Ben Boyett - Restoring At-Risk Communities

A few summers ago I worked as an intern in the Fredericksburg area, working with the youth in an at-risk community. Over the summer I was assigned a book to read as part of my internship. The book was written by a man named John Perkins and decribes effective methods for turning at-risk communities into self-sustaining communties with strong cores. It wasnt until I did this internship that I realized how close these neighborhoods are. I think we all know where the neighborhoods are but we dont give them much thought other than to avoid them. Do we owe any obligation to the people who live in such communities? You might say that it would be a nice thing to do to help them if we could but is there anything compelling us to help? Well if you are a Christian, you are commanded to love your neighbors. Also from the book of James,"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

How much then are we to give to help those in need? Most people are willing to donate money to a cause that they think is noble or "good" but beyond that I don't think people are willing to step outside of their comfort zones to actually go themselves. If you have never gone on a trip to help those in need, either in this country or another I would urge you to go. With the economy the way it is people need help more than ever.

Ben Boyett - Blade Runner

A classic. Set in a fictitious future, the plot unravels as we learn of a struggle between two groups; the replicants, and the humans. I find Roy's character fascinating. He is the leader of a group of replicants who disobey the law to pursue longer life for themselves. He is a semi-messianic character as he is a strong leader and superhuman. He is regarded as a near perfect specimen. Roy's last lines depict the struggle that the director is trying to convey. He talks about his his amazing life experiences and the things that he has experienced. It is only our experiences that allow us to gain or commununicate knowledge. What does it mean to be human or to live a meaningful life? I think that Roy gained what he really sought as his life slipped away, acceptance of his existence.

Ben Boyett - Silence of Adam

Picked up a copy of this book by Larry Crab awhile back and never really read it until recently. I have read spiritual themed and very scripturally books speaking to the masculine heart, but this one I like more than a lot of the others I have read. Many books speak of unspoken hurt or injuries that we have suffered from or turn into a pity party. Conversely others turn into chest thumping as they declare,"WE ARE MEN." To me this book has called me out on issues where I have struggled, particulary in relationships, and challenged me greatly. One of the things that I like most about it is, its very scripturally grounded. It speaks much of being action oriented, and being full-hearted. A good read at least and a challenge to live up to.

Ben Boyett - Personal Blog 5

Recently I have moved from Newport News to Fredericksburg to be a part time Youth Minister at a church up here. As part of my compensation for my job i get to live in a house that is owned by the church. Now this house was built in the mid 1940s and hasnt had any proper upkeep in over twenty years. As such I have had to completly redo a good portion of the house. New floors, walls, ceilings, lights, the works. The church is paying for most of the materials but the labor has all been volunteer and mostly done by me. From this experience I have learned that people are willing to volunteer to help on such a project, but only for a couple of weeks. They very soon lose thir enthusiasm and stop showing up when they say they will. If I need anything done I have to specifically ask for help and keep hounding them until they come. Really learned the meaning of diffusion of responsibility.

This past week I went to the chirch business meeting and part of the discussion was the progress being done on the house. During the discussion someone had mentioned that the previous tenant had had to move their childrens beds away from the walls when it rained because water would just run down the inside of the walls and soak everything. I was a bit shocked that the people of the church knew how bad it was but never bothered to do anything about it. They certainly would not let their own homes fall into such a state or disrepair.

I think what gets at me most is the churches lack of outreach or willingness to do anything different than what they've always done. They are great at giving offerings to other people to do God's work, but when it comes to doing it themselves they are nowhere to be found. Guess we all get a little too comfortable and complacent sometimes.

Ben Boyett - Personal Blog 4

Been thinking about marriage a lot lately. I have been daitng my girlfriend for a long time now and hope to get engaged soon. I was having a conversation recently with a friend about how 50% of marriages end in divorce. I view marriage as a sort of goal, that once attained problems go away but that clearly isn't so. What is it that makes so many marriages end in dovorce? One of the most common culprits is the way our societies notion of self-gratification and taking the easiest, most convenient way out. People blame financial situations, stress from work, death or injury of children or loved ones. Another frequent one is they dont feel in love any more or they fell in love with someone else. I'm not trying to say that divorce is never the right thing, but why is it so prevalent? Call me an idealist but people should fight for their relationships more. That and take their time getting into it. So many of my friends grew up in split homes and they turned out alright, but I don't think that is giving a child the best shot they can get. I guess I'm just a little angry with my cousin who is getting a divorce from his wife after it was discovered that their three adopted girls had possibly been abused. I know that kind of thing isn't easy and I don't know all the details but all I can think of is the poor little girls who now have another obstacle in their development. Kinda sad. Fight for it.

Ben Boyett - Personal Blog 3

During a recent conversation I was having with a friend we started to talk about our most important or powerful life experiences. His was when his daughters were born, merely being in the presence of a life coming into this world. I think it would be a safe bet to assume that many parents would echo his reply. What is it about it that is so powerful? I'm sure for some it is a bond between the two partners. For others perhaps a looking forward to continuing a name or family tradition. Having not yet experienced it, its hard for me to say for certain. Interestingly the term birth is used not only to describe the completion of a pregnancy, but also to the beginning of natural phenomenoms; particularly ones that are impressive in complexity or scope. Sometimes religious experts and scientists speculate about the "birth" of the world.

I am a Christian and as such believe in the creation story described in the book of Genesis. How did God feel when he "birthed" the world? How does that affect us? God is often referred to as "God the Father." The scpriptures also speak of us as God's "children." No matter how we grow up, we can't maintain the same type of relationship with our parents as when we were infants. As you have grown from a child into an adult how has your relationship changed with your parents or parental figures? What implications does that have in your relaionship with God the father?

Ben Boyett - Personal Blog 2

Everyone I know worships something or someone. Some worship religion or a God, some a relationship or a loved one, some worship alcohol or drugs, some worship food, some worship work, some overindulge themsleves in whatever they feel like at the moment, but everyone of them worships something. What does it mean to worship something? Worship literally means worth-ship, or the attributing of worth to something. What are the ways that we attribute worth to something? Perhaps by spending excessive time with it? Perhaps by lending of ourselves emotionally to it? What do you spend your time doing? Where is your heart? What do you worship?

Ben Boyett - Personal Blog 1

Recently I was leading a Bible study and we had a first time visitor come who was a good friend of one of the members. I got to talk to him afterward and found out that he is atheistic. During the conversation he mentioned that he would never accept a religion unless he had a logical proof stating that it was in fact a true experience of the supernatural. The problem with this lies in the definition of supernatural. Anything that is supernatural is above and outside of nature and therefore will not act according to our scientific laws. What then is left to communicate the experience of the holy? Personal experience is all we really have of proof that anything supernatural exists, but personal experience is inherently flawed in that we can't allow someone else to experience just what we ourselves have experienced. All that remains is simply faith.

Ben Boyett - The Jacket

Enjoyable, thought-provoking film. Does he die in the jacket or does he actually manage to escape and live in the future? Is it just the drug that causes him to experience what he does or is there a deeper mystery surrounding being wrapped in the jacket and placed in the morgue? The morgue drawer symbolizes death very overtly as he is placed in a position that normally only dead people are in. Pretty terrifying prospect. One of the things that I don't understand is why people are so reluctant to give information about his death. If he really died there why would they lie about it and try to avoid the issue? This film makes me think that if I knew how I was going to die would I try to avoid it? Surely most people would, but can one cheat death? To quote the film, "How much time do we have?"

Ben Boyett - Bunny

Funny little film. The old bunny is trying to bake a cake but keeps getting distracted by the moth. We get early implications that the moth is in some way tied to her deceased husband. This idea is confirmed again at the very end when it focuses on a picture of the two of them with two moths flittering around in the reflection. One question I have about it is when does the bunny die? Does she die while she is dreaming and life gradually drifts away from her, or does she actually die when she crawls in the oven? What really happens there? In my opinion she dies in her sleep and while dreaming she drifts away. I really liked the transition from the oven to the sky and the bunny flying away with the rest of the moths. Also it is interesting that while she is trying to creat something, she gets so frustrated that her new goal is to destroy rather than to create. In her fervor we see the most passion.

Ben Boyett - Romans 1

After writing a blog on The Butlerian Jihad I was reminded of a section from Romans 1 that I have read recently where Paul calls himself a slave. Romans is a letter from the apostle Paul to the church in Rome introducing himself to them and explaining why he is coming to visit them. The introductory section in verses 1-7 talk about who Paul is. In the first verse Paul calls himself a slave, an apostle, and says that he has been singled out for the mission. In an introductory letter I have never described myself as a slave. In Rome slaves were consided lowly so why would he call himself a slave? In the Old Testament once Israel receives a king the people are called to be slaves to their king, and the king a slave to God. I think that in this section Paul has removed the middle man and directly become a slave to God. Not a slave in the sense that we usually think of it but rather as a voluntary servant, who is bound out of obligation. Paul also writes that he has been freed. Freed to be a slave? What is freedom? Can we be totally free under self-rule?

Ben Boyett - The Butlerian Jihad

The Butlerian Jihad is a novel written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson, set in the Dune universe created by Frank Herbert. It is a prequel to the original Dune but is still set in the distant future. As the book opens there is a conflict between two warring factions, the humans and the cymeks. The cymeks are former humans brains that have been put into robots bodies. This book addresses several issues such as what it means to be human, human slavery, and the moral implications of scientific advances. The most interesting thing to me was humantys struggle for freedom from their robotic oppressors. The robotic army controlled by an artificial intelligence named Omnius capture and subjugate most of humanity and are closing in on the few remaining strongholds. A woman named Serena Butler becomes the catalyst for revolution when Omnius finds out she is pregnant and kills her baby. Why didnt it spark a revolution when he massacred whole planets? Was her baby that important? I think that we are willing to tolerate a whole lot more than we are willing to put our children through.

