The Fear of Faith

Many sitcoms and dramas since the ‘90s have aired one (and only one) episode about Christianity. The religious background of a main character is revealed, as that character’s belief— or lack thereof— is challenged by some extraordinary event. In Psych, the event is an apparent demonic possession; in Scrubs, it is a series of tragedies which lead a surgeon to question his faith; and in House, it is the admission of a teen faith healer into the hospital. The last shot of the House episode— which is tellingly entitled “House vs. God”— shows a whiteboard with a tally, reading “House: III; God: III”. In each of these examples, the faithful character is likable, but the existence of God and the efficacy of the person’s faith are always left up in the air, along with the question: Are people of faith sadly deluded, or have they caught hold of something everyone else lacks?

Some shows and movies approach religion less gently. In Arrested Development, there is the dual approach of presenting the lifestyle of people of faith as bizarre and cult-like, while those who disrespect religion are presented as ignorant, and sometimes suffer ridiculous cosmic retribution. In 30 Rock, multiple Christian denominations are mocked when Tracy wants to convert to some religion, but can’t decide which one. And in The X Files, though religion is uncomfortably and vaguely addressed in multiple episodes, one notable storyline involves a religious cult leader who instructs his followers to drink rat poison as a sort of twisted Eucharist. They believe in him completely, so they obey, and die.

The majority of studios choose to portray Christians with sad affection, or mild contempt. Christains are presented either as dreamy prophets whose circumstances have allowed them to believe in a higher power, and to accept great suffering for a purpose they cannot prove; or they are represented as hypocrites who participate in strange rituals and proclaim judgment on everyone outside of their circle.

These two views of Christians, as mystics and as base hypocrites, come together in the series Midnight Mass. This is a different kind of show, a Netflix special from 2021; but it strikingly captures both of the attitudes towards Christianity which are detailed above. Since it deals directly with religion without being fully in support of it, its approach is nuanced. The protagonists are of various faith backgrounds: two lapsed Catholics turned atheist, a faithful Catholic couple, a vaguely “spiritual” woman, and a Muslim. They are united together against an evil which is perpetuated through a Catholic parish, an evil heavily imbued with religious symbolism and tradition and supported by a multitude of misappropriated scriptures.

The show’s climax takes place at the Midnight Mass of Easter, a service at which Catholics celebrate Christ’s resurrection from the dead. The parish priest offers his congregation the chance to take poison rather than communion wine. He has been feeding them the blood of an angel in the chalice over the past few weeks, so that when they die, they will return to life in a new form (which exhibits most of the famous qualities of vampirism, including a lust for human blood). The priest kills one man in front of the congregation to show the effect; when the man returns to consciousness with a gasp, the people believe. They begin drinking rat poison from little communion cups, dying, and jolting back to life with an insatiable hunger for blood. Carnage ensues.

These shows are particularly saddening for a religious audience, and particularly effective for a non-religious one, because they tap into a real fear. It is the fear of what people will do under the direction of a charismatic leader who calls them to cast reason aside. This is the fear of faith. For faith means taking a leap, trusting something you cannot see, and trusting people who claim to be ministers of your God. In some more formal traditions, it also means accepting a lifestyle including rituals which some outsiders consider to be strange, such as fasting, prayer, abstaining from certain common practices, or wearing specific clothing.

Most Christians do not deny that faith, in and of itself, is apart from reason. There is a rich Christian tradition of reason supporting belief in God, which is often apparently overlooked by non-Christian artists and writers; but reason alone does not create a personal relationship with God. In a sense, Christians do leave themselves vulnerable when they choose to believe in God, and when they accept other traditional practices and dogmas of their church. All relationships built on trust require vulnerability.

Those who feel the call to greater acts of faith, too, cannot avoid standing out from the crowd. The world at large, and even many Christians, are skeptical of beliefs beyond faith in the existence of God, such as the belief in miracles, in healings, in speaking in tongues, and in transubstantiation (the belief that the bread and wine of Holy Communion are literally the body and blood of Christ).

Faith is not an easy thing to accept. By nature, it goes beyond reason. You cannot logic yourself into any kind of faith. No part of God’s word or creation is wholly remote from reason; however, even the most scholarly apologists must not lose sight of the necessity of faith—closed eyes, falling backwards off of a cliff into the empty air, faith. Faith is frightening to those outside of it, and with good reason. Faith will look strange, but it will not hide, and sometimes, it will defy explanation. For Christ Himself performed miracles that would be utterly unbelievable to an audience whose religion consisted entirely of logic.

Faith should frighten us, because it is not something to take lightly. “The fear of God” is not merely a turn of phrase. Christians are drawn towards choices which lead away from a life regulated purely by reason, towards the unknown and the mysterious, which can be terrifying. God leads towards things we are afraid of— towards places where He, and only He, is in control.

It is sad, but understandable, that Christian surrender to faith is so frightening to some people who do not share it. However, Christians believe with certainty that surrendering to God will not lead to hypocrisy or violence. Faith and reason are perfect dance partners. The God of the Bible is One whose law is this: “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Anyone claiming to be His mouthpiece who contradicts these commandments will be rejected by both reason and true faith. Reason leads us to the right cliff; faith allows us to leap off, into a new and glorious kind of life in which we can say to a mountain “move,” and it will move.

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A Psalm of Hope