Recently I was completing an assignment on some of the differences between Islam and Christianity. Easter is one such time when these differences become quite apparent.

I’m all for respecting others’ beliefs and seeing different sides of the story, but when people say that all religions are the same, we need to be very careful.

These comments seem to be made to keep the peace. Yet, we can be peaceable whilst disagreeing. Disagreement is not necessarily hostile.

It’s just disagreeing.

I assume that for Muslims who live in countries like Australia, other than the public holiday, Good Friday does not have too much meaning attached to it.

Muslims believe that Jesus was not God and that he didn’t actually die on the cross. They believe that his spirit was taken up to God prior to the death, and someone else died instead. Perhaps someone who just looked a lot like him.

Therefore, Easter Sunday for Muslims probably doesn’t have much meaning attached to it. If Jesus didn’t die in the first place, he hardly could have risen again three days later.

Now this may all seem like a bit of a downer on arguably the most sacred day of the Christian calendar. But the conversation needs to be had.

Not everyone agrees that Good Friday means something important, or anything at all. Other than perhaps a lovely sleep in, a bit more chocolate that usual – maybe some fish – and a hot cross bun to wash it all down.

In Sydney, there’s also the opportunity to go to the Royal Easter Show, buy some merch of choice, go on a Ferris Wheel or rollercoaster and wash more of that down with either a Bertie Beetle choccy or some fairy floss.

Sure, fine. Please enjoy yourself if you do.

The reality is that reflecting on whether Good Friday, Holy Week and the resurrection itself is actually a complete hoax, is critical for Christians. If we don’t ever pause and take stock and wonder if it’s all just a fairytale, then we’re not being real.

Even the writer of a massive chunk of the New Testament thought as much:

…if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost. If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.

It’s true. What a bunch of losers Christians would be if Jesus never died in the first place and/or never rose again.

It’d just be a sick joke.

Anyone who has been a believer for a while has thought these things.

And considering that it’s Good Friday, this post will not land on a high note. There is no high note on Good Friday.

At this point in the Holy Week, if Jesus died at all, he’s still dead in the tomb.

Before we even consider what happened on Easter, we need to decide who we think Jesus was and whether he was crucified on a Roman cross or not.

You could look in the Bible for that if you like. Or you could read some ancient historians who weren’t believers instead, if you don’t want to get ‘brainwashed’.

Yours considering the truth,

Alison