The Horror of Christianity Essay -- essays research papers

"A Pagan Joke" A Pagan died and, much to her surprise, found herself at the Pearly Gates facing St. Peter. He walked up to her and said, "Hello, and welcome." She stared at St. Peter in complete confusion. "Wait a minute," she said. "I was supposed to end up in the Summerlands." He smiled. "Ah, you must be one of our Pagan sisters. Follow me, please." Peter gestured for her to follow him down a small path, which went through the gates and down a bit to the left. They walked for a short while, then he stepped back and gestured her forward. Looking past his hand, she saw the verdant fields and forests of her desired Summerlands. She saw people feasting, dancing, and making merry, exactly as she expected. While shaking her head in wonder, the Pagan happened to glance over to one side and saw a small group of people a short way away from the edge of the Summerlands. The people in the group were watching the revelers, but not joining them. Instead, they were screa ming and weeping piteously. The Pagan looked at St. Peter. "Who are those people?" St. Peter replied, "Them? They're fundamentalists. They're a bit surprised to see you all there, so they stand there and carry on like that all day." â€Å"Why? Don't they have better things to do?" Peter leaned conspiratorially toward her. "They don't really have a choice. They're actually in Hell. God doesn't like being told what He thinks." I start this paper with this joke to prove a point. When read, pagans, athiests, and those that lie outside the mainstream of Christianity will enjoy it, while Christian Fundamentalists and Conservatives will think it is in poor taste. Some might go so far as to say â€Å"My goodness, he is going to step on a lot of toes with that!† The question remains, though, WHOSE toes, and why does it matter? The answer can be found if we examine the psychology of Christianity. Christianity is one of the worlds most widespread and pervasive religions, and has been around a good long while. Wherever it goes, it seems to spread and promulgate and overrun. Evangelistic Christians send out missionaries to fulfill one of the commands given to them in the Bible: â€Å"Go ye forth and preach the Gospel to all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.† (Mt. 28:19) Christi... ...rt or be ostracized, join or suffer, love Christ or be of the devil, and accept the Church or be destroyed. Not all Christians do this and not at all times. But some Christians do commit acts of destruction and this fearful violence is occurring everyday and has occurred for most of the last two millennia somewhere on our world. â€Å"The night is black, Without a moon. the air is thick and still. The vigilantes gather on The lonely torchlit hill. Features distorted in the flickering light, The faces are twisted and grotesque. Silent and stern in the sweltering night, The mob moves like demons possesed. Quiet in conscience, calm in their right, Confident their ways are best. The righteous rise With burning eyes Of hatred and ill-will. Madmen fed on fear and lies To beat and burn and kill. They say there are strangers who threaten us, In our immigrants and infidels. They say there is strangeness too dangerous In our theatres and bookstore shelves, That those who know what's best for us Must rise and save us from ourselves. Quick to judge, Quick to anger, Slow to understand Ignorance and prejudice And fear Walk hand in hand....† ~Neil Peart, Witch Hunt