The Antichristian Phenomenon

Well, since we are now just two days away from the 25th of December, a day celebrated by one third of the world as the (supposed) day that symbol of Christianity was born, I feel that I should speak about a subject, actually a practice, so useless in nature as well as so grotesque in design.

I don’t know about other places, but here in my country there is a tradition every Christmas and Easter- the well-known tradition of rebirth, of being born once more under the blessings of Christ. I call them “seasons of rebirth”. I’m sure many people, from different places, know what I’m talking about.

But what does this “rebirth” consist in, and who are “the reborn” ?

Becoming holy

Basically the ones that are “profoundly moved” by these religious celebrations are people who normally have nothing in common with the “holy book” and its teachings, are as “mundane” and “worldly” as they can be and their very way of life or philosophy of life or however you might call it, stands to contradict every single aspect of the Christian utopia. Still, when asking them, they whole-heartedly believe in Christ and his doctrine, and believe that all his teachings are good, actually are the ULTIMATE good, although they themselves admit not being able to resist doing most of the “sins” that the “great teacher” forbids.

As we can all see, these kinds of persons are not exactly “holy” as the bible wants them to be, but rather closer in their way of life to us “unholy bastards”, the only difference being the (partial) belief in some fairy-tales, saying (perhaps) their prayers every evening before bed, and, of course, the seasons of rebirth. Now it is time to describe some of the “techniques” necessary to be born again.

Purge thy flesh

One of the most common practices in these periods is the act of fasting, meaning that the “pious” will abstain from eating the majority of eatable food (milk, cheese, eggs, meat etc. and other food made from these things and others) and will live on, basically, on food they wouldn’t normally touch or on some inconsistent food, that will give them a feeling of hunger for the whole day, distracting them from every activity they attempt. Wherever they go, and whatever they are offered, they examine the product in front of them with the greatest care, asking questions about the ingredients so not to eat some “forbidden” food by accident. Whenever they are offered something that does not correspond to their “Christ diet” they will not hesitate to tell that person, with a pious, serious, but also an expression of pride on their face, that they are fasting, and are sorry, but cannot eat what they are offered. If, god forbid, by the most unfortunate accident, they DO eat the smallest piece of something ‘forbidden’, you can expect a nice spectacle of spiritual agony, self-blaming, and anger for not keeping the promise towards ‘god’.

Some others even go as far as fasting old-school style on some special day of the fasting period- for example on Fridays, usually during the Easter fasting period- that is abstain from ANY kind of food or drink, with the exception of water. Of course, people who normally enjoy a good, sustaining meal every day, go through  hell doing this, only to speak afterwards of “the purifying power of fasting for Christ”.

Others are even funnier. They take advantage of fasting for Christ so they can loose a few pounds. Pretty awesome !

Second to fasting comes the well known church rituals. These include: attending church on that certain religious day, or before that day, when some other rituals and chants are being practiced, even though that certain person would never even think of going to church on any normal day. But on those days, they attend church with a serious, pious look.

There is also, of course, the act of confession , when the guilty-ridden person kneels before the priest, confesses his “sins” (all confessions are probably the same, I wonder why don’t they make a record of it and play it in church, since they keep repeating these “sins” every time), the priest says some words with the purpose of “correcting” that person’s behavior, than grants him “forgiveness”. The person than leaves the cash on the table and walks away (at least that’s how things are done around here, in this country). This may, or may not, be followed by the act of symbolically drinking the blood and eating the body of the “savior”. Symbolic vampirism and cannibalism if you ask me.

Anyway, the results of these activities during these days are that the person feels “relieved” for being “purified” by the grace of god, and for being granted forgiveness, and that he once more feels closer to god and his kingdom.

Of course, this “miracle” doesn’t last more than one or two days, and as soon as the religious holidays have passed, it is time to “sin” again and go back to normal (aka the REAL world)- after all, after Christmas comes New Year, a good time to get wasted at all sorts of parties, right?- until, no doubt, the next religious holiday when a new “rebirth”  will take place, when fasting, piousness and humble attitude will replace the “sins” of the flesh and the demons of pride and the person will once more get closer to god and his kingdom.

An attempt to a conclusion

That “hypocrisy” is not just a word that describes, but actually the real name of Christianity, is no secret to anybody (unholy, of course). However, why would anyone follow such a masochistic doctrine is beyond me. A doctrine that has nothing to do with reality and man’s natural instincts and urges, but that commands pointless and mindless abstinence. Again, why would anyone abstain from doing something which they ADMIT has nothing wrong in it is also beyond me (oh, I forgot, Christ/the bible says so). After all, what is wrong about eating your favorite food, when you’re exhausted after a hard day ? Why make things even worse and put yourself through more trouble by not eating ? What is wrong in the sexual act ? Why need it be shun as something “wicked” ? What is wrong in pleasure after all ? Why live in pain ?

Seems to me that Christ was a pretty big masochist ! Well, each to his own, I guess ! But I’ll never understand why would anyone want to follow the teachings of a masochist. (Right, I forgot that he was also a sadist with a taste for inflicting “eternal pain”)

And to end this article, because I already wrote too much on this subject, here are two quotes that come to my mind, but they are more than sufficient in telling the truth about Christianity and its followers:

“ In the winter, navigation having closed, business was mostly suspended. There were no railways and the only means of communication were wagons and boats. Generally the roads were so bad that the wagons were laid up with the boats. There were no operas, no theaters, no amusement except parties and balls. The parties were regarded as worldly and the balls as wicked. For real and virtuous enjoyment the good people depended on revivals.

The sermons were mostly about the pains and agonies of hell, the joys and ecstasies of heaven, salvation by faith, and the efficacy of the atonement. The little churches, in which the services were held, were generally small, badly ventilated, and exceedingly warm. The emotional sermons, the sad singing, the hysterical amens, the hope of heaven, the fear of hell, caused many to lose the little sense they had. They became substantially insane. In this condition they flocked to the “mourner’s bench” — asked for the prayers of the faithful — had strange feelings, prayed and wept and thought they had been “born again.” Then they would tell their experience — how wicked they had been — how evil had been their thoughts, their desires, and how good they had suddenly become.

They used to tell the story of an old woman who, in telling her experience, said: — “Before I was converted, before I gave my heart to God, I used to lie and steal, but now, thanks to the grace and blood of Jesus Christ, I have quit ‘em both, in a great measure.”[....] Well, while the cold weather lasted, while the snows fell, the revival went on, but when the winter was over, when the steamboat’s whistle was heard, when business started again, most of the converts “backslid” and fell again into their old ways. But the next winter they were on hand, ready to be “born again.” They formed a kind of stock company, playing the same parts every winter and backsliding every spring.“

Robert G Ingersoll- American Civil War veteran, gifted orator and well-known agnostic and opposer of Christianity and Christian teachings.(Fragment taken from “Why I am Agnostic”)

“On Saturday night i would see men lusting after half-naked girls dancing at the carnival and on Sunday, while playing the organ for tent-show evangelists, I would see the same men sitting in the pews with their wives and children, asking God to forgive them and purge them of their carnal desires. And the next Saturday they’d be back at the carnival or some other place of indulgence.
I knew then that the Christian church thrives on hypocrisy and that man’s carnal nature will out”

Anton S LaVey- occultist, writer and musician, best known for writing the Satanic Bible and founding of the ‘Church of Satan’

PS to everybody: Have a wonderful and pleasurable time with your loved ones and families during these days !

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 23rd, 2008 at 5:17 pm and is filed under Religion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.