The New Christianity

I hate the Twenty-First Century, so much of it is completely annoying. Take, for instance, the new, modernized, muscular, no bullshit Christianity, the Christianity of the football field, the boxing ring, the war zone. Thank you, Jesus! (Raises eyes and points to heaven.) Thank you for that crippling tackle, for that knock-out punch, for that well timed air strike (with almost no collateral damage). The most public piety in America these days is seen on the playing fields of sports, violent or otherwise, or on actual battlefields.

This is a major perversion of Christian values.

Another aspect of this new Christianity is the marginalization of good works in favor of an emphasis on “taking Jesus Christ as your personal savior and doing His Will,” which doesn’t seem to feature good works anymore. Now “His Will” is more likely to be expressed as voting for reactionary politicians; opposing civil rights for certain oppressed groups (like immigrants and homosexuals); lowering taxes; opposing anything that helps the poor or the less fortunate; cleaning up the culture at large; deregulating business; or even, God forbid, seizing dominion over entire countries and imposing something called God’s law. For “His Will,” of course, read “following instructions from self-appointed earthly plenipotentiaries.”

Jesus would weep.