Classical Spin

Rantings and ravings on politics, philosophy, and things that fall into the ether of 'none of the above'.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Has Jesus saved my soul?

I saw Da Vinci Code today (fun fact: I didn't expect to walk into the theater ten minutes before the 2:30 show just on a whim and get a ticket, but most of Cork was sitting in pubs watching a rugby game today, so, tickets ahoy.) It was a decent movie, and personally I think they could have done more with it. This is not me saying it was bad: I thought it was an enjoyable two hours. But that's all it was. I personally think it would have been a far better movie if they stepped back a bit and didn't take it as seriously. The book was full of (in addition to cookie-cutter characters) Exciting Car Chases! and Gunfights! and Suspense! On at least one level it was an action book in the spirit of Indiana Jones, and the film took itself far too seriously for that to carry over, so they didn't seem to try. There are some tense scenes, but the movie seemed to approach it as an experiment in philosophy or something, a thought-provoking 'what if?' plot.

Anyway, when I walked out of the theater I was thrilled to be greeted with the sight of a few (mostly elderly) people standing around a little table they'd set up, with a small statue of Mary. They were kind enough to be praying for my soul! I forced myself not to laugh out loud at them and just walked on by.

Then, I took a brief stroll up and down Patrick street, just to see what was going on (answer: lots and lots of red jerseys). Lo and behold, a man had set up a speaker and was telling us that we had to repent for our sins! Embrace Jesus! We have to think, is this the way we want to live our lives? And for a brief moment I was truly and honestly tempted to go up and and engage him in a bit of debate, mostly a 'if you're so concerned about saving people why didn't you spend the money you wasted on your loudspeaker setup and donate it to a noble cause that can literally help save people?' type thing. I didn't, because A) he was probably crazy and it probably wouldn't go over well, and B) I have better things to do with my time. But I honestly considered doing it: it wasn't just a brief daydream in which I imagined myself doing something like that, but I really wanted to go up to the crazy god-man on the street and engage him in conversation.

So, I don't know: Has Jesus saved me from my afflictions of social anxiety? Does that count? Or am I still an eeeeevil sinner?

1 Comments:

At 12:00, Blogger Kevin Beck said...

Here's what I don't get from most religious folks. Has Jesus saved me or must I make myself better by repenting from my wicked ways? The two seem contradoctory to me.

Thanks for the movie review.

 

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