Sunday, February 12, 2006
Appropriate response?
So the DaVinci Code movie is on its way out sometime soon. I'm really wondering what I'm supposed to do with it. I don't know whether to go see it or not. It could be so stupid it's funny, or so stupid that it's annoying. In my second year of university, my New Testament lecturer (a nice bloke but raging liberal who is likely to give just about any weird hypothesis more than enough of a hearing) mentioned that someone had given him the book. He described it as an exciting story but realistically "crap". The conspiracy theories about the divinity of Christ, the establishment of the Church, etc. found within the book actually sound a little like the early 20th century harpings of liberal German academia... but which had the crap kicked out of it many times since. (By the way, I've recommended it before, but the book "God Crucified" by Richard Bauckham is perhaps the best, brief summary of 1st century Jewish monotheism and the claims of Jesus of Nazereth as the natural and compatible (though still ever surpassing) fulfilment of the messianic promises they hoped for.)
People love conspiracy theories. And yet... even though the claims of the book are older than claims like "RADIATION IS GOOD FOR YOU!!!1 :D" some people saw them as hot of the press, embodying the final disproval of all Christianity's claims.
And then, anyone, be they Christian or not, who had any sort of an informed idea about the time, people, and societies that the book speaks about, stood by, amazed at how seriously people were taking the book, and thought,
"What the hell is wrong with you people? IT'S A FREAKING STORY!"
But then, and I understand why they did this, but some of those people also began to write leaflets, webpages, documentaries, and books to disprove the DaVinci Code. I think that was a very bad move. When someone, no matter how ridiculous their claims seem to those with a clue, starts pointing a finger at the Church and charges them with supression of the truth, for any Christian, let alone an entity such as the Vatican to commission a report refuting it, just adds credibility to those ridiculous claims in the minds of wilfully clueless people - a group not in short supply in this world.
And now, I've heard it referred to as a "debate". Um, no. Debates are over subjects where there is a credible and reasonable argument on either side. If someone says they don't believe in the existence of a Germany, you don't get into a debate with them. You tell them to go home and lay off the crack. How the DaVinci Code became a "debate" I have no idea.
In the same way, I feel very much inclined to just totally ignore those who take a story book or movie too seriously. Some people believe anything they read or see in a movie. Those people are clueless and nothing other than time and a few life crises is likely to change them. I wont waste my energy trying to convince people that really don't want to know. I have little time for conspiracy nuts. There's a conspiracy theory for every event in history. If someone has honest questions, I'll help them however I can and point them in the direction of balanced sources for further information, but I'm not going to pre-emptively defend something, or rather, Someone who can defend Himself.
I graduated top of my class with a degree in Religious and Theological Studies. I'm more than capable of tearing apart crap when I see it. And that's no bad thing. Scripture says "be ready to give an account to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15)... but I'll be sure to keep it to "everyone who asks".
People love conspiracy theories. And yet... even though the claims of the book are older than claims like "RADIATION IS GOOD FOR YOU!!!1 :D" some people saw them as hot of the press, embodying the final disproval of all Christianity's claims.
And then, anyone, be they Christian or not, who had any sort of an informed idea about the time, people, and societies that the book speaks about, stood by, amazed at how seriously people were taking the book, and thought,
"What the hell is wrong with you people? IT'S A FREAKING STORY!"
But then, and I understand why they did this, but some of those people also began to write leaflets, webpages, documentaries, and books to disprove the DaVinci Code. I think that was a very bad move. When someone, no matter how ridiculous their claims seem to those with a clue, starts pointing a finger at the Church and charges them with supression of the truth, for any Christian, let alone an entity such as the Vatican to commission a report refuting it, just adds credibility to those ridiculous claims in the minds of wilfully clueless people - a group not in short supply in this world.
And now, I've heard it referred to as a "debate". Um, no. Debates are over subjects where there is a credible and reasonable argument on either side. If someone says they don't believe in the existence of a Germany, you don't get into a debate with them. You tell them to go home and lay off the crack. How the DaVinci Code became a "debate" I have no idea.
In the same way, I feel very much inclined to just totally ignore those who take a story book or movie too seriously. Some people believe anything they read or see in a movie. Those people are clueless and nothing other than time and a few life crises is likely to change them. I wont waste my energy trying to convince people that really don't want to know. I have little time for conspiracy nuts. There's a conspiracy theory for every event in history. If someone has honest questions, I'll help them however I can and point them in the direction of balanced sources for further information, but I'm not going to pre-emptively defend something, or rather, Someone who can defend Himself.
I graduated top of my class with a degree in Religious and Theological Studies. I'm more than capable of tearing apart crap when I see it. And that's no bad thing. Scripture says "be ready to give an account to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with gentleness and respect" (1 Peter 3:15)... but I'll be sure to keep it to "everyone who asks".