Ben Boyett - Dune

I have always been a fan of Frank Herbert's Dune books, and recently I picked up a copy to reread it. I am fascinated with the way he ties Messianic prophecy into the story. Through a specialized breeding program a group called the Bene Gesserit hope to cross breed all good human traits into a single bloodline and in so doing create a superhuman capable of reaching outside of our time to see reveal the past and the future. Should that be the ultimate goal of humanity? To be able to circumvent time would be an incredibly powerful tool, one not to be wielded lightly. Herbert explores this idea through the experiences of the protagonist named Paul Atreides. After realizing his potential as this superhuman he shortly goes mad and in the ensuing book he leaves his position as Emperor of the Universe to wander off into the desert, a blind, penniless prophet. This reminds me of Oedipus, who only realizes what it is to see after he has lost his vision. Very deep book and I intend on finishing the series in the next few weeks.

Ben Boyett - Koyaanisqatsi

Interesting film. In Hopi it means "Life out of Balance" or "a state of life that calls for another way of living". Through the series of time lapse videos the director implies that the lives that we live need to be changed due to our harmful impact on ourselves, those around us, and our environment. For a film that doesnt use spoken language it speaks volumes about our race. I don't enjoy watching films like this because all it feels like is a guilt trip. The director doesn't suggest any alternative way to live, but seems to suggest that the world is more important than human life. It can ispire people to action sure, but only to the extent that they will buy a hybrid instead of a large SUV. I do agree that we need to slow down and take a look around us more often, but the ending to this film seems to be prophetic of an apocalyptic end.

Ben Boyett - Minority Report

I really enjoyed watching this film. Steven Spielberg is a very talented director and he comes through in this film. The story is set in the future in a near perfect human society. The film explores the idea of whether or not humans are capable of creating a perfect society. It reminds me of Zardoz in that sense because even though things seem to be under control, inside the system is bursting at the seams. Cruises character John Anderton is a policeman whose job is to prevent crimes through the developed sense of pre-cognisanse. The plot heats up when John is accused of commiting a crime. To me the movie points towards the concept of original sin; no matter how civilized we become, humans will always be capable of great harm to ourselves and those around us.

Matthew Winant - Blog #15 (5/8/09)

So for my last blog I get to tell you about the film Syriana, where the conflict between politics and religion rages. The political thriller focuses on the connectivity of multiple characters, as was the fad for films like Crash and Babel. While Christianity is not explicitly mentioned, it is assumed that there is in the film the deep rooted conflict between Christianity and the West against Islam in the East. The Islamic sect in the film is viewed as all terrorists, and the leadership of the sect prays on the needy members of the Islamic culture. This is the unfortunate view of Islam through the eyes of the Western culture and I was displeased with the films portrayal of the situation.

Outside Movie - Crash - Robbie Heath

In the movie Crash the audience follows a couple of days in the lives of several people in Los Angeles. We see how their lives all tie together and effect each other. This is in positive and negative ways. We see the consequences of peoples greed, selfishness, pride, etc. While these problems seem minor to most of the people that do them, they have huge consequences on other people. The dual natures of many people is also visible as we see one man capable of malice and racism, but at the same time saves a woman from a burning car. This really represents the battle between good and bad force in our lives and inside of this. This movie is a great example of the idea of the flesh and the the Spirit given by Paul in Galatians 5.

Personal - Robbie Heath

I recently was a reading an excerpt in a book that was discussing the literary value of the Bible. About the poetic nature of certain books and how stories are told in the Bible, especially the stories of Jesus in the four Gospels. It seems that compared to many stores, or histories of that time in the ancient world, the Bible was constructed very differently. Ancient epics apparently lacked the detail, or rather the realism that is in the Bible. These are small things such as saying how far from the boat Jesus was when he walked on water, or a sigh, or sweat. However, it is these details that pull readers in because they can relate to these everyday details. Almost all stories or movies today have such details at least to extent. It seems that how the Bible was written has changed how modern literature is approached today. Would you agree that this advent of realism came from Bible literature? Was the Bible a sole source for causing this change, or just one part. However, it most undoubtedly influenced and changed European and western writing.

Steph Dunn- Outside Reading # 5

Studying for exams me and my roommate went to Barnes and Noble for a change of scenery. Although it was loud and busy I loved being there because we got to look through the books. One book that caught my eye was "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" by F. Scott Fitzgerld. This past summer I had seen the movie with Brad Pitt and fell in love with it. My favorite part about the movie was the emphasis on how timeless love is. The book was very different from the movie. In the book Benjamen's family didn't give him up like they did in the movie, and they forced him to act as a child even though he was an old soul. Love is such an amazing deity that never seems to die. In this movie even though he was getting younger and she was getting older they still had an amazing connection that lasted through time.

Matthew Winant - blog #14 (outside reading, 5/7)

I went on a Michael Crichton binge over the summer and winter holidays and continued in my free time to slowly progress through most of his novels. I recently finished his first, Andromeda Strain, last week. Along side with Neuromancer by William Gibson, it is scary to see how far we have come as a society in technological terms. It seems every day there is a new technological threat, whether it be biological or computer based, our day to day lives are also composed with media based fear. Andromeda Strain has no real connection to the transcendence, but it does paint a picture of biological disaster created from technological advancement. I feel like within our lifetime we will encounter a technological advancement that will spell disaster for America or other countries of the world. Movies such as Terminator hold possibly within our realm of A.I., especially being developed for dangerous industry.

Matthew Winant - Blog #13 (outside reading 5/7)

I have also started a book by Donald Miller who first came on the religious studies scene with his book Blue Like Jazz. The book that I am reading is called Searching for God Knows What. It is an amusing play on words to portray seeking what your calling is compared to a personalized statement of searching for whatever. Miller talks about the conventions made by contemporary believers and nonbelievers alike. Miller spends one chapter alone on the images that the Western world has of Jesus, someone who is beautiful and most importantly white. However, it is Scriptural evident that Jesus was not the most attractive person in Judea, but that because he was from the Middle East it is not difficult to see that he was tan without the perfect brown hair we see of him today. Miller combats claims of why God left Earth and why He allows suffering to happen. I encourage everyone to take a glance at this book as well as his first as he easily paints a picture of who Jesus is and why came to Earth.

Matthew Winant - Blog #12 (outside reading)

For an outside reading I read parts of the Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis. It is a very popular book among theologians as well as members of this class apparently. While I am not completely finished with the book I have noticed some fantastic aspects within the letters. First is that the demon who is writing tells the receiver not to use logic, as it will always lead to God. I find this amazing because today it is seen that logic will outsmart theology and the Bible. Nonbelievers find that it is easy to use logic to disprove Creation or Jesus. Another point that I noticed was the fact that I realized spiritual warfare is occurring always and all around us. I have heard stories of missionaries who have felt absolute terror from demons waging spiritual warfare on messengers of God. I find C.S. Lewis' ability to portray demons as a believer very well conceived and his ability to logical show how a demon thinks is in line with Scripture and theological logic.

Outside Readings- Mediated, Rawley

I had to read a book by Thomas De Zengotita for my persuasion class this semester. The book is called Mediated. In this book, De Zengotita writes about how we are so self-centered that we don't even realize how easily manipulated we are by the media and television. He calls this idea the MeWorld. When I was reading this book, it made me upset because I realized that I am just as guilty of being most concerned with myself and what I can get. The reason that I was the most upset was because we are called to put others before ourselves but when we are put in a sitation, we end up looking out for ourselves. This whole book was like a big slap in the face. It is so obvious after reading this book that we are so easily manipulated by television. We think that everything should entertain us and if it doesn't, then we don't give our attention to it. De Zengotita says that the people that we are giving our attention to have figured this out so they are going to cater to it. Because of this, we aren't getting the whole truth of things and we are forced to be biased because the people that we give our attention to are biased. This is also dangerous because we aren't formulating our own opinions and the people that we are looking to to solve our problems are not the Creator of our universe. We are always looking for a quick fix and not trusting that God has a bigger plan.

Outside Readings- Screwtape Letters, Rawley

I have recently finished reading the Screwtape Letters written by C.S. Lewis. The book is a compilation of letters from a more experienced demon to one who is still learning how to damn someone and promote sin. When I started reading this book, I was really scared but it turned into something that taught me how to recognize the devil and where he was trying to attack me. The differences in the things that Screwtape tells Wormwood and the things that the New Testament tells us is unbelievable. One of the lines in the book is, "Fun is closely related to Joy-- a sort of emotional froth arising from the play instinct. It is very little use to us. It can sometimes be used, of course, to divert humans from something else which the Enemy would like them to be feelings or doing: but in itself it has wholly undesirable tendencies; it promotes charity, courage, contentment, and many other evils". Screwtape refers to God as the Enemy which is what we usually refer to Satan as. Screwtape warns Wormwood not to let his Patient do anything that the Enemy holds sacred or gives us. This book is eye-opening but intense at the same time. In the dedication, Lewis quotes Martin Luther in saying, "The best way to drive out the devil, if he will not yield to texts of Scripture, is to jeer and flout him, for he cannot bear to scorn". I love that thought.

Steph Dunn- Personal #4

Living in a house with four other girls have been such an amazing blessing this past two years. I have learned so much about myself and my relationship with the Lord has grown tremendously. I love getting up in the morning and eating with Emily waiting for the other girls to roll out of bed and join us. Every Sunday since last year we have committed to meeting every week to catch up and get to know each other on a deeper level. It was so crucial last year to our relationships because we didn't know each other very well prior to moving into the house. It was so great to spend time together with no pressure or distractions, the time we spend together truly was sacred. This year we haven't taken advantage of that sacred time, our schedules are busier and we know each other better. The Lord has been at work in our lives since the day we moved in. We have tried to love each other and although we have failed many times, we are able to grant one another grace and understanding. It has been an amazing learning process that I am so thankful God has put in my life.

