Every now and then, like most people I suppose, I get well-meaning emails trying to convert me to this or that. I just got this one:
A woman was asked by a coworker, “What
is it like to be a Christian?”
The coworker replied, “It is like
being a pumpkin. God picks you from the patch, brings you in, and
washes all the dirt off of you. Then He cuts the top off and
scoops out all the yucky stuff. He removes the seeds of doubt,
hate, and greed. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts
His light inside of you to shine for all the world to see.”
This was passed on to me by
another pumpkin. Now it’s your turn to pass it to other pumpkins.
Umm. AAaaaaarrrrrgh, as Charlie Brown would say.
Apart from “we found the Book of Genesis encoded in the cosmic background radiation,” I’m not sure what would convert me to one of them there middle eastern religions… but I’m pretty sure that analogies that basically say that being a Christian is akin to being turned into a mindless drooling moron won’t appeal to me. I’m left to wonder: for those Christians (or indeed any religious types) in the audience, does this sort of little homily work for you? For those minimally- and non-religious in the audience, does this kinda creep you out too? Conversely, does this creep out the Christians and seem appealing to the nons?
I’m curious, in short, whether the religious and non-religious types just happen to see this in very different lights. If so, it might be telling. If, as I hope, most people get a sense of Ick from the parable, then I can rest easy knowing that the fault lay with whoever originally wrote it.