“Hope in the foolishness of Jesus.” I think most Christians are more foolish than the character Jesus from the gospel narratives.

Have you read Kierkegaard? He says any religious faith which doesn’t consist in fear and trembling is so much arrogant, crypto-atheistic pride in Christendom. Religious faith should be fear of God, of what Rudolph Otto called the terrifying and fascinating mystery of holiness. As such, it’s hard to see how faith could be an antidote to suffering or despair.

It seems to me unseemly to sell religion as a technique for being happy. Happiness is not for authentically spiritual people, since they’re too busy being disgusted with the harsh facts of nature, such as with the universe’s apparent godlessness.