My Own Topic- Religion in Songs, Rawley

I really love somewhat sappy love songs. I love when someone expresses how much in love they are with someone else and they can do it very eloquently. I was listening to a specific song the other day, So Contagious by The Acceptance, and I was so comforted by how romantic it was. Then I took a deeper look at the words and I realized that this could be a song for Jesus. One of the lines were, "Could this be out of line? To say you're the only one breaking me down like this. You're the only one I would take a shot on". I am not in love at this point in my life, so immediately I though of the only one that I would "take a shot on" and I thought of Jesus. I figured out that that was why I was so comforted by the song and then I started listening to more of my favorite songs with this mindset. The next song that I thought of was Mercy by OneRepublic. I know that that song sounds pretty obviously, but since faith is not consisten with the rest of their music it wasn't as obvious. One of the lines in the song says, "Angel of Mercy how did you find me? How did you pick me up again?" I heard that song and I though of how Jesus promises never to leave and that He will always pick us up when we are down. When I thought of how these words were love songs and potentially written for women, I wondered why they sounded like they could be written for Jesus as well. Then I remembered, in Ephesians, Paul tells us that "God is Love". So it makes sense why all of these love songs sound like they are written for Him; because He is love.

Reading: "The Kite Runner" ; Wilbert Hill Jr.

The Kite Runner is a novel that invokes an appreciation for friendship, life, and respect for its readers. As the reader treads through the prodigious waters of this novel the reader will encounter two best friends Amir, who is a Pashtuns which is a sunni Muslim, and Hassan who is Hazara which is a Shi’a Muslim. These two friends come together and bring life to the plot of the story. Amir’s father, Baba, was well to do, and owned an expensive house in Kabul, Afghanistan, while Hassan and his father, Ali, were servants to Amir and his father Baba.
When Assef was a child him and his friends hated Hazara Muslims. The Kite Runner points out that Assef was a bully to Hassan because he was a Hazara and his friend Amir was a Pashtuns. Assef goes on to tell Hassan that he is a servant to Amir and you are really not his friend. As I investigated the book further I encounter that Assef sexually assaults Hassan while Amir just looks and sees this and does nothing to stop Assef from doing this act of hatred and malice to Hassan. Amir gives and example that Hassan looks like a precious little lamb being slaughtered for the tenth day of Dhul-Hijjah, which is a Muslim Holiday as he looks on. This act of hatred that was done to Hassan shows a since of powerlessness on the part of Hassan, and Assef has the power and exploits Hassan because he is different than Assef is.
the Kite Runner was a great novel, it explained the story and the life of two young men lives being impacted by outside forces they had no control over. The kite fighting competition brings the story all together in a peaceful and angelic fashion. The kite competition is a time for the youth to come together and celebrate what they have created as a kite and prove to the city that they are the best kite fighter around. This brings the city excitement and joy. Amir and Hassan were brothers and not even know it, but they still showed brotherly love to one another.

The Green Mile : Wilbert Hill Jr.

I really loved this movie, It really exemplified that God is sovereign and has all power, even the power to overcome and overthrow the lies an untruths of the justice system. This film showed that God’s glory can and will cross all lines of humanity. God is a sovereign God and does what he wants to do any time he wants to do it without any approval from man. No matter whom you are or what background you come from, God’s love will penetrate the toughest heart. Faith will always dissipate fear, and love will always overcome hatred. God’s commandments are always victorious over man’s law. When faith crosses the lines of justice, the miraculous power of God is performed. John Coffey was a man touch by God and anointed by God to performed unseen and unheard miracles. the penetintary guards were all emotionally in awe to find out that they have a true gift from God sent to them to heal and deliver there minds from unbelief to belief in a real God who performs miracles and chooses whom he wants to perform them at any time he wants them to. Yahweh, the God of the old testament always chose people who seem as though they did not have the ability or look the part, but Yahweh did this in order that he would get all glory and everyone would know that it was a work done by his hands and his hands alone.

Wings of Desire : Wilbert Hill Jr.

This movie was very interesting, it was about angels that were in a city that helped people in there lives. One particular angel wanted to become human and put aside his heavenly part and be able to eat, feel, love, taste, and experience human emotions. In the movie I notice that there where angels every where, helping all people to accomplish there goals in life. In particular in the library, their were angels pretty much with every person that was in the library studying. This is a great example of how God says, in the Bible, I will never leave you nor forsake you, I will be with you until the end. The two main characters that played angels were men. One was a strong angel who never question his appointed duty of being an angel, but the other wanted to become a human. As this angel walked along he met Colombo, who was the narrator of the film. Colombo says to him, I know your there, I am your friend, and put out his hand in order to shake it. The first angel wanted so badly to be a human so he shook his hand. Colombo explained to the angel that there are more of your kind around here. In conclusion at the end of the movie we see the angel fall in love with the women he was so despartely wanting to be with. In the Bible it says without love you are nothing. Love sums up the whole gospel of Jesus Christ. Love in the end product of everything in life everyone wnats to be love. You can not survive without love; love from God, love for self, and love for others. Love covereth a multitude of sin.

Steph Dunn- Personal #3

For the second year in a row a group of my friends and I have gone to our friend Eric's bay house in Weems, VA. We love to sit around and talk, soaking in the last time we will all be together before the long summer. One of our favorite games to play when we are all together is hot seat. Personally I hate this game. It might have something to do with the issue of being vulnerable, or the awkward questions that seem to be inevitable. On the ride home I got roped into playing in a smaller setting, which I agreed to. The first question went something like this, what are you passionate about? It took me a while to think about because I feel like I am passionate about many things. I thought for a couple minutes and then it came to me. Serving was my biggest passion. Not serving food, or up some sweet dance moves but serving the Lord. This is one of the main reasons why I love being up at Young Life camp. I have never worked harder in my life then when I am at Young Life camp, and it is because I am serving the Lord. I am always willing to do anything because I know it is for the kingdom, which is so rewarding. It doesn't take money to get people to camp because if you are working there most likely you are not getting paid. People come from all over the world to help these high school kids have the best week of their lives and it is so evident in their attitudes. Serving the Lord takes new shape at Young Life camp among all the ways I serve him everyday.

Blade Runner : Wilbert Hill Jr.

Blade runner is a film that is full of symbols. We are first introduce to the doctor who has created the replicants and is talking to Rachael, who is a replicant but thinks she is human. Rachael does not realize that she is not a replicant. As Dekkard gives her the replicant test, the technology that is presented in the film focuses on the eye of the actual person being tested. Many people say if you look a person in the eye you can look into the depths of there soul. This test would examine to see if the person was real or a replicant. This test also focused on eye movement and when the pupils dialated and when they, lost focused as well. In the end Dekkard realized through a series of many questions that Rachel was a replicant.
I really liked this movie it had a lot of Bilblical nuances and metaphors within it. I really enjoyed the the part when Roy tells Dekkard, "how does it feel to be enslaved", because as a replicant he was free from the worries of this world, but Dekkard was trapped by the anguish and tormoil of this world by not having freedom and liberty within his soul; Dekkard was control by fear, and the replicants were seen as an example of a person that is truely living a faith base life of freedom.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind : Wilbert Hill Jr.

Joel's life was miserable when he found out that Clementine did not even know him and she had her memory erased. Joel, from shear impulsed rushed to find out how to get this procedure done, because the love and the pain of not having his true love around was to great to handle. When Joel made this decision he did not realize the draw backs from the memory being withdrawn from his mind. Every memory and every thought of Clementine in his mind, brought back severe emotional distress and pain. Joel comes to himself as the prodigal son did and realized that he had made a big mistake. Joel realized he had to do something about this if he wanted Clementine back.
Kierkegaard and Nietzsche are the two creators of existentialist thought. Joel exercised the belief of Kierkegaard, which is called the knight of faith. Joel was determined to get his memory back and find out the truth behind, all the lies and deceit. When one strong man has courage and faith to seek out the truth with resiliency, he will shine the light on the darkness, through his benevolent journey to the light. Clementine helps Joel to get his memory back, and also encourages him to not give up.

The Big Fish : Wilbert Hill Jr.

As a human we experience reality and fantasy. Some people can say that fantasy is a sugarcoated truth of the reality that they experience. The truth is what a human being wakes up and sees everyday of his life. A fantasy is a personal envision that a person would love to be a reality. Dreams can be seen as fantasy, until a human presses toward the truth of the reality within that dream. Then that dream will become a truth within ones reality. In the film Big Fish, we are introduced to Edward Bloom who is now in the reality of his life on his deathbed and telling his son the sugar coated reality of his life. At first his son can only see facts and truth, black and white, and could not read between the lines of reality and fantasy. As the son lives on and intently listens to his father, he realizes that love, hope, and fantasy, fuels the truth of reality.

