Gnashing of Teeth: The Growing Hatred of Christianity #Catholic

I love the American Thinker's contributor, "Robin of Berkeley."

For those who are unfamiliar with her, "Robin" is a psychotherapist living in Berkeley, California -- and in her words, a "recovering liberal." Robin has some truly amazing insights into our current political world. She takes on everything from the vapid robots who idolize President Obama, to global warming paranoia, to Sarah Palin, to pondering whether Jesus Christ is a Marxist. If you've not read her before, I'd suggest starting at the beginning with her first article (located at the bottom of the list, which is linked above) and work your way up. I've read her columns aloud to my husband a few times on long car trips and then we discuss them. It's good stuff.

This latest column is brilliant in its ability to pinpoint people's hatred of Christianity:

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."

She goes on to explain that while perusing a local bookstore for books on Christianity, she noticed how many mocked Christianity. Many books were obvious in their disdain and outright hatred of this particular religion. She wondered why people couldn't just move along if they didn't like Christianity. Why did they have to try to destroy it?

Why, indeed. I have been reminded lately of all the scripture verses that say "there shall be wailing and a gnashing of teeth." I never thought I'd see anything in my lifetime that would equate such an expression. I was wrong.

This phrase brings to mind the babbling of Janine Garafalo when she accused the Tea Party of being racist, and Bill Maher who said that the American people were stupid and had to be led to change that was best for them. Joy Behar, who is as joyless as they come, claimed Christianity is no different than terrorism. These people make the most outrageous statements, but because it is anti-Christian, not only is it tolerated but applauded.

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a base mind and to improper conduct. They were filled with all manner of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malignity, they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's decree that those who do such things deserve to die, they not only do them but approve those who practice them. (Rom. 1:28-32 RSV)

Robin says this (emphasis mine):

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?

Exactly.

It is becoming more evident that those who do not believe in God, those who reject Christianity, are no longer satisfied with merely rejecting something with which they don't agree. They need to destroy it. Because if these haters cannot obtain joy and contentment from their own poor choices, they are determined to destroy anything that gives that very joy and contentment to others. This is why we see a rise in militant atheism, radical political ideologies that leave no room for faith, and why national leaders are desperately trying to squelch something like the Tea Party movement which obviously is rooted in Judeo-Christian beliefs.

I've met a few liberals. And from my interactions with the most radical of them, I have concluded 1) they never grew beyond their childhood emotional wounds and 2) they are determined to make the world pay for that injustice.

When I was in grade school, I had my share of mean-spirited teasing and mockery. I used to come home in tears, not understanding why I couldn't fit in or just simply be left alone. It was a difficult time in my childhood, but then something profound happened. I asked for a personal Bible as a Christmas present when I was twelve and got it. I started to read the Bible and pray. It was then that I first started to understand that one of the things required of me as a Christian was to forgive my enemy.

This grace to forgive our enemies frees us from our natural fleshly desire to seek vengeance. Without it, we would constantly keep score, attempting to "level the playing field," and try to ensure that life would be fair for everyone. Except it doesn't work that way. Life is never fair but what is more important is our response to it. Our response can either make or break our attitude, our emotional health, and either bless those around us or curse them.

I think we're witnessing the cursing.

Those who see us are now faced with a choice. Either consider the Man called Jesus Christ or reject Him. Either admit you are a sinner in need of salvation from God or reject Him. Either humble yourself before God and deny yourself or continue seeking the empty promises of the world. Many cannot or will not consider Christianity. In their mind, it is filled with rules and authority and relinquishing control over one's life. Unbelievers want nothing to do with it. They'll continue hurtling down the road toward a cliff because that's what they want to do.

Meanwhile, for those of us who try to warn them, (and are safely kept on the side of the road by the hand of God) we are beginning to see that many of them would like to first take some of us out on their way to that cliff. The good news is that we can continue to pray for them. And as far as I know, there isn't any invention or law in existence that will prevent us from doing just that.