Friday, December 25, 2009

Epiphany

I attended a wedding today in Kottayam. It was a wedding in the church of some vague Christian denomination. The wedding service was sweet and simple, but people like us were seen bolting for the door in panic when the sermon began. The preacher petrified everyone to their seats with his blazing sermon about God and his wrath. Apparently, if we do not repent and read the Bible and call His name every few second, serious repercussions would fall on us. He made God out to be a monster; a deadly creature stalking you evilly, ready to smite you if you were not shivering in your pants at the thought of His wrath and praying continuously.

I wanted to throw my shoes at him. I am so fed up of people like him and the chain mails I get with the picture of Our Lady/Jesus, asking me to forward it to 15 people or die like the Brazil presidents wife, or be maimed like the American Senator’s daughter, or lose my eyesight like the Inca lady in South America, who had probably not heard about a computer, let alone chain mails.

Try as I might, I can never understand these people and their message. What are they trying to say? Every time you hear them it is the same message.

Jesus is the Lord
You are a sinner
You will die
And that will be a big loss to you, let me remind you!
If you want to be saved (Of what? You will die anyway) then say the Lords name!

What about the teachings of Christ, buddy? About love and compassion, especially to sinners. Of being kind to the prodigal son and treating women of bad repute like Mary Magdalene with respect and dignity. And most importantly of not pointing fingers unless you have not sinned yourself! I feel sad for Christ and Christianity, that these self appointed spokespersons of Christ are doing so much damage to His legacy with their own interpretations of the Bible, convoluted, narrow minded thinking and private agendas.

When the service was over, I realized for the first time, that there was so much dignity, piety and humility in a Catholic Mass. A reality check, that was long overdue! But I am glad it happened.

Happy New Year dear friends!

18 comments:

Nitin Sisupalan said...

Hehe.. I must differ anyway... I've always enjoyed the church more than the temple....

for a lot of reasons that is.. ;)


neway.. Happy New Year Anjali chechi!!! :D

Anonymous said...

Naice, typical think pad post. Felt you were going soft lately. Thrilled to see a hard hitting post!

Leo said...

Always felt the same while listening to certain sermons they give in our churches. But even more appalling is in those retreats. Attended one in life and was enough (reflected in a post here: http://kuex.us/5648)..hey btw, tht ws a JY one..(saw a link to JY in ur blog..any spl reason ??)

Sri said...

Ever heard of a fraud called Bhagwan Sri Satya Sai Baba?

PJC said...

Haha!! Brilliant post!! :P

Abhi said...

I've found the church to be inspiring at times, but then yeah; most times its just plain BS :).

Happy new year :D

Merill said...

Forgive me for laughing, but this was hilarious...and very true too! :-)))

Pink Mango Tree said...

How true...!!
Be it Christianity, Hinduism or any damn religion - Why do people fear God instead of loving him/her?

Totally, totally loved this post.

Belated Merry Xmas and a very Happy New Year. Looking forward to more brilliant, more hilarious and more out-of-the-world posts from you in 2010! :)

Anonymous said...

These people don't understand why so many peoples are getting closer to penticostal churches and all.These so called priests primary aim is to form a big bridge between common people and god , and also make them believe they can communicate with god only through them.

As you mention in the post, Jesus taught us about love and compassion only ,not threatening and punishments

Unknown said...

heh.. 'christ buddy'? or buddy christ?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buddy_Christ
:-)

silverine said...

Hollowmaniac: The Church is indeed a sanctuary when those preachers have shut their trap! :p

Anon: You got me thinking. Perhaps I have gone too soft and politically correct here. Right now I am praying for time to write! :(

Leo: Yeah, we do have appalling retreats and dhyanams, mostly attended by desperate people. Religion is purely fear now and more importantly a boon machine. I am a member of JY and the Blr one is fab with no gimmicks. Plus, I keep away from retreats. :p

To reply to your comment at the other post, I agree that Christ and the Church do not walk in tandem most of the time and that the Church is def not the true representative of Christ many a time. That realization is the reason why I never had to put up with disillusionment at the deeds of the Church or its followers. And I have never understood people who left the religion because they did not like the clergy and their shenanigans. The Church is made up of human beings who are weak just like everyone else. If someone doesn't want to follow the faith he might as well walk out like you instead of blaming others for his/her lack of faith.

Sri: I do not know much about him.

Prathik and Merill: My frustu rants are always laughed at, even offline :p

Abhi: True. But without these BS elements it is a peaceful place. :)

Shalini: Thank you girl! Very true and that is what annoys me, this attempt to instill fear to make people follow religion!

Anish: Absolutely true!

jackson: Argh! You an English teacher? :( I have put a comma where it was missing hehe. And I like the Christ Buddy concept!! Thanks for the link!

Unknown said...

hehe.. no, i'm no grammar nazi.. the phrase just instantly reminded me of the buddy christ..

watch 'dogma' if you liked the idea.. the movie takes its potshots at catholicism, and religion in general, but in a good-natured way.. plus its really funny..

Small Talk said...

I too agree its only wen I attended a service of sum other denomination did I realise the moderate values propogated by Catholic church.......the Xmas eve mass at one of the oldest churches in Blore was all inclusive in nature....with the priest tkng note of the multi-religious crowd present at the ceremony....

Elizabeth Priya John said...

good post and well said about the sermons in other churches , its a pity that such things keep young people away from religion , something needs to be done !! Its not Christ they preach about but apocalypse !!
@Leo : JY is about fellowship and is a community , not just for retreats !!

silverine said...

Jackson: That sounds like a fun movie. :) Hope I get a CD of the same!

small talk: Wow! That sounds like a wonderful Mass. We had a family Mass at our family chapel, amidst howls of protest by the Bishop at having a private Mass! :)

Elizabeth: "Its not Christ they preach about but apocalypse!!" You put that better than me! That is exactly what they preach, not hope and love but doom! Thanks for dropping by! :)

vimalgasper said...

Someone should have reminded him that his sermon should be intended for the success of the marriage which is being solemnized.
I too feel that the churches of today do not preach the teachings of Christ rather their own interpretations of Bible with vested interest. Sometimes I feel that they are the false prophets about whom Jesus has said in the Bible to beware of.
If God has sent his own son to the world to die for the sins of man then he has to be a compassionate God and not someone who is standing at the door's of Heaven with a Sword of Fire...

silverine said...

Vimal: So so true!

Indian Madder said...

Hi Anjali:)..this is kinda late, I know, but your post touched a chord.

I was born and raised an Anglican and yourstruly is still happy with the conventional church service she goes to (Soooo politically incorrect y'know!!). It's kinda disturbing that a lot of ppl judge the intensity of faith by the 'display' factor :(

Yes, my church is pockmarked with flaws...but at least it hasn't turned me into a pulpit-pounding, Revelation-spewing Bible groupie!!Wish folks didn't take "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom" so literally :)

Great blog!