Furthermore, Edward Bloom is a Big Fish in a small town; his ambitions and talents are enormous compared to the city he was from. Bloom metaphorically characterizes his ambition as a giant that is terrorizing the city. This fantasy that Bloomed exemplified in his story was internally a reality in his life. Bloom's son could not see the truth of reality within his father’s fantasy of story telling. His son was confused about the reality of his father’s life and the truth. Bloom's son finally realized after talking to the doctor that his father's sugar coated story telling gave life and imputed hope in others, his son realized that life was not just about the facts and truth anymore but that love, hope, and fantasy, fuels the truth of reality.

i forgot to add my name to the last 5 movies, thus vallaster did them...

natural born killers

A lot of people out there like Oliver Stone and what he’s brought to the movie industry… I’m glad we’re not friends. Natural Born Killers was an awful attempt at influencing people to kill themselves in addition to celebrating ridiculous people positions they don’t deserve. This “masterpiece,” as Roger Ebert puts it, comprises of an award winning actors, an award winning script, and a deserve-to-be-shot director. What I should’ve gotten out of this film was that love can conquer overwhelming surges of turmoil. Instead I get another batman movie without the experience of Tommy Lee with only half a face.

blair witch project

This flic scared the piss out of me when I was a kid. It’s about a bunch of kids go that into a forest and get lost, only to get dicked over by witch. This film taught me to hit chicks in their tit… if you’re going to go on a date with me to a scary movie like this one, anticipate an elbow to some region of your upper torso.

watchmen

I read this novel when I was young… very young, and I really don’t remember it like that. Everything was the same for the most part, but naturally books and movies based of books will have their differences in what we may have perceived when we read the book. I never read a whole lot into the philosophy then and I really couldn’t see a whole-whole lot this time either. When it comes down to action films, I’m usually focused on the action (or sex if that’s there too). If anything, you’d have to probably dissect each of the characters individually, but that’s going to take to long… so I’ll assume making myself look stupid by taking a stab at wrapping everything up into a one sentence comparison. This movie was like the bible (done!). It all came down to a fight between good and evil for me, and maybe that’s too simple… it’s all I have.

borat comes to america

This film concerns a foreigner coming to the US to degrade everything Americans represent, solely for righteous means of exploring our culture so as to share it with his own. I think that the movie was intended to be outlandish for ticket sales, but also to perhaps indicate how we view other cultures. The British comedian playing this part has been doing similar antics for years, attempting to make fools of honest people with intent to expose good sides, bad sides, and dumbass sides. Sometimes I like’m, sometimes I don’t, and this movie was in between.

orgazmo

Easily one of the most offensive movies of all time… but great. A young Mormon’s plight with trying to provide enough money for himself, and his pride to be, has forced him into the porno industry. While he is not actually a performer in the essence of having sexual intercourse outside of wedlock, he does carry out the task of “stunt cock,” which leads to a number of hilarious situations. It’s probably wrong that I got anything but a kick out of this movie, but I felt it did express a man’s struggle with trying to be a good and wholesome person in the eye’s of God, but via pending circumstances concerning money and how he will support his fiancé, he is forced to choose a path of the profane over the righteous. It ends up all good though

the ring // by vallaster

Extremely unique plot, originally done in Japan, that combines genres of both horror and thriller movies to comprise a film that ultimately kicks ass. When I hear someone say “the ring,” I immediately think, “I don’t want it to come down to it, but I will kick the shit outta that dead chick if she screws with me…” the most exciting thing that this film brought to me was that by watching the movie wherein characters witness another movie that kills them after watching it, I too have just witnessed the same deadly film. Thus, I immediately anticipated a call after the movie telling me that I was going to meet a decrepit chick that’s been rotting at the bottom of a well, only to have her frighten me to death. At this, I pronounce, “fuck the dead chick.” This has ultimately taught me that as soon as I die, I’m going to make a DVD and give it to everyone I hate so I can scare’m with my pants down.

Zoolander // by vallaster

Great movie that summarizes my life as a male model. Just like myself, Derek Zoolander is at the point in his life where he is coming to the realization that his career of hot chicks and glamour is winding down. Also like myself, the head of the evil corporation that runs most of the fashion circuit has brainwashed him to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Through a plot of slightly predictable twists and turns, Derek (and myself) come to the realization that we wouldn’t be anywhere in life if it weren’t for friends that are there to help support us through any endeavor.

Saw // by vallaster

This movie attempts to not suck… in their efforts, they manage to do just the opposite. The lour they use to attract viewers is that of grotesque nature, which usually gets my, and other moron’s, attention. Following the role of a sadistic serial killer who abducts morally flawed victims, he places them in scenarios that force the prisoners to mutilate themselves as means to both escape and gather enlightenment as to what rendered them into that position. While the premise I’ve described sounds great, director James Wan fails miserably in his efforts to exude any talent pertaining to the profession he has chosen. What I got out of this film is that if I am attempting to disintegrate a script with massive potential to a sack of crap, I can do it. What I should’ve gotten out of it was that the road to perdition will be judged eventually, thus changing my evil ways would be highly advisable.

the big lebowski // by vallaster

“All the dude ever wanted was his rug back…” this summarizes the intricate plot and theme that is this film. The story follows a character only known as “the Dude,” who is calm in his disposition throughout the flic. This film definitely has a cult following, and seemed as though the script was constructed to acquire such. The humorous tale of a man’s strife to simply make people aware that they keep attacking him for no reason (because there is another Lebowski living in the same town, except he’s ridiculously rich), gives way to numerous tangled scenarios only progressing his intent to live in solace. His friend Walter is usually the one that keeps The Dude into trouble, and plays a large role in the film. The comedy aspect of this film via the characters and their actions made this one of the funniest movies I’ve ever seen. Between most of the “male comrodery,” I think the underlying representation of brotherly love and surrogate family shines through. While they squabbled and got into trouble numerous times, they ultimately loved each other and mostly hated everyone else.

american history x // by vallaster

Derek Vinyard is the charismatic leader of white supremacists that ends up in prison for a hate crime (curb-stomping a black dude). After being released, his motives have reversed by being enlightened on racial scenarios. His brother, who is following his footsteps in racial discrimination, is influenced to change his brother’s recently enlightened. I found a number of the scenes vividly memorable do to their gruesome nature. The plot, character development, and cinematography all played a role in how we are to perceive Derek and his surroundings. After watching out main character travel down the slums of this path in life, he acquires an epiphany that takes him down a road to influence others in the same position to change. By going back to the same group of individuals that he once lead, he attempts to sway their narrow sited opinions by asserting that their means of destruction is merely shallow propaganda. He is only successful in reaching one person, that being his brother, who in the end is the one that pays the price. What I got out of it was that selfishness and being too stern on my opinions can lead to damage not just to myself, but also to those that I surround myself with.

Steph Dunn- In Class #4 Watchmen

Like many of the movies we watch in class I was sceptical of Watchmen. I had heard it was a cult classic among those who like superhero's, and I am not quite into that. I was very surprised at how interesting this movie actually was. It takes place in an alternate timeline and follows a vigilante group called the Watchmen. They formed themselves off of the previous group from the 30's and 40's called the Minutemen. They were said to have a hand in many big events in the world such as JFK's assassination and the Vietnam world, they were subsequently banned from America. It was so interesting to me to see the problems that these superhero's had. Comparing this film to batman or spiderman the only problems that they seemed to have was with a girl. A very crazy twist that I didn't see coming was when Ozymandias, a member of the Watchmen decided that he was going to play God and recreate the world. He wants to end the feud that is going on between the Soviet Union and the United States. This is different from many of the super hero movies we see today also because they are willing to kill millions of people just to unite the world. I feel as though this movie is supposed to portray the superhero's as God figures but doesn't exactly capture it in the right way. Our God is good and has our best intentions in mind. This movie portrays God as a selfish overpowering being that doesn't care about his people, which he is not.

Steph Dunn- In Class #3

I first saw the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in my Lit and Film class in high school. I fell in love with it. The plot was genius and the character development was deep and multidimensional. The thing that caught my attention about this movie was its parallels to fate. This has always been a very interesting topic to me, but can also be tough to discuss. Seeing the way Joel and Clem met in the beginning it was such an honest, true form of love. He looked at her with eyes that showed affection and she didn't want to be anywhere but close to him. This rare form of love is so refreshing to see on the big screen. In most movies we are fed this ideal version of love that we cannot help but to think it is normal. Joel and Clem go from a state of infatuation to real life. They are fighting and getting frustrated with each other, their true colors are shining through. It is so important to not only see the happiness that is love, but also the heartache. From the constant fighting they decide they can't do it anymore and split ways. Clem is so distraught that she turns to Lacuna Inc. which is a medical procedure that causes you to eliminate someone from your memory. Joel goes to see her at Barnes and Noble and she acts like she doesn't even know him. Joel gets frustrated and figures out what she has done. He decided to spite her that he will do the same. To sum it up they go through a song and dance to try and regain the memories that they lost, but they are running from memory to memory. This is such a cool way to look at life, jumping from one memory to another. In the end we figure out that the beginning of the movie is actually the second time they met. It shows us that even if we think we have a huge role in planning out our lives, what is meant to happen will happen. In Joel and Clem's situation they were meant to be together and no medical procedure can change that.

Outside Reading - Robbie Heath

The idea behind this post combines the reading of an outside book and a TV show. I have recently been reading A Reason For God by Timothy Keller. It is a text in response to the recent works by authors such as Christopher Hitchens who have written in opposition to the existence of God. It is this theme of doubting but yet trust in science that is seen in the main character in the show House. It is this doubt that Keller also tackles in his book, except he is arguing that God does exist. As mentioned that is a major theme in House. He is a highly acclaimed medical doctor in the show, but does not accept the existence of God or really anything outside of science. The argument that is most readily used against Dr. House is when a very strange and almost impossible set of events have happened. Patients such as once, a priest, ask, "Do you really think that all these things have happened just by chance?" This is also a similar opposition given by Keller in his book. Connecting to this theme of science and religion. Keller suggests that there are many things science has not yet completely proven to us. Although certain things are set in stone there are others that people are taking on faith just as religious people do, but it is not recognized as faith in the scientific world. Does this seem like a plausible idea?

