These cockalorums will tell you in no uncertain manner what to do, when to do it, what to eat, what not to eat, what to wear, what not to wear, which religion to believe in, which music to listen to, which psychic to consult, how to save the whales and the world, which quartz crystal will cure your ills in order to end up becoming as smug and as half-witted as they have managed to become. Their speeches are invariably spiced like a cheap Mexican dinner, with spices hot enough to mask the bland taste of the re-hashed, refried beans. It is truly a matter of wonder what a tablespoon of Karma, half a cup of cabala, a few yin-yangs, some slices of Kundalini, and a couple of drops of Yoga can do to poor ingredients. This whole concoction will be stewed and brewed over their feeble alchemical fires until all goodness and original flavour has evaporated. What a cauldron! What poor cooks! Is it any wonder that food such as this will not fatten their lean spirits? On the other hand we have the Christians, sitting in their pews like mutton on a skewer, and filled with the fear at the prospect of losing sheep to the New Age or to 'heathen' religions. These are the so-called friends of Jesus who, without too much prompting from the Devil, will send a Jew, a Hindu, or a Muslim straight to Hell for not believing as they do. In return, the Jew, Hindu or Muslim, will send the Christian to hell. It was probably this kind of intolerant ass Job had in mind when he said: "Miserable comforters are ye all".
Arthur Machen also seemed to be unimpressed with the behaviour of those who call themselves Christians: "The New Testament for all these people has been written in vain; they will still believe that a good Christian is one who drinks a cup of cocoa at 9:30 and is in bed by ten sharp. And to such persons, of course, the texts which assert the necessity of becoming like little children if we would enter the Kingdom of Heaven are clear enough; it is merely a matter of early hours and plenty of cocoa - or, perhaps, of warm bread and milk." Respectability, rather than love and mercy, is the yardstick used by our Christian brothers and sisters in these 'enlightened' days of our Lord. And it was Pinero who said that: "The vainest are those who like to be thought respectable". All is, indeed, vanity and vexation of spirit, and we come to discover that the worst man is usually him who sees himself as the best.