seasonal queries

Onward, Christian Soldiers

Onward, Christian soldiers, marching as to war

Well if ever there was a line to make the rest of us non-christians fear – this be it. Here it is buried in song, the real purpose and objective of the Jesus-worshippers. It’s a war: a war to move the rest of us to belief. They’ll hope for a revelatory moment – Paul (nee Saul) on the road to Damascus – but they’ll make battle if necessary. This ain’t no idle threat, neither. Think of the hundreds of years of crusades we’ve endured while Christians saw it as their mission to bring and defend the cross. Missionaries traveling into the deepest, most remote, parts of civilization to bring the “good news” to savages who hadn’t heard yet, converting people at any price. Yes, indeed, it’s a war. And a war is as good a bit of material for a holiday song as anything. It’s the tiny fish bone buried in the joyousness of the season, it’s the buried treasure of Christianity, it’s the id of Christmas. “Wahooo, we get to fight.”