Steph Dunn- Outside Reading #4

Redeeming Love is a fictional novel by Francine Rivers. This book is based off of Hosea in the Old Testament of the Bible. I read this book last semester and fell in love with the characters. I recently started reading it again this semester. This book is about a girl named Angel who is a prostitute in a brothel in California during the gold rush. She has been there ever since she can remember and doesn't know anything besides this life. Not to mention Angel is the most sought after girl in the house who brings in most of the money. One day when she is walking through town she catches a man's eye. His name is Michael Hosea and he feels as though the Lord is telling him to pursue her. He keeps coming to see her at the brothel and spends the whole night doing nothing but trying to convince her to leave with him and marry her. Frustrated at Angels refusal to leave Michael leaves Pair-a-dice. He comes back unable to deny God's plan for him and finds her beaten and left for dead. He convinces her to come with her and pays a large fee.
When she is finally nursed back to health Angel is scared and wants to go back to the brothel. Michael is confused at how anyone would want to go back there, he is constantly asking why God put her on his heart. Angel runs away one night trying to make it back to the Brothel to get the money she is owed. She catches a ride with Michael's brother Paul. To pay him for the ride all she has to offer is herself. They sleep together and both think that will be the last they see of each other. Angel gets back and finds the brothel and her 'friends' dead. Michael quickly comes and gets her from there and they go home. Angel's heart is growing fonder of Michael everyday, but she would never admit that.
This relationship between Michael and Angel mirrors our relationship with God. We are just as bad as a prostitute living in a brothel. God is the one who is pursuing us, and we are constantly running away from him. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to see the gospel played out in a real life situation.

Class Reading - Robbie Heath

I was recently watching an episode of the show Lost which has become a favorite of mine. In watching it through the past few seasons I have seen a strong theme that ties to the idea of the Mysterium and Tremendum in Otto's Idea of the Holy. Throughout the show you follow the story of several survivors that have crashed landed on an apparently empty tropical island in the South Pacific. However as things progress they learn they are not along. The longer the story goes on the more we learn about the natural inhabitants on the island. Now looking back at the end of the 5th season, the fact that I was mesmerized with the mystery in the first season seems trivial. But, it was such a major factor because the makers of the show really knew how to properly used Tremendum and Mysterium. There was always a mystery that the viewer could not understand and this kept the show interesting. There was also the tremendum with the fear of what could happen as the native peoples on the island were attacking the stranded people. In this way the hostiles were powerful and unexplainable much like God, they were the source of the tremendum, and perhaps viewed as a surrogate of the wholly other.

Outside Reading - Into The Wild - Robbie Heath

I recently read the book Into the Wild. I found this to be an easy but very interesting read that has just recently been turned into a film. This young man's story is astonishing in every way as he got rid of all his money and then just took off alone to venture and see the open country. While he was very naive and dumb at certain points he clearly went on a major spiritual journey possibly searching for God and definitely for himself and his place in this world. Perhaps this idea of a spiritual journey, especially one into the wild and nature is an idea lost in this day and age. It seems that the time is gone for when a person could take the time to thing, meditate, or pray deeply in order to orient themselves to what they should be doing in their lives. Does this lead so many people to unfulfilled lives as they were never able to stop think and enjoy, clearing their minds and finding their calling. While the man in this story did not live to see the fruits of his journey, I would think that it may have made him a better person, in other people this could bring someone closer to God. Do we need to take more time for spiritual journey's or finding God?

Outside Movie - Taxi Driver - Robbie Heath

Taxi Driver is a classic but more of a cult classic by Martin Scorsese. In this film the main character, played by Robert DeNiro ends up going on a violent spree. At the surface this film does not seem to have a deeper meaning. However, unlike many films made today, the violence actually has a reason behind it. DeNiro's character is not mean and hurtful for the sake of it. Rather his violence is done in a bout to protect a young girl that was put into prostitution. In addition it is his form of bringing justice to those that would not receive it. These are people like the pimps and drug dealers of New York that he went after. It seems that this violence as it is in other Scorsese films like The Departed, is justified in some way. It is more of a righteous wrath and anger like the anger found in the God of the Old Testament. In this anger there is a wrath towards what is sinful in God's eyes. This is similar to the wrath found in Taxi Driver, it goes towards what is detestable and sinful. Does this seem correct? Or is violence never justified?

Blade Runner - Robbie Heath

Throughout Blade Runner I think that the audience was able to feel a certain darkness or evil that soaked through what was going on. The earth, or what was left of it in this future world was dark polluted and empty. More importantly, the people that were left seemed empty and void of any emotion, especially happy ones. In relation to this the earth was void of any natural plant life, the streets were bleak, dark, and empty. Perhaps it was man's greed that destroyed the beauty that was on the earth, reducing it to a waste to the point that people were trying to get off to the "colonies." I feel that usually God comes along with nature as it is his creation, since there was no nature I feel that the audience did not feel God in this movie. Does nature tie this closely to God, I would feel that it does.

Joel Holsteen - Topic of Choice #3

The after watching Blade Runner in class I was reminded of another film with the same principles. The film The Island deals with clones being made for replacement parts for famous and rich people living in the real world. Two of these clones escape from the "island" where they are created and wait to be harvested for organs or blood. These clones discover the truth behind their creation and plan to set the other clones free because it is unethical for them to have to die for their rich and famous counterparts. The clones were not supposed to be able to think and reason like this they were supposed to be in good shape and follow instructions to keep them healthy for their owners. Once again we find that when humans play God it back fires and ends in disaster.

Steph Dunn- Personal #2

Another huge aspect of my life growing up has been the ministry of Young Life. This ministry is for high school kids. My dad has been on full time Young Life staff since he graduated college, and my mom has been by his side as a volunteer leader ever since. Every summer we would spend a month at a Young Life camp because my dad had an assignment. As a kid this was the best way to spend my summer. My sister and I would wake up whenever I want, hang out with the other kids on assignment by the pool, it was the life. When I was in high school I went to Saranac Village in upstate New York for a month to serve. I worked in the dining hall serving food to the 400-500 campers. It was one of the greatest experiences in my life. I grew so much in my relationship with the Lord and was able to meet so many other high school kids that were in the same situation as I was. This past summer I went back to Saranac to do summer staff, which is work for college aged kids. I worked in the kitchen and absolutely loved it. The next level of work I could do was an intern. These are people who spend the whole summer there and are in charge of work crew and summer staff. I really felt like the Lord was calling me to apply after I was asked to by my interns when I was on summer staff.
I applied this past winter and it was such a long process. I filled out an application and made it to the phone interview. I did a couple of interviews and made it to the last one with the camp director. I was extremely nervous but I guess I did pretty well. A week later I got a call saying congratulations you'll be spending your summer at Saranac.
I can't wait. I get to spend my summer at the most beautiful place in the world. The thing that I am most excited for is how much I am going to grow in my relationship with the Lord. I just know he is going to teach me so much about myself and how i best serve and love him. The community that I am going to be a part of is such a blessing, I can't wait to spend a summer serving and glorifying him.

Joel Holsteen - Topic of Choice #2

The film Sunshine was a good movie that I saw recently that made me think about some of the themes that we have discussed through out the films we have seen in class like the theme self sacrifice. In the film the sun is dying out and Earth has united together and made a space shuttle with nuclear devices that is to be detonated within the sun to spark it up. On the way to the sun the small crew experience countless tests and obstacles along the way. Things go bad fast and the ship instead of launching the nukes into the sun the ship is going to have to crash into it. The remaining crew members realize that they must sacrifice their lives in order save the world. The end of the film is shown as the physicist ignites the nuclear bombs as the ship goes crashing into the sun and he is caught for a brief moment between the two blazes of power. The sight that he sees before die is tremendous and amazing. This self sacrifice is the ultimate good act. In the bible it is said that there is no greater sacrifice than when a man lays down his life for a friend.

Joel Holsteen- In Class #1- Koyaanisqatsi

This film took me by surprise because it was all over the place and still had an overall effect. I believe that the film was trying to portray the natural wonder and beauty of Earth and that humankind has altered it and is ultimately destroying the beauty that God created. Humans are seen in this film as similar to machines that are moving fast all the time and always have something to make or do. It sends the message to the views that we need to slow down and experience the true wonder that is God's creation. I would definitely recommend this film to others more so to Americans who live in cities and are governed by their schedules and watches and never live for the moment.

Joel Holsteen - In Class # 5 Apocalypse Now

Apocalypse Now is the story of Captain Willard who is sent on a special mission in the Vietnam War in 1969. His mission is to travel through the Cambodia jungle in order to find and eliminate Colonel Kurtz who has taken some soldiers and gone off the radar and disobeys the army's orders. Along Captain Williard's travels he finds many disturbing places and people like LTC Kilgore who goes surfing in the middle of a battle. In the final scenes we see Captain Willard slaughtering Colonel Kurtz in a similar fashion as the Cow that is being slaughtered out side for religious purposes. This was interesting to me because it showed that Colonel Kurtz is represented as a spiritual leader in a way. In a strange way Colonel Kurtz also knew that Willard would end up killing him and did not have Willard restricted to a jail like place he was free to walk around and talk with the Colonel. This showed me that Colonel Kurtz was ready to die and accepted death in hopes that he would become a martyr for his cause.

Steph Dunn- Personal #1

Growing up a big part of my life was always music. I remember driving down the long road to Florida with my family dosing off to the sounds of James Taylor and Jimmy Buffett. One of my parents favorite singer which has in turn become one of my mine is David Wilcox. His metaphors and the stories he tells blow my mind. One of my favorite songs comes from his Live Songs and Stories album and it is called "Two Roads Diverge" which based off of the Robert Frost poem.
TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 5
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
He is struggling with a big decision and has two possible ways to go. Both of the roads he could take have its advantages, but he cannot make the decision. He is worried that if he makes the wrong decision then he will miss out on what could have been. The chorus in this song says "so i'll just hold it up to the light". I just love this outlook on what we think are life altering decisions. All we are called to do is give it to the Lord and he will give us guidance. He says "Lord if you gave me a vision I would never have reason to use my faith", this is so true. If we were to know exactly what was going to happen, there would be no time for us to use our faith in him. When I first read the poem I only saw one side of it. That if I make the wrong decision then its then end. The poem is actually saying that whatever decision we make the Lord is going to bless it. When we chose the road less traveled by it is still going to be us and by trusting in the Lord he will bless that decision.

