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𝗣𝗮𝗹𝗺 𝗦𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝗪𝗮𝘀 𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁, 𝗡𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/13/opinion/palm-sunday-protest.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

"To mark the day, Christians recreate Jesus’ procession, often starting outside churches and winding down sidewalks and city streets waving palm branches.

Celebrations like this often miss an uncomfortable truth about Jesus’ procession: At the time, it was a deliberate act of theological and political confrontation. It wasn’t just pageantry; it was protest.

On that first Palm Sunday, there was another procession entering Jerusalem. From the west came Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, riding a warhorse and flanked by armed soldiers bedecked in the full pageantry of an oppressive empire. Every year during Passover Pilate entered Jerusalem to suppress any unrest set off by the memory [of liberation from Egyptian oppression].

His arrival was tactical — a calculated show of force, what the Pentagon might now call “shock and awe.” It displayed not only Rome’s power but also Rome’s theology.

From the opposite direction, both literally and figuratively, came Jesus’ procession.

Jesus entered the city not on a warhorse but on a donkey, not with battalions but with beggars. His followers were peasants, fishermen, women and children — people without standing or status. They waved palm branches — symbols of Jewish resistance to occupation since the Maccabean revolt — and cried out “Hosanna!” which means “Save us.” Save us from a system of oppression disguised as order. Save us from those who tacitly endorse greed with pious language and prayers.

[𝘕𝘖𝘛𝘌: 𝘐 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘑𝘊 𝘚𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳 going through my head singing "𝘏𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢, 𝘩𝘦𝘺𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢, 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢, 𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘏𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢, 𝘩𝘦𝘺𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢, 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢. 𝘏𝘦𝘺 𝘑.𝘊, 𝘑.𝘊 𝘞𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦? 𝘚𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢, 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢, 𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳."]

Jesus’ procession should be seen as a parody of imperial power: a deliberate mockery of Roman spectacle and a prophetic enactment of a kingdom not built on violence but on justice."

So somewhere along the way the Christian religion got off track. Organized religions almost always do that.

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