Castlevania Season Three and Anti-Christianity

That God may forgive us, let us forgive men,

We are all on this earth as temporary guests.

Prolonged fasting and prayer is in vain

Without forgiveness and true mercy.

-The Prologue of Ohrid, February 27th, Hymn of Praise (emphasis mine)

If you think that the show Castlevania is anti-Christian, I ask you to consider the above lines. Do any of the Christians in the show do anything like that? Or is the author of the show commenting upon the supposed Christians he sees in the real world? And if he's commenting upon Christians in the real world, is he commenting on you? And, in case you are still telling me you're not like the Christians in the show, I must ask:

Are you forgiving those that offend you, no matter how much they don't deserve it?

Are you feeding the hungry? Clothing the naked? Visiting those in prison? Helping heal the sick, even if it's just sitting there and being with them as they suffer? Are you caring for those less fortunate than you, especially if you don't think they deserve it?

If you're not then please, shut up. Cause Mr. Ellis is talking to you. And you'd do best to listen.

Oh wait, that means me too.

CRAP

The problem is that, without the divine mission of forgiveness (which is at the heart of all real Christians, I wish I was one of them!) the world (interior and exterior) starts to look a lot like the world that's portrayed in Castlevania. The strong prey upon the weak, the broken-hearted cannot heal and grow, and the only comfort you can gain is in tribal ties that only mean as much as they can help you ignore the breaks in your own heart on behalf of THE CAUSE.  Yes, that means your own little personal crusades against evil are useless, because saving the world only means that you are keeping it from burning it down while the actual predators in human hearts continue, unabated. And that means they'll come back, usually right under your nose. No, you will not create conditions where that stops as long as you see the world in terms of who is hurting who. That's what the characters in this show are doing, and it is utterly futile. Mr. Ellis knows it. Forgive or abandon all hope. And no, there is no other way. There are no righteous causes to go for, no action that can be done to redeem your soul.

Because, at the end of the day, if the only thing that matters is who is hurting who, you wind up with a bunch of stakes in your front yard, with all the failed projects of your broken heart serving as reminders that this way just doesn't work. Because it doesn't. THE CAUSE, be it stopping Trump, or stopping Hillary, or stopping abortion, or ending world poverty, or ending globalism or nationalism or any of the other isms that are almost entirely deadly sins to our souls ends with the below picture every time, all the time, without exception, although it's usually your own interior front lawn.

I pray I learn in time.

And, in case it wasn't clear, I highly enjoyed this season. This show just keeps getting better and better, with good and honest character work and some genuinely thought-provoking and soul-tearing stuff. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but man, as it goes on, it continues to be mine. It is dark, without being hopeless, cynical, without losing heart, and the characters are uncompromisingly portrayed in a way I wish more people would start doing. It's a tour de force. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, but I'm certainly going to keep watching.