Joel Holsteen - In Class # 4 Wings of Desire

In this foreign film called Wings of Desire we follow Angels around the city as they listen and experience human thought and human life. The beginning of the film deals with the Angels listing to peoples thoughts and occasionally affecting them by a touch of their hand. Being a Christian myself I believe that this is true and that Angels are all around us watching over us and at times helping us. The Angel Damiel, as we learn is unhappy because he wants to feel and experience the life that humans live not just learn from them through thoughts. He is eventually granted this option and is found by three kids sleeping next to the Berlin Wall with an armored chest plate in his hands. We can assume that this chest plate is part of an Angels property and with Damiel not wearing it shows that he is no longer an Angel but a human. Once human the first thing he learns are the colors of nearby art work. This is interesting because when the film follows the Angels everything is in black and white but when it fallows humans without the Angels everything is in colors. I took this as representing the fact that Angels see everything clearly like right and wrong and everything is spelled out for them they have no questions about life. The humans however experience life which is filled with a wide range of emotions and not knowing, learning is a big part of their life. When Damiel becomes human he is thirsty for this knowledge as well he wants these emotional experiences which you realize he is getting after he smiles for the first time in the film when he drinks a cup of coffee and the way he acts around the woman he falls in love with. Humans are unique because of the ability that God has given them to experience emotion as well as the ability to gain and seek knowledge.

Joel Holsteen - In Class #3- Watchmen

The film Watchmen was yet another film that I was not expecting to have deep and theological meanings behind the story. I was expecting to see a superhero film with the constant themes of justice and good prevailing over evil and the unjust. Watchmen did not fall under this typical category, however, it had twisted heroes who all suffered from personal problems such as greed for power and detachment from mankind. Although many of these heroes were only humans who acted above the law to stop crime some like Dr. Manhattan had superpowers. The major twist that we find in the film is that one of the Watchmen's own members, Ozymandias, decided to play god and recreate the world. Ozymandias chose to end the major feuding between the U.S.A and the Soviets by using Dr. Manhattan's power to bomb key major cities across the world in order to unite the world in a single cause to hunt Dr. Manhattan. This is very different from any other superhero movie because a hero decides to kill numerous people in these bombings on order to unite the world. Another twisted piece to this movie that was unlike the normal superhero movies was the character of the Comedian. The Comedians view on life was a personal justice, he loved killing and saw the world as a big joke. He was always after what he wanted and did not care what others thought about it, like when he raped a fellow crime fighter or killed a pregnant woman caring his child. This film was very intriguing due to the fact that it was dark and the heroes had huge character flaws which led to actions not befitting of a superhero.

Joel Holsteen- In Class #2 The Jacket

Adrian Brody and Kiera Knightly star in the interesting film called The Jacket. Expecting to see a movie about crazy people in an insane asylum, I was surprised to find that this film was very deep and meaningful on many different levels. Adrian Brody plays the role of Jack Starks, who is a Vietnam War veteran trying to deal with the horrible flashbacks of the war. After he is framed for the murders of two people by a man who picked the hitchhiking Jack up, he was sent to the asylum. The ongoing research project that the doctors were conducting at that asylum was to drug up the subject place them in a restrictive jacket and place them in a morgue body drawer. When the doctors select Jack as the next subject he begins to have flashbacks of the war as well as seeing glimpses of his future and of his death. This film illustrates the importance of life and how precious it truly is. The intriguing part of the film to me was the fact that even though Jack knew he was going to die in a few days he still did not know how. After trying as hard as he could to prevent his death due to his recent love relationship with Kiera Knightly's character, he ultimately accepted death and lived the last moments of his life with the woman he loved. I also loved the way that the film ended with the screen going completely white as if to say he was going into Heaven or the light at the end of the tunnel.

Steph Dunn- Outside Reading # 3 The Shack

Last semester I started reading the popular book "The Shack" by William P. Young. My good friend Lindsay has read it, and she told me of the impact it had on her relationship with the Lord. I knew I wanted to see for myself what this book had to offer. The first chapter hit me hard, and I knew this book was going to be great.
It is about this man who has a good life. He is married and has three children. One weekend they go camping with neighbors and something tragic happens. They are distracted by the capsizing of a canoe by their other children when they find out their youngest daughter Missy is gone. It turns out she was taken by who they call the "little lady killer" who is known to brutally kill little girls.
Mack and the rest of the family are absolutely devastated as any family that loses a child would be. Mack sinks into what is called "the great sadness" and is blaming himself for what happened to Missy. He is also blaming God for letting something like this happen to his beloved daughter Missy.
One day Mack gets a letter in the mail from Papa and he wants Mack to meet him at the shack. This is consequently the place where they found Missy's red dress she was wearing that day, they think he took her their before he buried her.
Mack is curious and goes to the shack hoping to find some answers. When he gets there he realizes that he was right, the letter was from God. He gets the chance to meet God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost. Mack's bitterness is brought to the surface for him to work through it. He time is amazing at the shack. He gets the opportunity that many of us wish we could have to interact physically with the holy trinity. Mack gets to know the heart of Christ, the love of God and the mystery of the spirit. He comes to terms with why Missy was taken from him and gets to work through things that happened to him in his past. Mack also gets to see Missy He sees that she is happy and he finally understands why she had to die.
This book really hit hard for me. I gives such an amazing perspective on death and insight into God's love and plan. It is so easy to write of what God does as mean and insensitive, but this book showed me how perfect his plan actually is. I recommend this book for anyone who has experienced hardship in their lives and is struggling trying to understand God's plan through tragedy.

Steph Dunn- In Class #2 Koyaanisqati

When the lights were flipped off I was ready to get into a movie with deep spiritual undertones and insight to God. Then a movie called Koyaanisqati came on the screen that consisted of shots of cities and natural landscapes around the world. Most of the movie is in slow motion or time lapsed photography. I love photography and my favorite thing to take pictures of is landscape, this movie was right up my ally. In the Hopi language koyaanisqati means crazy life, or life in turmoil, which fit what was happening on the screen perfectly. We are able to see the difference between natural landscape and the technological landscape.It made me realize how much of the world I am missing out on. I have gotten the opportuniity to travel many places such as, the grand canyon, beautiful beaches and California. I have seen some beautiful things in my lifetime but was not able to appreciate them when I was there. Getting to see the natural landscape amongst the industrial landscape I was able to value the beauty of what God has created. Another interesting thing that I noticed about this film was how it showed how much humans are involved in nature. We have taken over so much of our natural world to build building after building. The shots of oil fields and power lines show our involvement that is leading to the slow destruction of our world.

Steph Dunn- In Class #1 The Jacket

A couple weeks ago we got to watch the movie "The Jacket" starring Adrian Brody and Kiera Knightly. At first I was just excited about staring at Adrian Brody for two hours, but was pleasantly surprised by the multidimensional aspects of this film. It follows a Vietnam war veteran, Jack Starks, who is struggling with amnesia. He is hitch hiking on the side of the road and gets picked up by a strange guy. The next thing he knows he is being put in an asylum for a double homicide. The doctor decides that he will be the perfect candidate for a new type of therapy including a straight jacket. The process is started off by a number of shots and then he is shoved into a body drawer in the basement of the asylum. When he is in the straight jacket his mind goes somewhere else. He sees glimpses of his future along with flashbacks of the past. He finds out that he is supposed to die in four days. This movie inflicted my mind with many thoughts. The first one was, what would I do if I knew I was going to die in four days? I kept remembering the fact that we are not promised everyday, each day is a God given gift and we need to glorify him through everything we do. There are so many days that I just try and get through, and don't even think it could be my last. It is so important to live with that mindset so we can live our lives to the full by constantly doing the work of the Lord. I enjoyed this movie because it showed Jack fighting for something, his life. I need to live in the mindset that I am fighting the oppression of the devil for the lives of God's children. I should constantly be living as an example and being a light among the darkness of this world.

Steph Dunn- Outside Reading # 2

I always try my hardest every morning to start my day by spending time with the Lord. It is very important to grow in my relationship with him and to spend time in prayer. My partner in crime since I graduated high school has been the daily devotional "My Utmost for his Highest" by Oswald Chambers. It is a devotional that gives an insightful look at scripture for everyday. I don't know what I would do with out this timeless treasure. It is amazing how Christ speaks to me everyday through it. I am able to flip to the verse it is referencing and usually read the rest of the chapter and those around it. Today the reading was about Hebrew 10:19 which says "Having therefore, brethren boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus". He was talking about how spiritual stubbornness is extremely detrimental to our relationship with the Lord. This is because it is based on sympathy for ourselves and others, and not they way he sees them. The true form of intercession comes when our natural sympathies become those of Christ.
This one took me a couple times to understand what "ossy" was talking about. I had to read it a couple times, and was able to understand, slightly, what he means. When we become one with Christ and start to understand his love for his children, his interests for them will be replaced with our natural sympathies. We will start to see others the way Christ does.

