Christ is a Masochist

Two young women, maybe in their early 20s, knocked on my door today. I didn't hear what they said, because they were holding pamphlets clearly marked "Jesus Christ".

"We're not interested," I said politely, and they left.

Thing is, I am interested. Reading old psychoanalytic texts on masochism, the idea of Christ as a masochist was bopping around in my head. But it probably would have been wrong to invite these young ladies into my home to ask if they'd ever considered the masochistic elements of Christianity.

"Did Jesus have a boner on the cross?" is an offensive question, to them. To me, it's fair game. It's like asking if Spiderman ever used his web power to tie up his girlfriend for sex play.

(Answer: of course he did. And that's the answer to BOTH questions.)

Lately, I wonder if the masochism inherent in Christianity has fucked up a lot of people. Jesus died on the cross. He was tortured and died. It seems pointless. But Christianity teaches us this was an awesome sacrifice that changed the world.

And the moral of the story appears to be, "Suffering is good, even if it only results in death. Doesn't matter if it's suffering endured while working to complete a task, or just suffering for no reason."

Again, this line of thought is probably not something two young missionaries will be able to explore. They probably never really thought about it. Plus, if they listened to me go on about it, I'd be forced to listen to whatever bullshit they wanted to spew at me.

"God is love."

"God is love, in leather, with riding crop."