05.16.06
Posted in faith, culture at 2:47 pm by Brandon
Amidst the DaVinci Code hype, Christians are, once again, whining…loudly. In that spirit, I’m offering this letter to Christians:
Dear Christians,
Brothers and Sisters, it seems that many of us have become taken up in righteous indignation with the recent popularity of Dan Brown’s popular work of fiction The DaVinci Code. In adult Sunday school classrooms across the country, we’ve riled yourselves into a righteous tizzy over the “heretical nature” of this text. It seems that now that the subversive Sponge Bob Squarepants has been uncovered for the gay that he is, our collective attention needs, now, to turn to other subversive influences.
Indeed, we Christians need to pay close attention to this grave threat to our very existence. The future of the religion, no, the future of the world does indeed depend upon our ridicule of this text.
Some in the so-called “progressive Christian movement” have tried to claim that the DaVinci Code isn’t very harmful to Christianity. We must be strong in our insistence that this heretical perspective be stamped out in all of its forms. It’s all well and good, to them it seems, to be offended by our President George W. Bush (praise be upon him), but when we, the upright, holy, God-centered, religious right are offended by attacks upon Christ himself–then the progressive eyes start to roll.
Their idol of progress has blinded them to the call for Christians everywhere to be offended by the attacks on the very celibacy of Christ present in the DaVinci Code. Further, their claims that Christ wasn’t a white middle class Republican is nothing less than repugnant. As if you needed more evidence of this heresy, sheesh.
Some of those godless bastards even have the gall to claim that the DaVinci Code doesn’t represent a direct attack on the central message of Jesus Christ. They claim that Christ’s central message was something about the Kingdom of God bringing about a New World Order of social, economic, and religious justice. More reviling still is the claim that we should be more offended by the so-called lack of air time we righteous members of the religious right (including our President George W. Bush–pbuh) pay to issues of social injustice.
As you all know, the central message of Jesus regards personal salvation, the God-given right of men to have dominion over women, and the hellish realities of socialist regimes at the expense of holy capitalism–nothing more and nothing less. Some of these progressive Christians–if they’re really Christians at all–have been secretly trying to subvert our collective attention from the awful realities of the DaVinci Code and insist that we pay attention to this “New World Order”. Such new-age schemes must be opposed at every juncture.
I write you this message, Brothers and Sisters, that you may stay strong in the light of the evil and repressive force of progress. These self-labelled progressive Christians are nothing more than a hip and dynamic attempt of the evil one to bring down the true Kingdom of God being brought about by God’s one true leader, George W. Bush (pbuh). Such evil attempts at anarchy must be squelched.
In time, it’s certain that the DaVinci Code will become just another blip in our collective memory, it will be unveiled for the fiction that it is. In this dark hour, however, it is vital that we remain strong, stay the course, and pray unceasingly that our attention not be diverted from the true goal of forwarding the principle message of Christ. The Kingdom of God (that is, the United States) will win. It’s only a matter of time: 23 years 14 days to be exact (see the LaHaye & Jenkins study Bible’s end times timeline.)
In Christ,
Brandon
Tags: The DaVinci Code, Satire, Christianity
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Posted in faith, culture at 2:47 pm by Brandon
Amidst the DaVinci Code hype, Christians are, once again, whining…loudly. In that spirit, I’m offering this letter to Christians:
Dear Christians,
Brothers and Sisters, it seems that many of us have become taken up in righteous indignation with the recent popularity of Dan Brown’s popular work of fiction The DaVinci Code. In adult Sunday school classrooms across the country, we’ve riled yourselves into a righteous tizzy over the “heretical nature” of this text. It seems that now that the subversive Sponge Bob Squarepants has been uncovered for the gay that he is, our collective attention needs, now, to turn to other subversive influences.
Indeed, we Christians need to pay close attention to this grave threat to our very existence. The future of the religion, no, the future of the world does indeed depend upon our ridicule of this text.
