How many times did you remind yourself or someone else to wash their hands this past year? In the pandemic, directives about handwashing are everywhere. But many politicians have also been accused of “washing their hands” of responsibility.

Today, in The Conversation Canada, Tony Keddie of University of British Columbia examines the source of this phrase in iconic Biblical scripture referring to the role of Roman governor Pontius Pilate preceding Jesus’s death.

Keddie, a social historian of ancient Judaism and Christianity, traces how representations of Pilate’s handwashing “have often been used to shift blame for Jesus’s death to Jews, and have been part of a toxic legacy of Christian and western antisemitism.” Keddie finds that in the age of COVID-19, a contextual examination of the handwashing metaphor can remind our society of the dangers of vilification when we seek to explain problems, to hold people accountable or to assert our own identities. For me, such stories are sources of hope.

Also today:

• Power in numbers: Making visible the violence against racialized women
• Huge volcanic eruption didn’t cause climate change and mass extinction 140 million years ago 
• Indigenous communities should dictate how $1 billion infrastructure investment is spent
• Governments must work with restaurants on a no-fee delivery app 

Regards,