Ramblings of a Constipated Mind

I have class today. Grrr. Calculus.

Here are a few interesting links:

Shame on Those Republicans - Now, I'm sure that the Democrats have pulled crap like this before too, but still. It's a shame our government puts up with it. That's not democracy. Check out the video. Holding a vote open for extra time just so you can twist a few arms into changing sides is not cool. At least the Democrats were brave enough to protest. You can clearly hear them chanting, "Shame! Shame! Shame!"...

Does the Bible Really Condemn Homosexuality? - a fascinating letter/article presenting an argument that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality. It's long, but from what I've read so far, the guy makes some interesting points. Makes you think.

In movie news: I saw Animal House last night. Though it basically just follows a crazy fraternity in their quest to break rules, get drunk, and have sex, it's pretty funny. I once read a list of the funniest movies of all time, and this was on it. Frankly, I don't think it was that funny, but it does have its moments, especially near the end. John Belushi is da man.

I also went to theaters to see Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. It was good. It took years to make, mainly because rather than using computers, they used the old-fashioned way of making stop-motion movies. But it was worth the effort - the final product is one of the best family films (at least from what I've seen and heard) to be released this year. The attention to detail is incredible. Also, Helena Bonham Carter does some voice-work. That's the second time her voice has been used in a stop-motion movie this year. What's the deal? Is she giving up acting for voice work or something?

I also saw The Last Temptation of Christ. Wow. I can see why some people consider it to be the best film about Jesus ever made, and others think it's pure celluloid blasphemy.

The movie focuses on the conflict that occurred due to the paradox of the nature of Christ: he was 100% human, yet also 100% divine. The result is the most human presentation of Jesus I've ever seen. This is a Jesus who feels, who fears, who is at times weak, who is tempted, and who at his very core is struggling to come to terms with God's purpose for him. When we first see him, he is lying on the ground, writhing in agony. God is calling him, sometimes painfully, and he isn't sure he likes it. He hears voices and hallucinates footsteps following him. Is he going insane, or is this just God trying to get his attention?

The movie isn't based on the Gospels, but rather on the book The Last Temptation of Christ. However, I was surprised it stays more or less in line with the Bible. During the first two hours of the movie, there are a few things implied that seem to contradict Scripture, but I found them easy to overlook. For example, throughout the movie Jesus constantly mentions that he has sinned, out of fear. Near the beginning he goes out into the desert and becomes "purified," which I guess could mean that his sins are forgiven and now he is the blameless, pure Jesus we're all familiar with. It doesn't directly contradict the Bible, but it toes the line. Jesus also makes several remarks in regards to nature which could either be interpreted as pantheistic or a reaffirmation of the Biblical idea that God is reflected through nature, depending on how you look at it. Indeed, there are more than a few statements that are rather ambiguous, and could be viewed as either Biblical or blasphemous depending on how one looks at them.

The movie does some extremely interesting things with a few of its characters, particularly those of Judas and Mary Magdalene. It completely changed how I looked at Judas, and it doesn't actually contradict anything in the Bible. Same with Mary Magdalene - it doesn't flat out contradict the Bible, but takes a few interesting liberties with her character (such as implying that, although they never had sex, she and Jesus had some sort of relationship in which he broke her heart).

But back to Jesus. Willem Dafoe (who does a surprisingly good job) portrays a Jesus who is just as human as me and you, struggling to come to terms with the idea that he might be the Messiah. When he begins his ministry, he doesn't even know what he's doing to say. As he puts it, "I'll just open my mouth and God will speak through me." He even finds that sometimes he doesn't believe what he says! He says things that go completely against what he feels - he preaches love when at times he feels hate. We see Jesus as we've never seen him before - as a man, as well as the Son of God. His two natures collide, much like the natures of Christians today - we know we need to let God have His way with us, but sometimes we're just scared.

This movie is all about the paradoxes of Christ: the idea that he was both man and God. He preached love and yet also that there was a spiritual war and He came to bring a sword. He was tempted by desires of the flesh (lust, pride, anger) and at times was doubtful and afraid, yet at other times was strong, an instrument of God, and not afraid to be a revolutionary. This is a Jesus I can truly relate to, because not only was he God, he also went through some of the same things I do. There was something very spiritual about this movie; at times I found myself wanting to say, "Hallelujah!" or "Amen!" at the screen.

Then, after two hours, when I was certain the film was going to end and end up being my favorite film about Christ, something happened. In about 30 seconds it suddenly went from being no more Scripturally inaccurate than other movies about Christ to taking its speculation about Christ's humanity way too far. I went from being inspired and amazed to feeling surprised, shocked, and more than slightly offended about what I was seeing. It caught me off guard. Now that I look back, I realize that you could probably take something positive out of how the movie ends. But for me, my brain just spent around 40 minutes going, "Wait. This is all wrong. This isn't the way things happened!" And perhaps that's the point. However, I can certainly see why many people consider this movie pure blasphemy. The main fault isn't necessarily the ending, it's how it's structured. I don't have any problem with its asking "What if?" I have a problem with it implying that that's the way things actually went down.

The last 40 minutes take the humanity of Christ and take it too far. As I watched, I found myself thinking, "That's not my Jesus." Yes, my Jesus was human. Yes, he struggled. Yes, he was tempted. But there came a time when he prayed his heart out and said, "You know what, God? I don't really want to die, but I'm going to do it, because it's Your will." Indeed, the movie doesn't do anything to contradict that. The problem comes later. Frankly, though it's not specifically mentioned in the Bible, I'm pretty certain the event that happens in the movie never would have happened with the real Jesus. Not the Jesus I serve. My Jesus was human, and at times was probably weak, but near the end of His life, He was a pretty committed and determined guy. He knew His purpose, and He went through with it. He didn't keep questioning. My Jesus had God first, before Himself. He was more sure of Himself than the Jesus at the end of this movie.

To be blunt: My Jesus had more balls. And thank God for that.

I highly recommend this film for its first 2 hours. After that, take everything it implies with a grain of salt. There's nothing wrong with asking, "What if?" but there is something wrong when you don't make separate speculation from reality.

Quote of Da Moment:
"You think God belongs only to you? He doesn't. God is an immortal spirit who belongs to everybody, to the whole world. You think you're special? God is not an Israelite."
--The Last Temptation of Christ