Deliver Us from
Evil
By
Robin of Berkeley
AmericanThinker.com
It's funny how trivial
events somehow get seared into your brain. This one is from years ago, when
I was enjoying a yogurt on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley.
Suddenly, a large exotic bug appeared and started
dancing around. Its iridescent colors caught the sun and glistened like
a rainbow. A crowd formed to watch its antics in shared delight.
Out of nowhere, a lunatic pushed through the
crowd. I'd seen this guy before -- paranoid, menacing. His rage toward
the bug slit me like a knife. The insect was getting attention, people
were happy, and he was out for revenge.
The man bolted through the crowd, possessed.
He jumped on the bug, over and over and again. People gasped. A child
cried. And then, as quickly as it began, it was all over.
Silently, numbly, the crowd dispersed. The
man, now triumphant, smiled hideously. I threw away the yogurt, which
was now rendered tasteless.
I'll never forget the look of blind hatred on
that man's face. It communicated this: "I want what you have."
And: "If I can't have it, I'll destroy it."
This random experience flashed in my mind
recently when I was in a Berkeley bookstore. With my newfound interest
in religion, I wanted to peruse that section.
After hunting down a clerk to unearth the tiny
religion area, I perused the shelves. In actuality, the area should have
been called the Anti-Christianity Section.
While there were respectful tomes on the other
religions, the Christianity section was a virtual pillorying of Jesus.
Every book denounced him, mocked him, or
reinvented him as something entirely new. There were books debunking the
Gospel, with each author sounding gleeful, like a wicked child.
Now, I understand that some people reject
religion. But why the venom? The contempt, the need to torpedo Christ?
This campaign against Christianity isn't
confined to an obscure Berkeley bookstore. And it didn't begin with
Obama. There's been an active crusade for decades to try to destroy
Jesus with Alinksy-like tactics: freeze the subject, humiliate,
marginalize.
But while demonizing Christianity is nothing
new, it's reached a fever pitch since Obama came on the scene. It's no
wonder: Obama sent out clear messages from the start.
Obama's first interview as president was for an
Arab broadcaster. Then he covered up a cross at Notre Dame and was a
no-show on the
National Day of
Prayer.
Lately, it seems like
open season on Christians. The Pope has been subjected to unprecedented
condemnation, with atheists Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens
plotting ways to
have him arrested.
Comedy Central plans a
cartoon show mocking Jesus.
On the TV show Curb Your Enthusiasm, Larry
David does something so offensive that I will only offer you a
link.
In the past I would simply put on my therapist
cap with people like these. I'd probe their childhood for evidence of
maltreatment. I'd label them as narcissists and antisocial
personalities.
But now I have a different worldview, one that
goes much deeper than just the psychological. Now I understand that this
world is infused with the Divine. And that there is a competing force,
one that is the polar opposite.
I now have a word for that creepy feeling deep
down in my gut. And I finally understand the source.
Now I see what's really behind the campaign to
banish religion; it's to render us utterly helpless. Because after all,
without God, what protection is there in this brutal world?
Sadly, grievously, I look out on my country. I
see the corruption and undoing. I witness the ever-growing tsunami of
hate that threatens everyone in its path.
And I see citizens oblivious to the dangers
because they're mired in the slime of moral relativism. They have no
language, no hiding place, no possible way to shield their children in
the deep and darkest nights.
And I see that lunatic, the one with the
crazy, hollow eyes. But he's not just on Telegraph Avenue.
He's far
and wide: in the hallowed halls of Congress, in the institutes of higher
learning,
in basement rooms where small men troll.
If you listen closely, you can hear that same
diabolical cry:
"I want what you have.
And if I can't have it, I'll destroy it."
The lunatic is on the grass.
The lunatic is on the grass.
Remembering games and daisy chains and
laughs.
Got to keep the loonies on the path.
The lunatic is in the hall.
The lunatics are in my hall.
The paper holds their folded faces to the
floor
And every day the paper boy brings more.
And if the dam breaks open many years too
soon
And if there is no room upon the hill
And if your head explodes with dark
forebodings too
I'll see you on the dark side of the moon.
(from "Brain Damage" by Pink Floyd)
A
frequent American Thinker contributor, Robin is a licensed
psychotherapist in Berkeley and a recovering liberal. She would like to
thank her friend, Joe Sellwood, for his illuminating thoughts on the
subject.
Due to time constraints, Robin isn't reading the comments page. If you'd
like to send her a comment, feel free to e-mail her at
robinofberkeley@hotmail.com.