Argument, media and other stuff

Well hello everyone.

I was in the chaplaincy at a university today and overheard a conversation between two students. One was a student who was now onto possibly his third course and hadn't liked any of them. Perhaps he is not destined for university and would have been happier on another path. The students were debating as to how they should argue with others about the rights and wrongs of their faith. This struck me as the wrong approach to be taking. People who don't agree with you are never going to be convinced by your position if you argue with them. A priest once delivered a sermon about taking ourselves too seriously. Many people of faith are far too quick to condemn things which they have not actually got any experience of but somebody told them they should be condemning that type of thing.

A classic example of this is Monty Python's Life of Brian. There is a classic clip of John Cleese and Michael Palin in conversation with two representatives of the Church of England. You could almost see the frustration of the two comics at the inability of their adversaries to grasp the central issue of the film which is that it isn't about Jesus. Whenever there is a debate on a matter of morals and faith the radio stations always seem to find the most extreme exponents of a particular faith. When these people are trotted out people naturally assume that all people of faith are like them, which isn't true. The point, which I will get to, is that certainty is dangerous at times. If you have the mindset that I am right and that everybody who doesn't agree with me is wrong then you are in fact part of the problem and lack a certain amount of humility. This applies to scientists as well as those of faith.

On to lighter matters. I tried The Handmaid's Tale and won't be repeating the experience, The book was slow to get going and would, in my opinion, have benefitted from a prologue explaining how we had got to where we were. In films I have watched three new films since I last posted. First is the comic book adaptation, Watchmen. The original author has, as usual, insisted that his name is nowhere near the film. It is good entertainment and if you like that sort of thing you won't be too disappointed. Next is Son of Rambow. This is a fairly gentle comedy set in the 1980s in Britain. I was expecting it to be a little more lively but as somebody who grew up in Britain in the 1980s it did resonate a bit with me. It is a wonderful little film and well worth a couple of hours of your time. Lastly as hinted in my last post I watched Seraphim Falls. It is a slow burner of a Western revenge film. Set after the Civil War in America, the film charts the pursuit of a Union Colonel played by Pierce Brosnan. The posse is led by Liam Neeson who is out for revenge over the death of his family at the hands of Brosnan's troops. The cast is littered with actors who you will go "Oh I remember him he was in....". In particular there are brief appearances from the magnificent Wes Studi and Anjelica Huston, who may or may not be playing Lucifer. Again it is worth a look.

On another issue I would like to commend Dominic Lawson's article about faith schools in the Independent on Tuesday 2nd March 2010.

Toodles