Modern society assumes suffering can be solved through policy, technology and progress. But this belief leaves us unprepared for the reality that tragedy is an enduring part of human life.

Rising petrol prices, geopolitical instability and the threat of wider conflict in the Middle East remind us how quickly things can unravel. These are not aberrations in an otherwise orderly world. They expose the fragility of the assumption that life is fundamentally ordered and that justice will prevail.

As Easter approaches, I am reminded that in the earliest Gospel of Mark the story ends in darkness and uncertainty. Jesus dies abandoned. The women who find the empty tomb flee in fear and say nothing to anyone. There is no resolution, there is no retribution. The Roman Empire and the religious leaders who condemned Jesus to death carry on with their lives. Justice is not served.

This is why I have always felt more connected to the ambivalence of Good Friday, than the certainty of Easter Sunday. It seems more in tune with the times that we live in. Life is difficult and obscure, marked by mystery and suffering. By contrast, Easter Sunday often seems strained, with an enforced sense of joy and conviviality that does not always feel true. It reflects a deeper belief that the world should ultimately make sense, that suffering will be resolved rather than endured.

In the 1960s, psychologist Melvin Lerner gave this belief a name: the “ just-world hypothesis.” Governments now promise outcomes that earlier generations would have assigned to fate or providence. We are told that perfect equity can be achieved, disease overcome, and that the climate can be stabilised through rational planning and technological progress. The language of Net Zero reflects this ambition.

The just-world belief is noticeable in contemporary geopolitical crises. As tensions escalate in the Middle East, attention turns to........

© Pearls and Irritations