Some in the so-called “progressive Christian movement” have tried to claim that the DaVinci Code isn’t very harmful to Christianity. We must be strong in our insistence that this heretical perspective be stamped out in all of its forms. It’s all well and good, to them it seems, to be offended by our President George W. Bush (praise be upon him), but when we, the upright, holy, God-centered, religious right are offended by attacks upon Christ himself–then the progressive eyes start to roll.
Their idol of progress has blinded them to the call for Christians everywhere to be offended by the attacks on the very celibacy of Christ present in the DaVinci Code. Further, their claims that Christ wasn’t a white middle class Republican is nothing less than repugnant. As if you needed more evidence of this heresy, sheesh.
Some of those godless bastards even have the gall to claim that the DaVinci Code doesn’t represent a direct attack on the central message of Jesus Christ. They claim that Christ’s central message was something about the Kingdom of God bringing about a New World Order of social, economic, and religious justice. More reviling still is the claim that we should be more offended by the so-called lack of air time we righteous members of the religious right (including our President George W. Bush–pbuh) pay to issues of social injustice.
As you all know, the central message of Jesus regards personal salvation, the God-given right of men to have dominion over women, and the hellish realities of socialist regimes at the expense of holy capitalism–nothing more and nothing less. Some of these progressive Christians–if they’re really Christians at all–have been secretly trying to subvert our collective attention from the awful realities of the DaVinci Code and insist that we pay attention to this “New World Order”. Such new-age schemes must be opposed at every juncture.
I write you this message, Brothers and Sisters, that you may stay strong in the light of the evil and repressive force of progress. These self-labelled progressive Christians are nothing more than a hip and dynamic attempt of the evil one to bring down the true Kingdom of God being brought about by God’s one true leader, George W. Bush (pbuh). Such evil attempts at anarchy must be squelched.
In time, it’s certain that the DaVinci Code will become just another blip in our collective memory, it will be unveiled for the fiction that it is. In this dark hour, however, it is vital that we remain strong, stay the course, and pray unceasingly that our attention not be diverted from the true goal of forwarding the principle message of Christ. The Kingdom of God (that is, the United States) will win. It’s only a matter of time: 23 years 14 days to be exact (see the LaHaye & Jenkins study Bible’s end times timeline.)
In Christ,
Brandon
Tags: The DaVinci Code, Satire, Christianity
Permalink
Trackback URL »
http://www.badchristian.com/2006/05/16/decoding-jesus/trackback/
Yo said,
May 16, 2006 at 4:50 pm
Boy, you’ve got some issues to work out. All that anger is choaking off the oxygen to your brain. Jesus told us that the people that don’t follow Christianity, would never ‘get it’. I’m afraid you’re headed there.
Tell you what. Start over. You can grab some children’s bible stories there, then follow that up with some daily devotions from crosswalk.com. After that, since you’re probably too old for kids sunday school, grab some home school materials and study. Not read. Study. In fact, if you want to see what you’ve been missing, just read the book of John for 30 days after asking God to prove his existance to you before each reading. I think you’ll be in for a little fun.
zalm said,
May 16, 2006 at 6:24 pm
One guess as to which Technorati tag didn’t result in that lovely bit of charity.
Brandon said,
May 16, 2006 at 6:35 pm
Couldn’t have said it better, Zalm. I’m having a hard time imagining a world in which I need to lay it on thicker.
shelly said,
May 16, 2006 at 11:14 pm
I wonder if “Yo” is one of those sorts of people who think The Onion is a legitimate news source.
Dan Lewis said,
May 17, 2006 at 2:40 am
No, no. Yo was being completely sarcastic.
Seriously though, I did read The DaVinci Code, but it sucked like a wormhole. If you want people to dismiss it, just get them to read it.
eg
Two thoughts. First, just after the snip, there is a section break, an unrelated passage, then the end of the chapter. So we don’t actually find out what the message is. Brown did this repeatedly throughout the book, an uncontrollable narrative tic. Annoying. Second, fog thickening is a truly awful metaphor for something that is happening inside a sterilized, climate-controlled environment (the Louvre).
e said,
May 17, 2006 at 9:50 am
Christians aren’t the only ones upset with this movie apparently:
‘The Da Vinci Code’ Under Fire from Albinos
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,195741,00.html
Now there’s a demographic you don’t want to piss off.
