mushinnoshin

I know I’m a bit hard on the Christians sometimes. It’s hard not to be when you live in these parts and see virtually all of the most fucktarded things get themselves attached to it. Just the latest example: Aunt B points us to this atrocious story about some bloodthirsty kid who’s been raised to be proud of savagely & brutally murdering an animal (hey, he only shot it 8 times then chased it for three hours) in a “game preserve” (read: overgrown petting zoo with a decidedly morbid twist) — and sure enough, “He just finished the sixth grade on the honor roll at Christian Heritage Academy”. Apparently “Thou Shalt Not Kill 101″ isn’t a required course.

But I do realize that such things have more to do with statistics than Christianity. I mean, given that 80+% of the country claims to be Christian, it would follow that 80+% of the country’s asshats will also claim to be Christian. Although I’m not certain this explains seemingly high correlation between evil organizations and Christianity, nor does it account for the fact that religion is supposed to be about reducing shithead-iness — still, the point is that I do realize that the vast majority of Christians are decent, good-hearted, regular people. And who knows, perhaps if I lived in Asia, I’d be faced with seeing a lot of vapid douchebags saying and doing horrible things in the name of the Buddha.

I do have a point that I’m trying to amble towards. Maybe I’ll get there. Basically I just want to say “Compare and Contrast”: Jesus Camp versus Into Great Silence.

See there’s basically two types of Christians that I like. The first are your everyday esoteric Christians. They understand the bible as being essentially literature, a set of stories and metaphors trying to teach a basic set of ethical principles by which they try to understand and enhance their own lives. I may vehemently disagree with (and blame a whole lot of the world’s problems on) some of those principles, but that’s a discussion that can be had rationally, without vitriol.

The second kind are the ascetics — like the monks at the Grande Chartreuse. First I have to respect them for putting their money where their mouth is, so to speak. I mean to really give up everything to become a disciple on a lifelong search for Truth — that’s hardcore. Second, although they tend to talk like evangelicals, I suspect they really hold more esoteric interpretations, and just sound like they take everything literally because they’re using the vocabulary of the metaphors. I mean how could you spend your days chanting, praying, and essentially meditating, without it becoming a quest for the knowledge that comes from inside? In my more presumptive and probably offensive moments I’m tempted to take a path not terribly far from what magniloquence describes here by asserting that their God is little more than an anthropomorphism of the Tao. Or, “The Force”, for you Star Wars fans.

Which brings me to the bow I’d like to tie around this one. I believe it was Mike who introduced me to the movie Human Traffic with this delicious quote:

The Emperor… wants to conquer outer space. Yoda… wants to explore inner space. That is the fundamental difference between the Light and Dark side of the Force

And it’s also the fundamental difference between the authoritarian nutjobs at Jesus Camp and the beautiful and genuine dedication of the monks from Into Great Silence.