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Re: Protests over a cartoon... wtf. [message #200888 is a reply to message #200790] Thu, 25 May 2006 10:27 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
Javaxcx
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You've stated a mouthful there, Hydra.

Hydra wrote on Thu, 25 May 2006 01:12


Free-thinking as long as it's a humanist form of thinking, right?


This is an interesting point to make. As someone who pertains but doesn't subscribe to Christianity, and having been immersed in Christian schools since the age of four, I feel I have at least an informed opinion on this matter. The DaVinci Code does not, at least to me, come off as a humanist dogma. It lends itself to a thoroughly agnostic position. That IS free-thinking. It's the mean between the extremes of deism and atheism, which as far as I'm concerned is the sweet spot.

Just because something squelches what you believe does not mean it is wrong, evil, or even slander. That's a harsh point to make, seeing how DVC is also a fiction-- something to reiterate thoroughly because it doesn't seem to be sinking in with those who believe it has ever been purported as anything but.

On a side note, Christianity is supposed to be a free-thinking institution. And while I think that is an oxymoron to boundless extremes given the criteria that come standard with the [Christian] tag, I ask why it is considered such a pox on the institution to facilitate alternatives to what is commonly accepted? Is Christianity only free-thinking when it's in line with the accepted dogma? Or am I missing something here that wasn't revealed to me over nearly 15 years of Christian schooling and 5 years of independent study?

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It presents a case against the Catholic church and steers the viewer to form an anti-Catholic/Christianity conclusion.


JohnDoe made a very ample comparison to this.

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That's like secret service agents getting mad because some thriller portraits them as evil


Similarity, should you subscribe to Christianity, wouldn't this fiction allow you to ask questions to strengthen your faith? Mind you, I've never bought into that standard response to discernment from the Christian front either, but some people find logic in it so I'll toss it out there.

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It tells us that Christ was simply another figure in history rather than the Son of God and even had a wife of His own.


So? Metal Gear Solid uses factual coincidences to establish a hidden sub-government within the US government dating back to the birth of America that runs the world secretly. But that was a fiction too, right?

I certainly don't believe that if Jesus lived, He lived any other way then what the Bible purported Him as (seeing how the Biblical texts and similar books are our only "reliable" source on His life). I certainly don't think that, nor ever did, Da Vinci would be privvy to such information contrary in the first place.

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It goes on to expose some of the atrocities committed by the Catholic church.
I don't see how any viewer who may have been on the fence about religion can draw any other conclusion other than "Christianity is bad" from this movie.


The Catholic Church is guilty of atrocities. They are one of the most corrupt institutions in history. Mind you, they're also one of the most long-standing, so they've had a long time to rack in the distrust and reputation they have. They are guilty of doing vastly good things, but thats shadow in comparison when they commit an evil thing. That goes a great deal farther when you hear what Catholic dogma says about the the nature of the papacy.

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I don't know what Christians you've been talking to, but if THAT'S what you think the basic message of Christianity is, you've missed the point completely.

Want to know what the basic message of Christianity is? "Love God, and love people." Love God (in all three forms) with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.


I think that you'll find that most people who don't subscribe to the Bible or Christianity will fit the description of the Christian version of "love thy neighbour". You'll also find that they may also have contention with your description of the Divine. Personally, I'd like to know how it is you know that God is the way you claim He is and not like the way I say He is. It certainly isn't as simple as just saying "love God and love your neighbour", because loving God is a pretty big freaking commitment to make. Let me elaborate:

In order to love God, you need to know what God is. You can throw that idea that God is in people, but the Old Testiment and New Testiment seem to suggest that God is Himself a seperate entity from all of us and should be loved in such a respect. Further, that claim is dismissed when the second piece of message says "love thy neighbour" which further suggests God is something other than people. I say this because in previous discussions, this point has been raised and I want to nip it in the bud. In order to love God, you need to know what He is-- or in fact, that He IS a He. In order to do this, we refer to the Bible, the Koran, the Torah, whatever. All books say that God is. You read through them and you come to the conclusion that God exists simply because He does. So, now you are told to love someone whom you have no reason to believe actually exists in the manner described. So the problem is clear, and the problem with Christianity is clear.

Those people who love their neighbours without subscribing to Christianity tend not to have a problem with loving each other, they have a problem with loving a logical being extrapolated into an immensely illogical fallacy***.

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The DaVinci Code is an attack on a message of love.


Why? Please define love, because I think we're referring to different things.

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When those words have the power to destroy your reputation and add to the slander that's already out there against you, thus giving people on the fence one more reason to turn away from you.


Turn away from you, or turn away from your beliefs? Is being offered material to study and confirm or dispute constitute this? Or should the information claimed to be truth by Mr. Brown be left secret for those only privvy to a theology degree or an impulse to study church history? I'm not saying everything he claims as truthful is truthful, because there are several debatable points. However, there are many others that raise important questions that have every right to see the light of day. If they cause your belief system to suffer, that is not the truth's fault. It is your instituation. It is most definately not slander.

***I say that God is a logical conclusion based on the works of Thomas Aquinas. I say that the Bible however is an illogical extrapolation because there is no proof outside conjecture suggesting that anything supernatural in the Bible has ever happened or could happen. I can say that God probably exists, but He certainly isn't the God that turned a woman to salt and flooded the world. That God has evidence stacked against him, while mine has nothing but evidence FOR Him.



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