I have not read the book, but I’ve heard the rhetoric before; “Life of Brian”, “The Last Temptation of Christ”. Been there, done that. I think “Life of Brian” is pretty funny, and I’m sure that I’m not going to hell because of that.
I mentioned to a friend who is a pastor that I’ve heard that many Christians are reading the book and believing it to be true (I’m not sure what part of the word “fiction” they don’t understand). He said that we live in a “very historically and theologically illerate time.” Bingo.
mike said,
May 17, 2006 at 10:18 am
Yo, don’t get suckered into arguing with satire. Satire is always a trial balloon of sorts. If you argue with it and don’t make your point with enough clarity, you make the reason for the satire stand out. If you do make a good point, the writer can then claim it was just satire and that you need to switch to decaf.
Which is how we should handle ‘Da Vinci’ as Friends of Bible. Don’t get suckered into arguing with it. For Dan Brown, ‘Da Vinci’ is a paycheck and his wife is just a researcher. Hardly something to soil the shorts over.
Clint Wells said,
May 17, 2006 at 10:59 am
I’ve got a pretty interesting thread about TDV at my site.
Oh and by interesting I mean my fucking head wants to explode off of my body like a rocket.
Rich said,
May 17, 2006 at 2:25 pm
He said that we live in a “very historically and theologically illiterate time.” Bingo.
So true so true
Kevin said,
May 17, 2006 at 3:36 pm
And yet hardly a peep from Christendom about the piss poor theology of the Left Behind books.
It’s also funny how Christians rarely seem upset by art that just plain sucks. The best reason to avoid Da Vinci is because apparently it’s just a shitty movie. So far it’s got a 0 percent rating at Rotten Tomatoes.
mike said,
May 17, 2006 at 5:16 pm
Well, Kevin…I guess it all depends who you read. There has been a lot said about the atrocious neotheology of Left Behind. It almost rivals the reaction to “This Present Darkness” and its misguided Angelology. The difference is that when our criticisms are “in-house” the wider press doesn’t report on them. But believe me, enough authors excoriated Lahaye and Jenkins over the years.
Jerry said,
May 17, 2006 at 7:55 pm
Hey - maybe a strong satire disclaimer, could be helpful. Was a real Hard read and found it to hard to stomach. Read the comments, cleared me right up.
My personal belief is that all the uproar might just stimulate and otherwise dormant soul. Good thing?
Dan Lewis said,
May 18, 2006 at 12:20 pm
Kevin, read Slacktivist for an interminable takedown of all things Left Behind. It’s been going since, I kid you not, October 2003. He is up to pages 211-213 of the first novel. I cut and pasted it into Open Office just now, and it’s 180 pages of pure critique.
http://slacktivist.typepad.com/slacktivist/left_behind/index.html
I really dislike poorly executed art, although I realize it has camp value. The worst for me is Christian radio. There are a few innovative artists, but most of it is adult contemporary fluff and praise music suitable (read: bland enough) for church services. If you ever want to see a great takedown of it, watch the “Faith + One” episode of South Park.
chuck said,
May 18, 2006 at 3:30 pm
Thanks for the laugh bro…that was awesome…
wildwest said,
May 18, 2006 at 6:44 pm
OMG! You mean we have to wait 23 for them to come to their senses?!! The planet might not be able to hold off that long!
rick said,
May 19, 2006 at 6:57 am
If we can just hold on for another 23 years we can watch with glee as those godless liberals get everyting they deserve. I cannot wait to spend enternity with Pat Robertson, James Dobson, Jerry Falwell, George Bush, Tim Lahaye and other great Christian leaders while those sinful bastards burn.
