Have you seen my hate? I seem to have misplaced it...

In my meanderings about the Internet today, I stumbled across a scathing revitorial (review+editorial) on the recent film release of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe that was entitled "Narnia Represents Everything That Is Most Hateful About Religion."

Now, I saw this movie twice over the past weekend, and I have to admit that I really didn't see anything all that "hateful" in the film. (Then again, I didn't see the anti-Semitism in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. In fact, I found myself arguing with someone at a Christmas party last year that the film wasn't the least bit anti-Semitic. The discussion reached a stalemate when I learned that the girl I was arguing with hadn't actually seen the movie. She had, however, written a graduate-level paper regarding the film's anti-Semitic content and, ergo, was an expert...but I digress.)

Upon reading the article, though, I realized the error. You see, the article should have been titled "Narnia Represents Everything That Is Most Hateable About Religion." I found that the following passage brought the author's reasoning most clearly to light:

"Children are supposed to fall in love with the hypnotic Aslan, though he is not a character: he is pure, raw, awesome power. He is an emblem for everything an atheist objects to in religion. His divine presence is a way to avoid humans taking responsibility for everything here and now on earth, where no one is watching, no one is guiding, no one is judging and there is no other place yet to come."

Realizing how misguided this author was, I immediately knew that I had to post a response. There are so many better reasons to hate religion (Christianity in particular) that it boggles the mind. After a brief wracking of my brain, I have settled on ten better reasons to hate Christians than because of our faith in the divine Aslan...er...Jesus.

10. The Daystar Network.

9. The Spanish Inquisition.

8. The second Left Behind movie. (The first one gave reason to be mildly displeased, but the second one was a clear insult.)

7. Their flapping heads and beady eyes…no, wait...those are Canadians.

6. Their inability to understand sarcasm, irony or most other literary conventions.

5. Centuries of anti-Semitism.

4. Their instant belief in everything that shows up in their e-mail inbox.

3. The Crusades.

2. Giving out tracts instead of candy on Halloween.

1. Amy Grant.