Följande citat av René Girard, ur Christianity, Truth, and Weakening Faith, en bok vi alltså har skrivit om här, föreföll mig som intressant, därför att Girard, likt t ex teologer som Hans Urs von Balthasar, ser på människan och världen som ett stort drama, i vilket vissa ”dramatiska aspekter” har sin nödvändiga plats och fyller sin viktiga funktion (även om vi vet väldigt lite om dess egentliga verklighet):

“The theological and ecclesiastical interpretations of Christianity do indeed transform Jesus into a judge, which is more or less the exact opposite of what he is. Today there is a fervent reaction against the ecclesiastical vision of the world and against the punitive and drastic aspects of Christianity. These form part of a great drama, a spectacle, and perhaps it ought to be staged some other way. But if we were to get rid of all the sanctions and all these, so to speak, “theatrical” and dramatic aspects, we would be eliminating an extremely important part of our lives. Consider the novel, for example: in novels our existence is seen more as comedy than as tragedy, byt there is something at stake in every event. The great power of the idea of heaven and hell is precisely that it supplies motivation for our lives, transforms them into a dramatic representation. Without these aspects, religion would lose the greater part of its own force. Frequently in literature, in catechism, or in theology, we encounter this “punitive” portrayal of heaven and hell, which may be simplistic, but which, from a different point of view, endows Christianity with something It cannot do without on penalty of losing all its special force.”