murders in the past. It has all too often caused conflicts and wars in the history of humanity. In the 21st Century, it really is time to put enmity aside and celebrate our similarities as well as our diversity. And we can make a start by celebrating each others’ feast days.
I invite anyone who feels that this is offensive, to take some time to reflect on where their feelings come from. I am not trying to justify any of the many injustices that have occurred with religion as an excuse. And I won’t try to persuade anyone of anything.
I will simply wish you a Happy Passover, a Happy Easter and a Blessed Ramadan. Take it or leave it.
