Is Jesus a mental disorder?
(Warning: Ranting ahead!)
The cultural topoi that surround the Jesus mythoi is well illustrated by the above “interpretation” of Jesus. In the West, we see Jesus as a very attractive man. We portray him as a well-groomed white man with long and flowing brown hair. Often, he is portrayed as tall with solid frame. He casts out demons by day and saves the world by night. He is a pious John Wayne.
Of course, this beauty is a complete lie. Jesus was likely a short and malnourished dark-skinned man with ratty hair and swollen feet. However, even in the Catholic Church, whose dogma considers Jesus to be a lesser saint of sorts, the contemplation of him as a man from the people is blasphemy
This fixation on the indelible beauty that is Jesus can cause people to have problems with reality. Case in point: The View’s Sherri Shepherd. Aside from never choosing a side in the age old the world is flat versus the world is round debate, she also believes that Jesus predates everything. Now, I get it. Jesus is eternal, nothing that came before his greatness matters, before Christ, ante Christum, blah, blah, blah, etc.
Thanks to modern comforts such as programmable televisions and remote garage door openers, this type of nonthought works for her. And, though she seems honest enough in her confusion when confronted, she makes a great case for Bokononism.
In brief, Bokonoism is the (fictional) belief that ignorance is bliss. This is akin to a mental disorder in that, in both cases, stimuli are incorrectly perceived and/or incorrectly interpreted: An individual who experiences social phobia often misreads social interactions and a schizophrenic completely misperceives his environment.
Where does this take us? Christians who fixate on Jesus often misinterpret the willingness of others to adhere to Jesusly standards and will misperceive their failures as a sign of a demonic interference. Unfortunately, for the rest of us, these Christians don’t even attempt to live in reality. And, so, we’re stuck with their dumb shit like their outrage over the movie adaption of The Golden Compass, their smearing of the homosexual lifestyle, and their saber rattling known as the War on Christmas.