Brandon said,
May 19, 2006 at 7:55 am
Somehow, Rick, I knew you’d say that.
Paladin said,
May 19, 2006 at 12:15 pm
I’d offer that most Christians aren’t as upset with the content of the film as they are disappointed that so many view it as truth. But, of course, there are those scary screamers too.
bob said,
May 19, 2006 at 1:42 pm
Brandon, your site overall seems pretty bitter. And you work at calvin college? Or at least are affiliated enough to have a calvin.edu email address?
bob said,
May 19, 2006 at 1:48 pm
How’s the MA coming, by the way? You must have been in some of my psych classes - I graduated in 2000 with a major in psych.
Brandon said,
May 19, 2006 at 2:34 pm
Dear Bob,
I don’t work for Calvin, at least not anymore. In fact, if you tried to email the address you somehow found, you’d notice that it’s no longer working. I was a psych major, but I ditched that for something that was cooler (in my eyes, at least,) communication. My MA is almost done, I just have to finish up my thesis.
Now, on to your charge that my site is bitter. One, I don’t really care much what you think. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but frankly, I don’t.
Two, I’m curious about just how many of the, oh, say, 460 some posts you’ve read before you felt the authority of making the claim that the overall tone of my site is one of bitter. How many was it, Bob? 4 posts, maybe 6 or 7?
It seems that you don’t really know me Bob. And, admittedly, I don’t have the faintest clue who you are. You might be nice, although you don’t act much like it. Imagine being a guest in someone’s house and on your very first step through their front door you had the gall to utter, “Wow, this carpet REALLY clashes with the drapes.”
You’d probably get a “Fuck you very much,” followed by a swift kick in your ass. So, before you go accusing me of confirming your bitterness hypothesis, perhaps you’d think about your blog-behavior before you nance around flinging words without thinking about them.
And, yeah, my mood is fantastic.
chuck said,
May 19, 2006 at 3:02 pm
RE: your response to bob…
“damn stan…why you so mad…I think maybe you get some counslin”
:)
He’s just too simple to understand basic courtesy…
We need to love the special ones Brandon…
Nice work,
Chuck
bob said,
May 19, 2006 at 3:21 pm
Ha!
You communicate anger very well.
And, as far as the blog thing goes - it’s a weblog. You can’t expect everybody to like what you put up, right? You put on an air of sophistication, but it’s clear you have an axe to grind, and have a LOT of bitterness to deal with. It’s like you are bragging about feng shui, but you put a drop toilet in the foyer. It doesn’t take much else to realize that there’s something else going on.
On a similar vein, you might want to clean this weblog up before you go about looking for a job - people tend to dig into the web more these days when screening people.
bob said,
May 19, 2006 at 3:22 pm
Nice chuck.
“People who don’t agree with me are retarded”
Looks like I’ve got a bead on you, too.
ta ta.
Chuck said,
May 19, 2006 at 3:43 pm
oh yeah. . .well. . .yer stupid. . .
benjamin said,
May 19, 2006 at 4:14 pm
Don’t worry Brandon - I’d hire you.
You could even put a shitter in the foyer if you’d like, cause that would be damned handy….
wildwest said,
May 19, 2006 at 10:04 pm
Brandon sure doesn’t mince words!
Scott said,
May 20, 2006 at 6:37 am
Hi Brandon!
I totally understand your point about people getting all up in arms about the Da Vinci code. I feel the same way when Christians get so upset about the things that Pat Robertson says. I mean the guy is like a characture of himself, no one really listens to anything he says so who cares?
fallan said,
May 21, 2006 at 9:49 am
Hey Brandon, Youd go down well in some parts of my country(uk) where guys like you are really appreciated. Your objectivity is a wonder to behold and your lack of bias is to be congratulated. Maybe you should write a book of your inermost thoughts and your understanding of the world according to Brandon something along the lines of Maos little red book.Dont leave it to late with Iran on the brink of a nuclear weapon there might not be to many people in the world left to read your “little Ditty” Ride on m8
Jim said,
May 21, 2006 at 11:25 am
I’m a bad christian myself, but still maintain a certain affection for the topic. Here’s my cartoon contribution to the discussion: https://www.bitternessoflife.com
Brandon said,
May 21, 2006 at 12:52 pm
You know, Bob, most people with an axe to grind grind their axe for a reason.
