IT is not often that I talk about religion. Like most people, it is a subject I tend to avoid for a number of reasons: foremost of which, it is quite a personal thing for me and talking about it makes me blush. It also tends to upset people. Non religious people tend to get upset because it annoys them that I “believe in something that doesn’t exist”. Zealots tend to get upset because it is God and religion I believe in, not dogma.
I am not much of a theologian, and I have taken pains to keep it this way. Its not that I believe that ignorance is bliss, it is simply that I believe the stories of Jesus’ life are important as stories because they are stories that reflect something that we cannot understand because we are too limited. To try and turn these stories into some sort of legal code, to examine them line by line as would a solicitor is not only to miss the point of the stories entirely, it also tends to lead people to the hate-filled dogmas that have given religion such a bad name.
The core stories of Christianity, those in the gospels of the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), are pretty straight forward. Jesus talks to a normal cross section of people, ranging for oppressing military types, vagabonds, workmen, scholars and he says this: don’t worry so much, you are not in control. You think you are in control, so you worry endlessly about all sorts of things, but you are bit a like a dog worried that he cannot control his owners. So relax, keep on doing whatever you’ve been doing, but just make sure you keep that flame of love alive in your heart. Love God and love your neighbours and everything else will follow. If you keep that spark of love alive, you will do no wrong. If you let that spark die, you will do no right.
It took me ages to figure out what ‘all the fuss’ was about with Christianity, and it never surprises me that so many people think it is a shit religion. If I were given menu of religions to choose, I am not sure which I’d go for, but Christianity would be pretty far down the list. Islam has the distinction of being entirely revealed religion, as the angels whispered to Muhammed the entirety of the text of the Koran which makes it theologically quite tidy. Buddhism has the most intellectual rigour to it. Shikism has a strong element of honour to it which I quite like. The neo-Pagan religions are great fun and involve the most about of drinking and sex, which puts them high up on my list. Atheism makes the most sense.
But to certain types of people, and I include myself in this, Christianity offers infinite compassion. Doesn’t matter if you are the one scooping the pellets down a Nazi gas chamber or the nicest guy in the world, Christianity offers the reassurance we are not the masters, and we are not in control. We have choices, we are autonomous, but we have an erroneous tendency to confusing ourself with God and to lose perspective. This reassurance is what Christianity, and that ever so fail-able institution the Christian Church, offer us.
It doesn’t seem like much, but Jesus’ offer: ‘Come to me, all who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.’ really did it for me. Suddenly it all made sense. Christianity has nothing to do with not having sex, or not swearing, or being nice to people. Indeed, while morality is often portrayed as being the core ‘thing’ of Christianity, any sort of rightness or wrongness is just a secondary affect, something that happens once you realise that you there is nothing to feel guilty about, that anything wrong you might have done has already been forgiven and all you’ve got to in your life is keep the love alive and let things happen as they will.
Christianity, or any religion, is not for everyone. Some people just naturally manage to keep the spark of love alive and don’t need much to encourage it. But to others, and quite possibly to all of us who are “called” to a religion, we need that little bit of extra encouragement. Without it, we’d just become hardened in our heart, cynical, and lost in a sea of self-gratification and quick fixes. And for us, the art of being human is the art of fighting the cynicism and keep the flames of love burning. And for us, thank God there is Christianity. There. I’ve said it.