Oriol Jara: "Christianity seeks out the most miserable people...to save them"

Oriol Jara (Barcelona, ​​1980) is a screenwriter and television director. He has been, among other things, assistant director of the program Buenafuente, screenwriter of Poland and currently directs The jungle, the afternoon program on TV3. But Jara is also a Christian activist. And, with the book Why I believe in God, begins a new collection of Destiny of Thought in which various people answer the question posed in the book's title: why do they believe in God?

Believing in God is a logical, reasoned decision?

— Absolutely not.

But here you explain why you think so?

— It can be reasoned out. I can explain how, after experiencing different religions, I see that Christianity is the truth, that it is different from other religions, and that the faith is based on a historical event: the death and resurrection of Jesus.

You had always been interested in faith.

— I don't come from a religious family, but I did ask myself a lot of questions: If God doesn't exist, does that mean good doesn't exist? And if it does... am I being a fool with the life I lead? And that's when I started to investigate.

Investigate what?

— First Judaism, because I had a grandfather with Jewish ancestry. I started reading the Torah and associating with Jewish people in Barcelona. I also spent time in a Muslim community, and I even began praying daily. You see, I was doing a Sherlock Holmes-type investigation: I wanted to know who God was.

And you didn't find an answer in Islam or Judaism?

— To put it simply, it seemed to me that Judaism had a more legalistic than spiritual perspective. Islam has a more direct relationship with God, but it's also legalistic. It says, "You have to do this in a specific way," and if you don't, God rejects you. And then, suddenly, a book appears.

Which?

— One by a marginalized Jewish man, an American theologian and priest, who explains things that are historically unquestionable. It blew my mind.

How does that revelation change your life?

— My religious practice has changed. I understand that the only thing the Gospel asks of you is to believe in Jesus. And I've stopped wanting things I used to want and that I had to fight against.

For example?

— My generosity was conditional on getting something in return. Now I realize that despite being the way I was, Jesus has come to me.

Who are you?

— A seemingly functional guy, but with many serious sins, with very low morals, with unpleasant and uncomfortable vices, harmful to the people around me, a big liar… Now I try not to be like that.

Has your family understood?

— My parents' generation has a political and social bias regarding Catholicism, but now they understand it perfectly, and I've also greatly improved my relationship with my mother. Well, not me. The Lord.

The Lord?

— Yes, I feel like he's the one doing it. I haven't done anything.

You say that a man who does not believe in God does not believe in anything and believes in anything.

— That's what we see today.

I don't believe in God, but I believe in many things. In truth, in justice…

— For me, truth, justice, and beauty are attributes of God. Our concept of justice, beauty, or goodness, as philosophers say, must be caused by some perfection outside of ourselves. Why do we all understand that harming a child is wrong? Because there is a metaphysical idea within us. This exists in our world, not in the animal world.

Why are so many churches empty?

— Because religion has driven people away. People are thirsting for a spiritual connection. And they find it in various ways. Sometimes with candles, with Bach flowers, with other Eastern religions. But Christianity doesn't give you rules. The Bible only asks you to believe.

You talk about yoga as a religion.

— It's a religious practice in Hinduism. I have a friend who does yoga and says it's like going to the gym. But the other day she was telling me how they'd lit candles for Ganesha, because they have a representation of him there in class. So there you have it. Buddhism is fantastic for the postmodern era.

Because?

— Because it's selfish. And it helps people to be told, "You can work on your spirit to be better, so that pain doesn't affect you so much..."

You state that the current God of the West is the ego and that the temple would be the gymnasium.

— Let it be known that the gym isn't a problem. But it's a temple. Let's worship ourselves.

And if that God is so fantastic, couldn't he make the world a little better?

— God already actively saves us from things that happen in the world and that are characteristic of moral evil. The problem is that, the moment man strays from the path, the moment he can, he persistently returns to things that are happening in our own homes today and that are becoming his legacy. And this happens with people who have decided that their will prevails, not the will of the Lord.

What do you think when you see people like Dani Alves become preachers?

— I don't know if he's converted, that's the first thing. But if he has, all I can say is praise God. The cool thing about Christianity is that it seeks out the most miserable, the most wretched people... to save them.