Arthurian Literature: Christianity in The Mists of Avalon

I believe Jesus Christ is my Savior and my best friend. I also believe that everything the Bible says is true and is the word of God my Father. As to why it scares people to say this boggles my mind, since this belief brings me such profound joy. Yet, for some reason, I always fall into the crowd whose interests are the same as my own, but whose beliefs are opposite. My Arthurian Literature class, and also the book we are reading, The Mists of Avalon, is not fond of Christianity and many slurs are repeated. Now, I have absolutely no problem with people whose beliefs are different than my own. I actually find it very interesting to hear what others believe and question my own beliefs against what I have learned. However, I do have a problem when people take things out of context from the Bible and lie about something, or speak badly about something they do not understand. Not only does that make the speaker sound ignorant against someone who knows more about the subject, but it is so wrong I can hardly stand it. I knew college would test my faith, and it has, but I also knew my faith is strong because of the experiences I have had the past few years and is nearly impossible to break.

Pardon my small rant. Continuing on to the main subject, one of the conflicts in The Mists of Avalon is between the Old Religion and Christianity. The Old Religion, at least in this novel, is where there is one central god and goddess and many smaller deities. Whenever a character becomes Christian in the novel they are suddenly very stupid, making decisions that make no sense and forgetting everything they once knew. The novel says that Christianity is a religion of suffering and death, referring to what Jesus went through, but that is not the religion at all.

I have noticed an interesting difference between these two religions. While the Old Religion offers every kind of sensual pleasure possible, along with magic and other abilities, such as seeing into the future, they offer absolutely no love. The main character complains about how she has served the goddess her whole life and has never truly experienced joy or love from another person. On the other hand, Christianity guarantees love, even in the story. The Christian characters in the story are loved. If I was given the choice between every pleasure and power imaginable, or love, I would most definitely pick love.