Fearful victories

by Pat Denino

Disclaimers don’t often preface something that I hope people will read, but this is an exception. I know there are many fine, intelligent, loving, courageous Christians. Perhaps most are. I also know there are some people who call themselves Christians with about as much thoughtfulness as they call themselves New York Yankee fans. They like the kick-ass camaraderie. Herd creatures. These are the ones I’m talking about. I’d like to give them another name besides Christians because, as best I understand things, they are not following the example of Christ, God love their confused and fearful little souls.

On Easter Sunday herds of these folks again rejoiced in the fact that their main man has risen from the shadows and death. Victory! They proclaim victory over death, over sin, over gays, over illegal aliens, over education, over sex in any other configuration than that of the missionary position, over the environment, and over science. They are proclaiming victory over all the things that are not exactly like their boring, little selves.

Think about that for a moment. These are all the things that frighten them, the things that call them to expand their sanctimoniously narrow vision of love and responsibility. Instead of meeting the challenge and growing as sons and daughters of God, they scurry behind Jesus’ robes and think that by shouting His Name and scrinching up their hearts in a form of emotional gymnastics they’re actually doing a good and pious thing. They expend energy building a wall that separates their humanity from their divinity and think they’re being courageous and strong. In fact, they’re simply afraid of and hiding from their own divinity. They proclaim victory over everything both theirs and not theirs, not recognizing that the only victory they can’t proclaim is their victory over their own fear.

I probably don’t hold a popular opinion on this. All I claim this to be is my opinion, a model that works for me in my own life. I feel no need to impose my opinion on anyone else, nor do I feel compelled to eliminate anyone who doesn’t share it. The model these folks are following is exactly the opposite. They believe they must convert or destroy anything they’re afraid of. Their attempts are doomed, fortunately, but they can take down a lot of good people before their fears catch up with them and finally consume them.

Interesting, isn’t it, that what they are most afraid of isn’t “out there?" It’s inside their hearts. So even if they totally whitewash this country, flatten the hills, burn the books, pave the forest floors, and banish the liberals in all their various configurations, they won’t be satisfied, nor will they be free of fear. C. S. Lewis presents behavior based on fear in an interesting way in his book, “The Great Divorce." In the suburbs of hell, not far from the entrance, people take up residence, build their houses, and live their pathetic little lives. When conflicts arise, they simply move away from each other. After all, hell stretches out endlessly, and there’s no compulsion for them to reason together, so they don’t.

Unfortunately, we’ve run out of space here on our planet for this to work any more, at least as a physical solution. Thus, Christian wannabees (Please note, I did not say Christians.) are isolating themselves by pushing everything else away rather than sitting down and reasoning with those holding different viewpoints or lifestyles. It must be lonely in their little brains and hearts, being so afraid to consider and accept anything unlike themselves.

Ohio made the news again last week, unfortunately. Our own Center of Science and Industry (COSI), is drawing fire for showing that scandalous movie, “Volcanoes of the Deep Sea.” You may have seen where some theaters have declined to show it because it refers to evolution, and that upsets some folks: probably the same folks rejoicing in victory over everything but their hidden fears. In an article by Mark Ellis, of the Columbus Dispatch, Christian activist Mark Harrington, president of Reform America in Columbus, says, "(the movie is) a fishing expedition to defend evolution and is not real science. COSI has departed from presenting real science and has instead opted to become an anti-science-movie museum." Harrington reportedly researched the film but has not seen it.

Clueless. Harrington reminds me of some parents I had to deal with when I taught science. One, a member of the school board, asked me to excuse her child from homework because she was too tired after her gymnastics class. My answer was no. Another parent got on my case when I gave his daughter a poor grade on a science project. She had lugged around some grubby motors, showed them to the class without explaining anything about them, and wrote a report which consisted of phrases lifted verbatim from her father’s operating manuals. Although I had talked with her and reassured her that I’d give her a second opportunity and some special guidance, her father was still incensed. “What? After all that work she did, you expect her to learn something, too?” His words. I swear.

The other unfortunate bit of news Ohio has brought down on its head involves an attempt to form a network of “Patriot Pastors” designed ultimately to help elect Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell as governor. Incredible. He who has thwarted the efforts of citizens to exercise their rights as defined in the U.S. Constitution is being heralded by the same folks that are celebrating victory over...uh....that’s right. Victory over everything but fear. Yeah, baby. We’ll just smash the rules and smash the liberals and smash the schools and smash science and smash the Constitution because we’re afraid of them. We’re going to smash freedom because we’re secretly afraid of that, too.

The only way I know to deal with these fearful folks who have muscles totally unattached to brains and hearts is to treat them as I used to treat my children when they had temper tantrums. Keep them safe from harm, keep out of the way of their flailing arms and legs, protect the furniture and other people, and, when the fever has passed, continue nurturing them into adulthood. It’s that simple, and it’s that difficult. We are all children of God, some are just more childish than others. These are the ones still afraid of the monsters in the closet. You know - the monsters that don’t exist except in their own minds?

Well, there you have it. Happy Easter, everybody! God help us all.

http://www.mytown.ca/denino/