Steph Dunn- Outside Reading #1

The other day I got that feeling you get when you want to start a new book. I made my way over to Barnes and Noble to scout out my options. To my dismay I realized how overpriced this store is so I quickly called by mom for advice. I told her what I was looking for and she told me that she had just the book for me. The next weekend I made my way home to Philadelphia for Easter. I couldn't wait to gaze at the plethora of books my parents had acquired over the years. Dallas Willard's "The Spirit of the Disciplines" caught my eye. My mom had told me it was a good one and I couldn't wait to dig in. From the small dent I have made in it God has really been speaking to me through it. The first chapter has by far been my favorite. Willard talks about the importance of actually understanding what Christ did and why he did it. People these days are so obsessed with "WWJD" bracelets and doing what he would do. What is so frustrating about this is the fact that it is so situational. People act this way very rarely, when we are called to be in a constant state of following him. We can’t just think that when we are in the position to act “Christ like” we will get the insight and the ability in the moment to accomplish how we THINK we should act and completely ignore the need for a character change. There is a great example he uses to explain this. There is a kid who idolizes a baseball player. When he is playing in a game he tries to do everything that player does in a game and buys everything that player has.
The kid is only acting like his idol in the game, he has to make a commitment to be like him in other aspects especially training like any athlete. These abilities aren’t just available to the star baseball player whenever he has a game- he has to be disciplined and prepared for the game. I am so guilty of wanting be like Christ in certain situations, but totally disregard the importance of him in my everyday life. Willard says something that hit me hard, "True Christlikeness comes at the point where it is hard to not respond as he would". After reading this I knew I wanted to be at that point in my relationship with Christ.

David Godwin - sub-creator - (Topic of Choice #4)

One topic we discussed in class that has stuck with me all semester long was that of the “sub-creator.” Both Tolkien and Lewis discuss this idea in their essays on fantasy and its connection with literature. This idea has resonated within me before I ever even heard it labeled anything. I remember reading the Genesis story one day, and thinking about God’s seventh day of rest. It said that after He created man, God rested. The fact that He was able to rest struck me. I thought about what it means to create. I like to write poetry, so I thought about my many attempts at writing a good poem. I like to write in isolation, so that no one will peak over my shoulder at an incomplete and imperfect work. I cannot rest while writing a good poem until I feel like I have reached its only possible end. I do not walk away from it until I am satisfied that I have done all I can to make it beautiful.
When I read that passage about God resting, it made me realize, first, that I am a sub-creator. The same experience that God felt in creating all of the heavens and the earth, I have experienced in writing. Obviously my creation is on a much smaller scale, but I still create. I like to think that this desire to create comes from God. We are, after all, created in His image. Could I have taken God’s creative passion with me? I agree with Lewis and Tolkien in answering yes. But the second thing that hit me about this parallel is its implication about the creation of man. If God were not been pleased with man, the very last thing he created, He would not have been able to rest. What does this say about our creation? I think it means that we are God’s last line, the only way to end the poem. Just as I cannot walk away from a poem without that perfect last line, neither could God walk away from His creation-in-progress without first creating us. Tolkien and Lewis provided the first half of this equation for me. I had to know, first, that I was a sub-creator in the image of God. But once I applied my experiences to His, I realized what creation must have been like.
I think metaphors such as these are littered throughout our everyday lives. We are made in the image of God, thus who we are reflects His identity on a smaller scale. The things that we experience—love, humor, sadness, rage—these are all things God experiences. I don’t think we share these qualities with God just so that we can feel good about having the title of sub-creator. I think that we were given such common factors in order to relate to Him, to know what He thinks and what He feels when He looks down at us and into our world. When we understand what it means to finish a project, for instance, we can understand how God sees us—the finishing touches on His work of art.

David Godwin - Bedtime Stories - (Topic of Choice #3)

Recently I watched Adam Sandler’s new film Bedtime Stories and thought it would be interesting to contrast with Big Fish. The premise of the movies is somewhat similar. Both movies use the fantasy of bedtime stories to connect to actual life. However, they differ in the cause and effect relationship between the two. In Big Fish, it was the actual event that came first, and the mythic story that came after. In Big Fish the story was used to describe the transcendent, emotional qualities of the real-life experience that could not be captured outside of fantasy. But in Bedtime Stories, it is the story that is the cause of the actual events. Adam Sandler’s character, Skeeter, learns that the kids’ additions to his stories become true in some affect the next day. Just as in Big Fish, though, the stories provide a more fanciful version of what truly happens.
It’s interesting to think about fantasy as the source of reality, though, instead of viewing it as the effect. If we consider God’s vision and thoughts outside of time, they must seem like fantasy. They must be fantastical and impossible just as most myths are. In the Bible, Paul claims that God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think (Eph. 3:20). It is our rationality, then that puts a limit to the creative power of God. In prayer we often ask for what we are able to think up and conceive. But God’s imagination is bigger. This reality is illustrated in the film. Once Skeeter realizes the kids’ ability to change his actual life, he begins coaxing them to imagine things for him. But what he asks for (a promotion at his job, for instance) is unimaginative. It’s the best thing that Skeeter can think of, what he strives toward for the entirety of the movie, yet it still does not live up to the imagination of the kids. So, instead, they change the story which results in a fire. In Skeeter’s real life the “fire” translates to his loss of the job. He becomes “fired.” Although it seems that Skeeter’s dreams are shattered, the kid’s bedtime story provides a new ending for Skeeter. Instead of getting promoted at the hotel where he previously worked, he was able to start his own hotel that was closer to his design and intention. Perhaps this is why Christ encourages his disciples to think and ask like children. The faith and imagination of a child is exceedingly abundant before it is corrupted by rationality.

David Godwin - Myth Became Fact - (Outside Reading #3)

I tried to resist the temptation to turn to C.S. Lewis again for my outside reading, but here it goes…. During the semester, one I found Lewis’ essay “Myth Became Fact” to be incredibly helpful in analyzing movies throughout the course. The article basically states that Christianity is not and should not claim to be a mere rational religion. There are aspects in Christianity, according to Lewis, that are beyond rationality. Specifically, he discusses the essential importance of myth and archetype in Christianity. Some may point to the story of Christ’s sacrifice as an unoriginal archetypal trope which proves it is not fact. But Lewis looks at it in a different light. In actuality, Lewis argues, the archetype has always been existence to set up the sacrifice of Christ. It has created an expectation within us, and has made the actual act a truth that can be recognizably beautiful to us.
Lewis’ praise of myth as transcendent over intellect has helped me appreciate the films we’ve watched in the class. My favorites have been: Thin Red Line, The Jacket, and Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind. All of these films had strong emotional affects on me that are still affecting me. They feel transcendent, above my thoughts or intellect, just hovering above me, waiting for me to understand how they connect to my world. Just the fact that they evoke an emotional response from me says something. The fact that they are each beautifully composed means more, I think, than the fact that each has a message. Without the beautiful composition and the emotional reaction, would I even care about their messages? If I did not think they were beautiful, would I care to spend time thinking about their philosophical implications? Probably not. It’s the same thing with Christ, according to Lewis. He has made his sacrifice beautiful. He has turned a myth into fact, so that we will not ignore it.
Yet, these films remain myth. They have not become fact in the concrete sense of the word, as Lewis argues Christ has. I think, though, that their application to life (the very thing we’ve all being doing throughout the class) helps bring some spiritual clarity into our lives. Although they have not literally become fact, perhaps they have brought to life the things that we could not express any way other than myth. It’s inspiring to have a film move you in such a way, because it encourages you to sub-create as Lewis says we should. In creating our own little metaphors, myths, and symbols, we begin to understand the real things, what it all stands for.

Koyaanisquatsi- Wilbert J Hill Jr.

This movie was really confusing to me. It really showed me how out of balanced this world is an how people are throwned into the mix of everything, but humans really do not realize what is going on because they are part of the chaos in this out of balance world. Some humans do not realize that all that goes on in there life is part of making a unbalance world work. There was really to many things going on in this film, that I really had a hard time keeping up with the movie. The movie was out of balance, and really showed how this world experience is in life. I would not watch a movie like this any more.

Matthew Winant - Blog #11 (Topic of Choice 5/4/09)

This past semester I took Roman history with Dr. Hyland, as I am a history major looking to attend grad school I thought that this would be a wonderful class to take. Not only was the class amazing, I learned things throughout the semester that I would have never expected to learn. Most importantly, I learned cultural facts about the province of Judea and Jerusalem and how they effected Judaism and Christianity. It is easy to study the Jewish culture and how it affected the ministry of Jesus during the 30's AD, but the Roman culture is often overlooked by both believers and non believers. Easily known is that Pontius Pilate, a Roman governor, allowed Jesus's crucifixion and mention of Roman taxes needed to be payed. However, what is not usually known are the intricate facts about the life of Jesus and the reason for his crucifixion. In the Roman world, the most important and highest attainable asset was the ability to become a Roman citizen. Now only few provinces outside of Italy achieved citizenship status, and it was often used as a reward for loyalty. The high priest of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus' ministry was a Roman citizen, and by that power he had the ability to have an attendance with the Roman governor at any point in his life. Jesus, however, was not a Roman citizen and thus was subject to all other Roman citizens first before his handing over to the Jewish people. For a noncitizen, you could be executed without a trial. Also, the act of crucifixion was not a means of death for Roman citizens. Being the worst death a person could suffer, crucifixion was saved only for non-citizens. Luckily, Jesus being cruified fulfilled Scripture and it was necessary to suffer the worst possible death. This is just a quick look into the Roman perspective of Jesus' minister and I would encourage for those interested to learn more about it, it would give you more insight into the happenings of Jesus.

