On the up: Christianity
On the down: People who screw with it

Ok I have to get on my soapbox about something: Bible bashes and their constant, incessant need to be all high and mighty and quash every other religion in the world.

Don't get me wrong - I think Christianity is great. Its messages of compassion and love are overwhelmingly beautiful and there are plenty of fabulous Christians who embody this and make you want to cry. But it all falls apart when the over-zealous Bible-Bashing born-again sector of the religion decide to take over and start their little high-ho preaching on the world.

Cases in point:

1) My Aunt Joyce (on my father's side) decided about 12 years ago she wanted to be Christian. Fine. No problem. But when my grandfather died a few years later, she absolutely refused to get involved with any wake or funeral proceedings, which was Buddhist/Taoist as carried out by tradition.

She went on and on "I'm not allowed to hold joss sticks, I'm not allowed to hold joss sticks, I'm not allowed to hold joss sticks." Okay, we understand, we respect your religion but could you respect your dead father-in-law? Maybe sit together with the family in a moment of prayer for a him? You could do your own Christian prayers or just make it a sort of rememberance for him? Oh no! No no no no no no no no no. "It's against my religion" (as if Jesus and God would give you demerit points for paying your last respects to someone who just died). Instead, she sat in the back and made a gigantic show of sobbing her eyes out, wailing away, surrounded by tissues.

She also refused to let her children pay their last respects to their dead grandfather. They weren't even allowed to fold their hands together as a last gesture.

Grandmother died recently, and then the whole big show was repeated again. Ad nauseum.

If that's what it means to be a Christian, then no thanks.

2) Another Aunt Caroline (from my mom's side) also converted to Christianity. A few years before he died, before her conversion, my other grandfather (her father) had given her and the other siblings a sort of family present, something like an amulet with a slight religious background.

When she'd suddenly decided she was now a Christian, she rang up my mother and fixed a time to come over to give her back this present. She had put it in a ziplock back and as she handed it back to my mother, held only the corner of the plastic, refusing to touch the amulet in any way.

She pulled a disgusted face and said, "Yah and now that I'm Christian, I can't have this... this... thing. I don't know what it is lah. Eewwww."

If that's what it means to be Christian, then no thanks.

3) A dear friend Philip who's studying in Australia recently came back to KL with one of his new Australian friends, Ben who's been a Christian for the past 5 years.

While back in KL, Philip took Ben to another friend, Helena's house. Helena and Philip are both Catholic, and so, as in that tradition, have small altars in their homes. When Ben saw the altar in Helena's home, he proceeded to make a big show of taking photos of it.

So Philip asked him what he was doing.

He answered, "Oh, you know. It's something to laugh at with the guys when I get home."

Apparently, it's even okay to put down other traditions within the Christian/Catholic traditions. Like, hello, aren't you all praying to the same people up there?!

If that's what it means to be Christian, then it's a big hideous joke.

4) A distant relative (cousin's uncle, or something) converted and at the time was still living with his elderly mother, who was Buddhist and had had an altar with some Buddha statues. He came home one day, pick up all her statues, told her just how wrong it was and threw them out.

Yeah, great. I'm sure the Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Virgin Mary, all the Apostles, Saints and ArchAngels and Angels were real proud of you for upsetting your mother like that. They were all there with pompoms as you threw out that totally heathen Buddha statue.

It drives me insane when I hear stories like this. Not just because I'm a wannabe Buddhist but because it's such an awful shame that supposedly practising Christians are acting in such hypocritical, often hurtful ways, while they maintain this great holier-than-thou, super-religious attitude.

They say you must "Accept Jesus." Sure, I accept Jesus. In fact, if you ask any serious spiritual practitioner, they'll tell you they accept Jesus - his wonderful messages of compassion, forgiveness; the way he was a living example of what it meant to show humility, to sacrifice for others, to really practise and embody compassion.

(Because in case you did'nt know, that's what it's about, d'uh. Not just getting to heaven!)

But if you really did accept all this about Jesus, you'd also accept the teachings of Mohammad, Buddha, the Hindus, the Jews, the Jains, even the Wiccans and Pagans who only ever talk about compassion and being mindful of others.

But no no no no no no no no no no no. For these crazy Bible Bashes, you have to accept Jesus, exclusively. The little kind monks in Tibet who practise kindness all their lives but pray to a Tara statue: "Oh no! What heathens! Worshipping false idols! They don't accept Jesus, they're going to hell!"

It's like little sororities up there, you know and they're all competing in a popularity contest. There's the Buddha sorority and the Jesus sorority and the Mohammad sorority and the Virgin Mary sorority and you're only allowed to join one at a time! (And PS I hear the Jesus one is the only one that will get you to heaven). They all get real angry if you join other clubs, you know, so better be careful which one you pick.

Oh give.
me.
a.
break.

If these are representations of what it means to "be saved," then no thank you, I'd much rather hang around samsara a bit longer.

Why don't bible bashers THINK for just two seconds:

Do you really think Jesus is going to ban you from heaven if you pay respects to your dead grandfather?

Do you think people like Gandhi and the Dalai Lama are big bad people and SINNERS because, OH MY GOD they've got statues!!!!!! And and and they pray to them!!!!?

Do you honestly think Jesus is proud of you for representing his spiritual lineage by going around knocking down every other religion in the world, disrupting harmony within your own family, acting so mightily superior?

I'm not knocking Christianity or people's faith... but I am knocking how people pervert the faith and turn it into some kind of power thing about being totally righteous. The examples I've given sound like gross exaggerations but you'd be surprised how many people out there do think like that and act out of that (Trust me, I've met 'em).

Sad thing is, these bible bashers are the minority... who spoil it for all the other fabulous wonderful kind beautiful Christian people out there in the world. And I've also met fabulous wonderful kind beautiful Christians who are open, accepting, love to talk to me about my practice and even applaud what I'm doing (or trying to).

Perhaps these bible bashes should take a leaf out of the real Christians' bible and start by practising humility and plain old simple kindness, worry about their own practise first before trying to save everyone else.

Or maybe, just exercise some intelligence?!

(Oh but wait, I'm supposed to be practising Dharma aren't I. So I should be more compassionate and patient. Thank you everyone up in heaven for sending trying people to help us develop patience. Ommmmmmmmm.............................)