John C. Wright

In a comment thread to one of his own posts:

The sad thing is that what Christians actually believe is so much more fantastic and wonderful and outrageous than anything a human could make up, I myself no longer believe humans made it up. You see, we DO believe that there is something more powerful than the Infinity Machine, brighter than the Most Holy Grail, and that is can heal the sick and raise the dead, and it is not buried in the Vatican but shouted from the rooftops and spread to the shining hearts of believers from China to Africa and from time to time is even seen in the gloom of Christian nations -- and that is the spirit of Christ, who is indeed the life and the Resurrection. We don't need no stinkin' zombies! We plan to raise everyone on the last day, the faithful to their reward, and, unfortunately, those who indulged in infidelity to theirs.

This is one reason why I don't understand my Neopagan friends. (I know a lot of witches.) If you are not going to be a stalwart atheist, living in a coffin the size of a universe, surrounding my a meaningless and unloving world and going into the darkness of death (which, to the atheist, is utter dissolution) why settle for merely being a witch? What do you get, a few blessings, maybe a ritual or two to cure a sick grandma? And I suppose you can look forward to reincarnation of metempsychosis -- assuming you believe even in that.

If you are not an atheist, and so you are going to believe in magic anyway, why not go for the gold? Why not dream big? Christians can cast out demons, heal the sick, help the poor, reform the sinner, free the prisoner and raise the dead! We are not afraid because of ghosts we can order them back into their graves. What can a witch and her hallucinogenic mushrooms do that compares with that? U mean, I get the idea of scoffing at ghosts, sure. But if you are going to believe in them anyway, if you've already taken the plunge and left the natural world behind to swim the seas of supernature -- why be a mere servant to the ghosts? Why be a slave to your little creepy Gods like Hecate and Odin, rather than being the sons and daughters of our God, who is brighter than Apollo and more jovial than Jove?

You get to sleep around, I guess, because the pagans want to jettison Christian sexual norms, but then again, why not be an Anglican?