For me, Bob, that reason is assholes, assholes running around calling themselves Christians.
Do I have an axe to grind? Probably, but it sounds like you do too.
Now, back to my question: Just how many of my 460-odd posts did you read before you claimed “bitterness”. Then, if you did, in fact, read all of those posts, have you looked at the trajectory of my message, you know, how it’s changed over the past two years. Have you taken into account that sometimes people–even bloggers–have a rough day, or something annoying happen to them.
You seem to insist on being an asshole, and yes, that’s your right. However, there are two kinds of assholes, Bob. The kind that are right and the kind that are wrong. In the future, I’d suggest you inform yourself about enough of the subcultural landscape to ensure that you’re one of the latter rather than one of the former.
Brandon said,
May 21, 2006 at 3:05 pm
Oh, and by the way Bob, if you’re going to go around making threatening comments about my future employability, why hide behind a fake email address?
You’re becoming easier and easier to write off as a spammer all the time.
Dan Lewis said,
May 21, 2006 at 4:51 pm
Shorter Bob:
“The less people say the more I understand them.”
“I collect beads.”
“Psych psych psych!”
“I’m not giving advice. I’m telling you how to talk.”
“No more f-words or you’re going on the Stonecutters’ blacklist. I’m not a Stonecutter, I’m just sayin.”
John said,
May 23, 2006 at 8:32 am
In the end, none of this will matter.
wildwest said,
May 23, 2006 at 11:29 am
It doesn’t matter now.
Susan Case said,
May 23, 2006 at 5:11 pm
My problem with all this is that I do not understand why it is so important, theologically, that Jesus have been celibate. He was a paradox, right? Entirely human and entirely divine — a mystery that reflects the ultimate impenetrable mystery of God. So why couldn’t he have had sex? For sure he ate and performed other corporeal functions. Breathing is as earthly as it gets, for instance. I will not go further, but c’mon.
In fact, his celibacy is not Biblically-based. It’s not in there. I’ve read it all and I think I would remember that — someone tell me if I’m wrong.
fallan said,
May 24, 2006 at 5:58 am
John said “In the end none of this will matter” Hey John are you privvy to something the rest of the world are ignorant of? Maybe your a modern day Nostradamus!!
dorsey said,
May 24, 2006 at 7:34 am
I don’t know why I didn’t see it myself, but someone pointed out to me that “The Da Vinci Code” is just a satanic smokescreen—a diversion designed to draw the attention of decent hard-working Evangelicals away from the anti-creationist propoganda of “Ice Age 2: the meltdown.” While we’re busy arguing something as trivial as the divinity of Christ, OUR CHILDREN are being fed a heapin’ helpin’ of old-earth claptrap! We’ve been duped! Again!
And, oh yeah, Bob is a poopy-pants.
chuck said,
May 24, 2006 at 10:58 am
Holy crap Batman…Dorsey’s right…i’ve been duped and swindled…bastards!!!
Recovering said,
May 25, 2006 at 10:55 am
[LMAO] Dorsey - I think you are right but it’s not Ice Age 2 that they are smokescreening…it’s Sony Pictures attempt to get us to forget about Basic Instinct 2…
chuck said,
May 25, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Conspiracies everywhere…maybe Bob was trying to throw us all off and Brandon took the bait! Houston…we have a problem…
Amy said,
May 25, 2006 at 7:29 pm
This is my first visit to your site and possibly the last (not b/c I didn’t enjoy it, but b/c I work so much and seldom have time to read and respond to my e-mail, let alone follow a discussion) - that said, I have two commnets:
1) Good luck to all of you that are in school currently - I graduated with a BA in 1999, and an MA in 2001, well worth it for the financial stability, but a lot different from the college bubble I was living within. I sure miss that life, and your posts have reminded me of it, for that I’m thankful.
