Category: culture

A History of Violence

Lisa and I watched this interesting, disturbing movie starring Viggo Mortensen the other evening. It’s the story of a small-town business owner with a dark past. He’s a simple, peaceful man who loves his wife and kids. When he’s robbed and threatened with the gunpoint rape of one of his waitresses, he saves the day and ends up a hesitant hero for his small town. But his fame and acclaim bring parts of his past to light, and the act of violence (see the myth of violent redemption) awakens within him dark parts he thought long dead.

This movie is interesting, not as an exploration of the effects of violence on the victims, but for the exploration of the effects of violence on the perpetrators. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more anti-violence violent movie. It clearly shows that those who aren’t willing to be peaceful will never know peace. It demonstrates with careful, subtle strokes that when someone perpetrates violence, the shalom (peace, wholeness) all around them is broken, both within and without. As a warning, though, it’s definitely an adult movie exploring adult themes. Not kid-friendly.

Is there redemption in the movie? Yes. At the end, in slow, halting steps, a very realistic redemption plays itself out through the hands of a child.

Sad times for U.S.

“It’s just like it used to be in East Germany,” he told me.  He should know.  He lived there during the reign of the communist regime.  He was detained for several hours yesterday at gunpoint for taking pictures of the Golden Gate bridge from a scenic overlook.  “In East Germany, you could be arrested and detained for taking pictures of any government building or national landmark.  I never thought it would be that way here.”  The park ranger, plainclothes detectives and two squad cars of police officers kept him for a long time, cited him with a fine, and make him delete photos from his camera.  In my understanding as a prior government media relations specialist, this is an unconstitutional practice.  But faced with a night in jail and a trial for resisting arrest (he was told), he complied and handed over his equipment so the officers could delete any ‘dangerous’ images from his camera.  When he asked me about it, I told him that the officers had overstepped their legal bounds.  But the price of showing them the error of their ways would be a trip to jail and a court date to let a judge (who has a fuller grasp of the constitution and U.S. case law) straighten out the constitutionality of the situation.  So he complied and submitted to the unwarranted search, seizure, and destruction of his property.  All for taking pretty pictures from a scenic location.

Inwardly I weep for our country.  If this is to be the routine way of things, then in some ways the terrorists have won.  Will they be able to turn the United States into a totalitarian regime where citizens lose their first amendment and personal property rights?  If so, our momentary security may have the illusion of enhancement, but our idealogical gatekeepers have lost the battle that separates us from our enemies’ version of a perfect society.

Faith and Politics: An Answer to the Question

I’ve wondered long, hard, and deep about a Christian’s role and responsibility within the political realm.  I’ve felt the waters as if with my pinkie finger, wanting so badly to bathe in the stream of that answer.  This morning the answer hit me like a flood.

A friend pointed out that Judaism is the only world religion in which faith seeks to inform power instead of grasping at it.  I understand now that a modern Christian’s responsibility is to do the same.  My friend put the Old Testament prophetic tradition into an entirely new context for me.  What is a prophet?  According to Abraham Heschel, a Jewish scholar, “The prophet is not only a prophet.  He is also poet, preacher, patriot, statesman, social critic, moralist.”

As American Christians, we are called to speak God’s Word.  We are called to speak prophetically.  We are called to start with the message of salvation and redemption, but we’re not to stop before addressing systemic oppression and the dirtier threads of the fabric of our society.

The answer for me came along with another set of questions.  My previous question (What should Christians be doing about politics?) became: What should I be doing to speak prophetically to our culture?  How can I best be a voice to the nations?  And what’s the weight of that task?

Today Show Interview about The DaVinci Code

  • Ian McKellen, on whether there should be a disclaimer at the beginning of the movie to clarify that it’s fiction: “I’ve often thought there should be a disclaimer at the beginning of the Bible. I mean, walking on water? That takes a bit of…….faith or something.”
  • My response: “Yep, Ian, that’s what makes those things supernatural. When you start by acknowledging that such things don’t naturally happen, it means they’re miracles and thus worthy of the telling.”
  • Matt Laurer: “Paul, when you got the call that you were going to be the killer albino monk, how long did it take you to say yes?” Paul Bettany: “It took about ought-point-three seconds to say yes to that. It doesn’t matter what else you have going on. You can’t turn down an offer like that.”
  • My response: “I think if I got a call asking if I want to play a killer albino monk, I’d say yes, too. Who wouldn’t? I’m looking forward to seeing the movie just to see Paul Bettany. He’s great.”

Erasing culture?

I spent this morning working at a school in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea. A crew of volunteers from the CGC Bear painted and cleaned two classrooms. It was hard, hot, difficult, dirty work. At one point I found myself sweeping feces from beneath a broken desk. Typical of many schools in the developing world, electricity and running water were conspicuously absent. One element, however, was not absent: evidence of the America’s corrupting cultural influence. On a wall, an Equatorial Guinean school child had written in bold letters a list of his/her favorite American rappers: Nelli, P Diddy, Ja Rule, Tu Pac, and the like. I wish children in far away lands would admire and seek to emulate the more noble parts of our culture. I wish they would say, “I want to be hard-working and industrious like Americans,” instead of, “I want to have bitches and ho’s, gold teeth, and a job selling crack like Americans!” I put four coats of paint over that spot. But the list of names kept showing through, despite my best efforts. I fear this situation is sadly symbolic of the nature of America’s culture influence overseas…