Vampires and Salvation

Christianity and vampirism are diametric opposites when the idea of salvation is discussed. Salvation, at heart, is being saved and enabled to continue living -- for the vampire it is living on in its original body, while for the Christian it is living in Heaven. We are going to ignore the issue that even within Christianity there are differing views of what is necessary to salvation: ("No one, let his alms giving be as great as it may, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ, can be saved, unless he remain within the bosom and the unity of the Catholic Church." Pope Eugene IV, Papal Bull Cantate Domino; cf. Session 11 of the Council of Florence.) The major points of difference between vampires and the generic Christian can be found through who saves the human, how he/she is saved, and (I suppose) in where they spend their post-salvational time.

Vampires:

• Attain eternal life in original mortal body

• Maintain life by drinking mortal blood -- over and over again

• Saved by own daily volition of drinking mortal blood

Christians:

• Attain eternal life through accepting Jesus' actions in saving them. (They can't save themselves through their own actions within any of the Christian sects.)

• They lose their mortal body and are givin a different body in heaven post-death.

• They go to heaven, instead of remaining wandering around earth.

For the Christian the idea of salvation comes through the body and the blood of Jesus. The person accepts His sacrifice of Himself in their place via acceptance of the symbolic Eucharist, moving their sins onto His shoulders, leaving their soul spotless and hence capable of standing in the presence of God. They die and leave their bodies behind. It is their souls that enter eternity, and whether or not the mind and personality go along for the ride is unknown. They (through their souls) then spend eternity in Heaven with their God. And no matter how wonderful you find this physical world, it isn't Heaven.

For the vampire, salvation comes through the blood of its victims (donor-chicks and fang-bangers fit here as well). It doesn't really matter if the action of the blood-donor is willing or not; the taking of the blood is the important action. It moves life from the victim into the victimizer (vampire). What is important to remember here is that the vampire does not lose any conscious portion of itself -- arguably the soul is not conscious on a level that the personality (brain) of the human can interact with. They continue walking around on earth.

So for both Vampire and Christian salvation (eternal life) is, to some degree, a matter of choice -- of free-will and conscious decision making. They are both saved through blood. But for the vampire it is a taking of a part of a living humans life force enabling it to remain on earth in its own physical form. Hence it finds its salvation in a human. The Christian finds its salvation only through part of the tri-partate God (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) and they must lose their human form/life in order to be truly saved.