2) Why focus so much on the forces within our society that conflict with Christian views?…Jesus did not call us to do that, He called us to be witnesses of Great News (His death on the cross for our sins, “including the assholes” as you put it within your “sattire”) and to LOVE ONE ANOTHER! In the short time I’ve spent in this “real-world” (i.e., after college and no more mommy/daddy supports), I see a world that is in pain and suffering. I empathize for the “Bad Christians” who are putting their trust and faith in their own efforts to quiet others, rather than trusting in Jesus alone to do that for them. Jesus told us plainly to “wipe the dust from our sandals” or put otherwise, move on and away from those whose eyes are closed. Don’t badger them, but don’t hate and stop praying for them either. These are my thoughts, take them or leave them, I’m guessing I’m a little older than most of you, so you may see me as old-fashioned - but I LOVE ALL OF YOU THE SAME. Good luck in your lives and I hope to meet you in Heaven some day.
Love,
Amy
Prince Beelezebub said,
May 26, 2006 at 12:51 am
Clearly you’re not having enough fun and, evidently, don’t understand how to “do” religion properly, darling. Pay me a vist, and I might be able to help.
Your friend until The End,
PrinceB
dorsey said,
May 26, 2006 at 7:41 am
Are those winking smilies, or do you have a twitch?
Robert Landbeck said,
May 30, 2006 at 1:35 pm
Whatever the measure of controversy, however uncomfortable the DaVinci Code book and film make many ‘Christians’ feel, the big religious questions may be about to get even hotter! And on the scale of a ‘biblical’ epic, battle lines are being drawn on the web for a confrontation so contentious, any clash of civilizations will have to wait its turn. On one side, all the gravitas two thousands years of religious tradition can bring to bear, against a single manuscript by an unknown author titled: The Final Freedoms.
Ebook review: The Final Freedoms
The first wholly new interpretation for 2000 years of the moral teachings of Jesus the Christ, entitled The Final Freedoms, focuses specifically and comprehensively on marriage and human sexuality, challenging natural law theory and theology. At stake are several thousand years of religious tradition and history.
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Published only on the web and distributed freely as a pdf download, made up of twenty nine chapters and three hundred and seventy pages, this new teaching has nothing whatsoever to do with any existing religious conception known to history. It is unique in every respect.
Using a synthesis of hundreds of scriptural elements from the Old and New Testaments, the Apocrypha , The Dead Sea Scrolls,The Nag Hammadi Library, and some of the worlds greatest poetry, it describes and teaches a single moral LAW, a single moral principle and offers its own proof; one in which the reality of God responds to an act of perfect faith with a direct, individual intervention into the natural world; making a correction to human nature by a change in natural law, altering biology, consciousness, human ethical perception, and providing new, primary insight and understanding of the human condition.
Also called the Gospel of the Resurrection, this new interpretation reveals the moral foundation of all human thought and conduct and finds expression within a new covenant of human spiritual union, the marriage [Hieros gamos] between one man and one woman. It resolves the most intractable questions and issues of human sexuality and offers possibilities for peace, health, healing and cultural development political process has yet to dream of.
This new teaching is pure ethics. It requires no institutional framework, no churches, no priest craft, no scholastic theological rational, costs nothing and ‘worship’ requires only conviction, faith and the necessary measure of self discipline to accomplish a new moral imperative.
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dorsey said,
June 1, 2006 at 8:46 am
um…ok. Well, thanks for clearing that up.
bbrown said,
June 1, 2006 at 1:17 pm
Great post. I was laughing the whole way through.
J. Jacob Jenkins said,
June 1, 2006 at 5:00 pm
My name is Jacob Jenkins and I am currently doing a “virtual book tour”.
I’ve stopped at this blogsite because I have recently written a book on Christian spirituality, and it appears that many of you might be interested in joining the national discussion it has begun.