David Godwin - C.S. Lewis Poem - Outside Reading #2)

In the beginning of the semester, we spent some time making a distinction between kairos (sacred time) and chronos (practical time). I found the discussion of time furthered in one of C.S. Lewis’ books, The Great Divorce. This book takes a mythical approach at viewing heaven. The story feels much like a dream that the narrator is experiencing. Heaven is nothing like what we tend to imagine it. We typically associate heaven with images of golden streets, huge mansions, and God himself on the throne. Lewis’ version, however, has the narrator’s ethereal spirit wandering through fields and forests. Because the narrator has not gained enough “substance,” every solid thing in heave feels hard and sharp. Even the grass below his feet is hurting him, and at one point he is afraid to cross the river for fear of being ripped to shreds by its movement. One of the more solid figures in heaven tells the narrator that if he stays in heaven for a while, the environment will stop hurting, and he will be solid enough to travel freely through it.
As the main character wanders through heaven, he watches spirits run into old acquaintances. Most of these acquaintances have matters of offense between them that have yet to be settled. The solid spirits who have been in heaven encourage the others to forgive them and forget the incident. It is a small matter that means nothing in the full scope of things. But many of the visiting spirits cannot bear to forget about these offenses. Instead, many of the people visiting heaven leave its sharp edges for the shadowy land below it.
At the end of the novel, we see that “heaven” exists somewhere above time. The interactions that took place happened outside of time but really reflected interactions within our inferior concept of chronos. The narrator parallels this practical sense of human time to a chessboard. “And I knew that each chessman was the idolum or puppet representative of some of the great presences that stood by. And the acts and motions of each chessman were a moving portrait, a mimicry or pantomime, which delineated the inmost nature of his giant master. And these chessmen are men and women as they appear in this world. And the silver table is Time. And those who stand and watch are the immortal souls of those same men and women.” Our souls then, according to Lewis’ interpretation, exist outside of chronos and in kairos. These souls in kairos are what determine our actions on earth, but we are often so involved in the mundane things of chronos that they do not heed their soul’s advice.
I think this story is a great picture of chronos and kairos. Lewis develops an incredibly interesting idea that we as humans get to experience heaven before ever really entering into it. On earth, the things that may seem hard and uncomfortable (forgiveness, righteousness, love) are really the things of heaven. Life in chronos then prepares us for heaven by filling us with substance, allowing us to exist within the solidness of God’s real presence. According to Lewis, many turn down heaven because of their discomfort. But how long does the discomfort last? How real is chronos anyway? It is just a chess board in all actuality, and our actions on earth are nothing but movements of pawns.

David Godwin - The Great Divorce - Outside Reading #1

In the beginning of the semester, we spent some time making a distinction between kairos (sacred time) and chronos (practical time). I found the discussion of time furthered in one of C.S. Lewis’ books, The Great Divorce. This book takes a mythical approach at viewing heaven. The story feels much like a dream that the narrator is experiencing. Heaven is nothing like what we tend to imagine it. We typically associate heaven with images of golden streets, huge mansions, and God himself on the throne. Lewis’ version, however, has the narrator’s ethereal spirit wandering through fields and forests. Because the narrator has not gained enough “substance,” every solid thing in heave feels hard and sharp. Even the grass below his feet is hurting him, and at one point he is afraid to cross the river for fear of being ripped to shreds by its movement. One of the more solid figures in heaven tells the narrator that if he stays in heaven for a while, the environment will stop hurting, and he will be solid enough to travel freely through it.
As the main character wanders through heaven, he watches spirits run into old acquaintances. Most of these acquaintances have matters of offense between them that have yet to be settled. The solid spirits who have been in heaven encourage the others to forgive them and forget the incident. It is a small matter that means nothing in the full scope of things. But many of the visiting spirits cannot bear to forget about these offenses. Instead, many of the people visiting heaven leave its sharp edges for the shadowy land below it.
At the end of the novel, we see that “heaven” exists somewhere above time. The interactions that took place happened outside of time but really reflected interactions within our inferior concept of chronos. The narrator parallels this practical sense of human time to a chessboard. “And I knew that each chessman was the idolum or puppet representative of some of the great presences that stood by. And the acts and motions of each chessman were a moving portrait, a mimicry or pantomime, which delineated the inmost nature of his giant master. And these chessmen are men and women as they appear in this world. And the silver table is Time. And those who stand and watch are the immortal souls of those same men and women.” Our souls then, according to Lewis’ interpretation, exist outside of chronos and in kairos. These souls in kairos are what determine our actions on earth, but we are often so involved in the mundane things of chronos that they do not heed their soul’s advice.
I think this story is a great picture of chronos and kairos. Lewis develops an incredibly interesting idea that we as humans get to experience heaven before ever really entering into it. On earth, the things that may seem hard and uncomfortable (forgiveness, righteousness, love) are really the things of heaven. Life in chronos then prepares us for heaven by filling us with substance, allowing us to exist within the solidness of God’s real presence. According to Lewis, many turn down heaven because of their discomfort. But how long does the discomfort last? How real is chronos anyway? It is just a chess board in all actuality, and our actions on earth are nothing but movements of pawns.

David Godwin - Seven Pounds - (Topic of Choice #2)

To add to the discussions we’ve had this semester about self-sacrifice, I thought I would blog about the film Seven Pounds. This movie is one of the most beautiful movies I have ever seen. The movie is all about self sacrifice that transcends romantic love. [Spoiler Alert!] Ben, the film’s main character, pretends to be an IRS agent throughout the movie in order to get into people’s lives and find out their needs. He finds a woman in an abusive relationship in need of a home, a woman who needs a heart, a blind man needing sight, etc. Ben watches all of these people from a distance, and observes them to determine if they are “worthy” of the gift he wants to give them. One man whom Ben almost helps, proves to be corrupt. In the rehab center which he runs, he refuses to let a woman bathe until she takes the pills he wants her to take. Once Ben discovers this about the man, he denies him the gift of bone marrow that he had planned on giving him.
Eventually, we find out that the reason why Ben is searching for people in need. Previous to the events of the film, he was the cause of a car accident that killed 7 people. In order to redeem these lives, Ben searches for 7 people to save. At the end of the film he kills himself and appoints a friend to make sure that certain organs (his heart and eyes) go to the people in need of them.
The first time I saw this movie, I was struck by the parallel I saw between Ben and Christ. Many films, such as the Jacket, use a character to represent this sacrificial archetype; however, this movie was very specific in the redemptive uses of the sacrifice. Ben’s death afforded a man a new set of eyes, and a woman a new heart. These body parts are perfect symbols for the things that Christ’s sacrifice redeems. Our spiritual vision is restored by Christ’s death, and our heart is renewed. Even his life on earth, before killing himself, was similar to Christ’s. In a way, he performs “miracles” by saving people in need of a house or bone marrow. He takes the sick and “heals” them, makes the poor rich.
One difference, though, is that Ben looks for those people who are “worthy” of His gift. Christ is very clear in the gospels that his sacrifice is for all men. Paul makes it even clearer that Christ died for those who hated Him before His sacrifice. Yet, that parallel of worthiness still works on some level. Those who receive that gifts of God: his new vision and new heart, are those who have accepted Him. If worthiness of God’s redemption is based on a repentant heart, then those who receive the gifts of Christ’s sacrifice have proven themselves “worthy” in this sense.

David Godwin - The Superhuman: Wolverine, Hancock, the Watchmen, & More - (Topic of Choice #1)

Since our trip to see the Watchmen, I’ve been thinking about the role of “superhero” in American culture. I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of superheroes. As a kid I would get up early to watch the X-Men cartoons on TV. Today, I still indulge in the fantasy as I watch episodes of “Heroes” on NBC. What is it about these people with super powers that so fascinates us?
Will Smith just recently starred in a film that I think answers this question nicely. In the film Will Smith plays the role of Hancock, a disenfranchised superhero with a bad attitude. Later in the film, we discover that Hancock is one of two remaining super humans on the earth. These super humans have been alive since the beginning of time, and have lived throughout history. Before they became known as superheroes, according to Charlize Theron’s character (who is the other super human), they were known as gods. Throughout history, man has changed their names, but they’ve remained the same since the beginning. It’s an interesting concept to think about, the fact that the earliest superheroes were actually gods. For instance, Hercules (who was a half god) had superhuman strength much like Superman. The fact that we create these super humans in our mythology I think reflects our desire to be transcendent ourselves. What I appreciated about Watchmen, though, is that it shows that even superheroes have to be watched. No man, not even a super-man, is perfect.
When looking at the gods of the past (those of the Greeks, the Egyptians, etc.), none of them were ever really self-sufficient and perfect. They were all in some ways created and formed. Man himself created them in order to imagine themselves in this transcendent role. Only a few gods, specifically the Abrahamic God, claim not to be formed by the human image, but to have formed man in the image of God. Whereas the Abrahamic God claims perfection, the Greek gods of the past and our modern superheroes today have very apparent weaknesses. For Zeus it was lust; for Superman it is kryptonite. Perhaps we have manufactured these weaknesses to comfort ourselves. Creating a super human that is still weak allows us the opportunity to be weak at times as well. Perhaps it also serves as a reminder that we have created these gods ourselves, and they are nothing more than myths that have their loopholes.
This past weekend I watched the new X-men Origins film about Wolverine. In his story, it is very apparent that his super powers are, in some ways, due to the handiwork of man. Wolverine’s natural claws are replaced by the government with an indestructible metal. Not only was he partially created by man, but he was meant to be used by man as well. They called him “Weapon X.” Another superhuman in the film, Deadpool, was completely comprised of other heroes’ powers and parts, making him the most powerful super human. He became like a Frankenstein monster that was controlled by his “master.” However, his synthesis is obviously abhorrent. He is the evil arch-nemesis who must be defeated. Perhaps his place in superhero myth is to warn us of our superhero creations. If we try to make them too powerful, they will harm us. The idea of elevating man to an absolute position of power seems to be blasphemous, even from the non-religious, atheistic standpoint. Instead, we must settle with a middle man, like Wolverine, who has transcendent ability but is still only human.