Easter Ain’t Broken, But It Needs To Be Fixed

By Rupert Truscott-Hughes on March 11, 2016 in Other

Photo: God

Over the years I’ve been called a lot of things, but never has the term ‘religious’ been attributed to any part of my being. It should come as no surprise, then, that I have very little time for the fluctuating date of Easter. One year it’s at the end of March, the next some time in April, and that’s not even taking into account elements of the orthodoxy using the old Julian calendar to determine a different date altogether. Speaking frankly, it’s a massive pain in the arse.

As with much religious stuff, the actual date of Christ’s resurrection is open to debate. What we do know is that he rose from the dead on the third day of his burial after crucifixion (can you imagine the stench?), which all took place after the forty days of fasting, prayer and penance that is Lent.

To put that another way, for Anglicans and Catholics, Easter Sunday has been the first Sunday after the first full moon following the spring equinox for a very long time. Confused? Me too.

While I can forgive humanity for forgetting a date that took place nearly 2000 years ago, it seems odd that they’ve got Christmas on lock, but can’t remember the date the most famous human in the history of the world rose from the dead – he rose from the fricking dead, for Christ’s sake! I remember the date a dog ran into my classroom and stole my pencil case at junior school (August 27, 1973), so surely one can keep record of such a significant resurrection (or any resurrection for that matter)?

Religious history aside, when sitting down to put pen to paper about this annoying issue, little did I know that I’m not the only one campaigning for a fixed date for the chocolatey holiday. I really thought that the whole concept of a fixed date would offend all the God-bothering crucifix clingers out there, but it seems I was very wrong.

In January this year, news came out that the heads of the Christian churches are close to sealing a deal to fix the date.

According to an article published in the Sydney Morning Herald, “Archbishop Welby, Pope Francis, the Coptic Orthodox Pope Tawadros II and the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I (head of the Greek Orthodox church) are all working towards a common date.”

If they can reach a deal, it will end one of the most noticeable rifts in the church, and have knock-on effects for schools, businesses and the travel industry across the Western World. It will basically make planning an Easter holiday a hell of a lot easier, and it will mean that I don’t forget to put the rates up for my oceanfront Palm Beach pad on Airbnb, as I did again this year.

Unfortunately a fixed date for Easter is still some way off, though, with Archbishop Welby telling the Herald that it would likely happen “between 5 and ten years time”.

After nearly one and a half millennia of confusion, another decade of uncertainty should fly by. In the meantime, a chocolate toting bunny will continue to become more synonymous with Easter than Christ himself.