Christianity - A Journey from Facts to Fiction — Page 147
Christianity Today 147 Christianity is only a means of subjugation. It is like an opiate that has lulled them into a deep sleep of forgetfulness. It gives them a false sense of belonging to their rulers in sharing at least something on equal footing with them. It is the same sense of belonging which has led them to imitate the so expensive style of Western life. The trees remain planted on foreign soils, but only the fruits are transported across to a people who have somehow become addicted to their taste. This is a small illustration of how Christi- anity has always been indispensable for the Western imperial and economic domination of the Third World. In the West itself, regardless of whether a common man under- stands the complexities of Christian dogma or not, he sees Christi- anity as an integral part of his culture and civilization. It should be remembered that the real strength of Christian values, wherever they survive, does not lie in Christianity’s mythical set of beliefs. But instead it lies in the emphasis on kindness, sympathy, service to the cause of suffering and other such values that have almost become synonymous with Christianity. Although these values are common to all religions of the world and they seem to be the goal Divinely set to be attained by all humanity, yet somehow, the powerful Christian propaganda continuously emphasises these roles in relation to Christianity alone and, as such, has succeeded in convincing people at large. This message of sympathy, kind- ness, godliness and gentle behaviour plays magic to ears with its mellow music. It is this world of romance which generally attracts people to the Christian faith. However, side by side, yet divorced from it operate the hard, political and economic realities of Western life and its subjugation of the rest of the world.