Making a meal of religion

Is reconciliation via food hard to swallow? Perhaps we should emulate John Lennon and give peas a chance

- Christian Stephen

For those who are not true believers religion can be terribly confusing.

Some would say incomprehensible. Others would say mystifying. The less tolerant would say unbelievable.

There are tomes, screeds, scrolls, scriptures to be studied, interpreted and memorised. There are strict rules to be obeyed. Sins to be avoided and punishments to be absorbed. There are songs to sing, chants to repeat, clothing edicts to be adhered to, places of worship to be attended, ceremonies to be held. Like I said, it is confusing and often overwhelming.

The one element that is not open to interpretation is the role that food plays in religion. How can gluttony be a sin when there is such a tempting array of food associated with the various religions? And we are not talking about the fish and loaves or the communion wafer here.

We need look no further than Easter. For the gluttons this is a time to tuck the bib into our collars and let the belt out a notch or two. There is no better way to start the day than with a nicely toasted hot cross bun slathered with butter.

Some parents might really need the strong cup of coffee that goes so well with the buns because they forgot to hide the Easter eggs in the garden for the children and had to rush around frantically before the brats wake up and see that the Easter bunny is actually an unshaven, grumpy guy in a tatty dressing gown.

And they might also see the bleary bunny pocketing all the candy-coated ones that look so convincingly like hen's eggs.