The book is entitled:
“Buried Alive - A Discussion on Overcoming the ‘Seven Lifeless Sins’”.
Its premise is that most of Christians are not evil.
Must of us don’t have 12 mistresses. We aren’t serial killers.
Rather, it is the the sly and subtle sins of life - sins like fundamentalism and materialism and comfort and busyness - that keep us from the life we were intended.
By referencing over 2600 Scripture verses “Buried Alive” discusses how each of us can overcome the hidden dangers of lifeless living.
“Fresh, bold and convicting.” - Jason Pollack,
Project Coordinator, Soderquist Center for Leadership & Ethics
“…will shake you out of a business-as-usual faith walk. A must read.” - Ivan Max Dunn,
Retired US Navy Captain
“Buried Alive: A Discussion on Overcoming the Seven Lifeless Sins” is available now at Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com
Come join the discussion!
(Upon reading the book I would love to hear your personal feedback. You can reach me at: jenkinsbookinginfo@yahoo.com)
dorsey said,
June 2, 2006 at 12:04 am
Brandon, you take the prize for attracting the most esoteric spammers. The guys who come to my place only have cheap Viagra and low mortgage rates. Of course, those are the two things I need the most…
diggadee said,
June 2, 2006 at 7:41 pm
Reductionism always makes a good premise for a book, don’t you think?
Spammer #1 offers the “single moral law” and Spammer #2 tells us if we
don’t have 12 mistressess and aren’t serial killers, then hey — our problem is that we’re lifeless.
In my local newspaper, there’s an ad for some reincarnated enlightened New Age being who’s coming to town to explain her “single moral law.” This is her revealed message, people, so listen up: Bad Things happen to us because we have Bad Thoughts.
Sometimes I wish that I could settle for some variant of this kind of reductionism. Living in this world would be so much simpler. And pretty dull, I think.
Jim said,
June 3, 2006 at 1:10 pm
Diggadee makes an interesting if obvious point — reduction makes life simpler — an obvious that immediately introduces conundrums of complexity. Life requires reduction, reducing endless variety to a kind of workable uniformity, lumping things together, assigning causality, etc. Nothing original about what I’m saying, this line of thinking goes back to Hume at least.
As an ex-believer, now skeptic (I prefer that word to agnostic or atheist, which sound as equally and spuriously certain as theist), I find Christianity itself reductionist, in both good and evil ways. In its better guises, it engenders the idea of an ordered universe, radiant with meaning, pulsing with salvific energies of the Infinite-Personal God (to resurrect the denotation of Francis Schaeffer - does anyone still read him?). In its more evil incarnations, it reduces an evolving and complex reality to black and white, good and evil, saved and damned (etc. - pick your favorite antithetical binary). At best it engenders a notion of “grace” — which I consider the most interesting notion in Christian theology/psychology; at worst it becomes a powerful support to stupidity.
– that’s my exoteric contribution to this Saturday morning discussion. For comic relief, feel free to drop by my website which is more or less incapable of taking anything seriously: http://bitternessoflife.com
Chuck said,
June 5, 2006 at 9:44 am
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Dude. . .I’m all about reductionism. . .
Jax said,
June 8, 2006 at 7:42 pm
This is also my first visit here. I’ve only read one post.
Just wanna say thanks. Yeah - thanks a LOT for taking everything I’ve always wanted to say about this subject, saying it most likely better than I can, and posting it before could. Yeah..I really appreciate that.
And for that, I’ll be boycotting your site for at LEAST 5 minutes.
I hope you’ve learned your lesson, mister.
Jax
Angel said,
June 20, 2006 at 1:09 pm
I really enjoyed the film version, have yet to read the book.
While I know it’s fiction, it does bring up some interesting points about other coverups in the church (Apocrypha anyone?).
And, if we’re made in the image of God, and we like sex…….that’s not such an inconceiveable notion either.
Your satire works just fine for me Brandon!
Rewfio said,
June 29, 2006 at 2:38 pm
amen. thanks for this.