This has to be one of the stranger things I’ve seen: a Christian ministry predicated on Mixed Martial Arts and punching guys in the face and kicking their legs and throwing them to the ground, hallelujah?

I will say that there is or at least can be a strange sort of camaraderie that comes from fighting in a cage. The idea that the people who get in cages and rings and fight – whether it be for intrigue, thrill, or for a living – are mindless angry animals is so off the mark it’s not even funny. There is no hard and fast rule to who a fighter is and how he acts, but those who are willfully ignorant of combat sports and the lifestyle of fighters would probably be surprised if they observed them in their environment.

Other than that, obviously as an Atheist I have an inherent problem with some of the rationale surrounding this, particularly and especially “there’s an enemy out there, and he’s trying to destroy us” and using that as an allegory to real life. I think that’s the sort of thing that encourages conspiratorial and paranoid thoughts, actions, and behavior, and it’s one of my major problems with organized religion. So I’ll just say that much and leave it at that.

Except, hey, there’s a Christian church where parishioners beat the holy Hell (HAR HAR) out of each other in a cage.