Recently I went on a guided nature hike through a preserve in southern New Jersey. The preserve had been part of a farming community at one time, and the foundations of three old homesteads can be found on the grounds. At one of these locations, wisteria vines that had once been part of someone's garden 70 years ago are now crowding out the other vegetation and actually pulling down some of the trees. Cutting the vines is apparently doing little more than slowing down the process, because the roots run very deep. Not surprisingly, the management is reluctant to douse the place with herbicides, so they have a bit of a problem.

I became familiar with wisteria at Longwood Gardens. They have a beautiful display that shouldn't be missed if you're in the area during the latter half of May. But until now it had never occurred to me that this ornamental plant could be invasive as well, like multiflora rose. Aside from the obvious environmental lesson here, it has occurred to me that wisteria is a perfect metaphor for Christianity.

Too many people see only beauty in Christianity. They do not realize how overwhelming the roots can become if left to their own devices. I'll assume this does not apply to regular readers of this website, but if anybody wants a further analysis, I recommend Helen Ellerbe's The Dark Side of Christian History. This book was a significant step on my journey away from the faith.

Another interesting parallel is that while the vines may be easy to grow, wisteria has a reputation of being notoriously difficult to get to bloom. Likewise, there don't seem to be a lot of Christians who perform genuine deeds of beauty as opposed to phony "good works" designed to make a public display of themselves. As Christopher Hitchens and others have pointed out, even Mother Teresa falls into that latter category.

Finally, wisteria's seeds are poisonous and can be fatal if consumed in large quantities. While I haven't heard of anyone trying to munch on wisteria seeds, I can think of several who've delved too deeply into the Bible, poisoning their capacity for rational thinking, and in some cases becoming religious fanatics, making themselves noxious to everyone else around them, as well.

Whether or not you believe that religion in general and Christianity in particular are truly inspired by God, we would all do well to remember that like wisteria, it has a dark side that will last long after the beautiful bloom fades away if it's allowed to get out of control.