(302) Oie

When I say Christianity is a feminine religion, I don’t mean it in the sense that many people think. It’s common to see neo-pagans pitted against trad Christians and it’s a competition between muscly manly men who like hedonism—profess to, anyway; profess to be all about clubs, women, and cocaine—whereas the Christians are aloof from all that and would barely condone violence. Yet Buddhism is a masculine religion, even though it is as pacifistic (more pacifistic—Jesus used violence, Buddha didn’t) as Christianity. What makes Buddhism (and Islam) masculine religions is that they don’t engage in psychological manipulation like Christians do—it’s not about whether you’re a “man’s man” who condones violence and “crushing the weaklings”, per Nietzsche; it’s the manipulation that is characteristically feminine.

Buddhism and Islam were founded by warriors—and whatever else Jesus was he was not a warrior. Buddhists don’t proselytise—this is what’s masculine about them. They lay out, in rational terms, why it makes sense to pursue Enlightenment—they say you can take it or leave it; it’s better to take it, but you don’t have to (we understand this is almost impossible for most men—if we force you, you’ll become a hypocrite). Muslims are more tolerant than Christians: if you belong to “the people of the book”—Christians, Jews, and, for some reason, Zoroastrians (not in the Hebrew book)—then you can keep your faith so long as you pay a tax. Again, it’s a masculine proposition—it’s open manipulation; become Muslim, save money—okay. It’s less tolerant than the Buddhists because pagans don’t get a choice—but when the Muslims ride into town with their black banners and Arabian steeds (they always convert with the sword) you’ll decide to sign up for the winning team anyhow.

It’s only Christians who go in for “if you don’t convert, baby Jesus will cry”, “I’m so concerned about you, we’re all praying for you”, and “you will burn forever”—and that’s just feminine psychological manipulation.