Ash Wednesday is traditionally a day of fasting and abstinence for Christians and marks the beginning of Lent. The believers do without stimulants, go to church and have the ashes laid on them as a reminder of their transience.
For party supporters, it is a day of hiking and toasting and marks a high point in the political debate. People drive to Lower Bavaria, drink a good beer early in the morning and let the people’s representatives on stage yell at them as a reminder of earlier (or hoped-for) election victories.
Not this year. The political fun was canceled because it was not appropriate in view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In any case, it is at least strange that on a day of silence and contemplation, of all things, the point is to gossip about the political opponent as much as possible. This year, because Putin literally attacked Ukraine, Bavaria’s politicians will gather together for a rally in Munich and protest against the war together.
Just as people are currently demonstrating against the war all over Bavaria. If you don’t have a Ukraine flag at home, you can put on something yellow and something blue or just crochet a political cap. Thousands take to the streets, there is hardly a marketplace these days where a vigil has not already been held and people have stood up for peace and freedom.
All the better because it really is about freedom, which has often had to be used for all kinds of protests in recent demonstrations in Bavaria. Corona deniers and right-wing extremists barricaded themselves behind their calls for supposedly restricted freedom and behind vaccination skeptics, who unfortunately often couldn’t think of anything better than calling for freedom of all things. A look at Ukraine now reveals what it is like when it is actually attacked.
So get out on the streets and stand up for peace and freedom. Hopefully next year there will be no reason to cancel Political Ash Wednesday. If then really someone else wants to deal with such a terribly banal spectacle.