Film Comment: Sinners (2025)

 

Sinners is a movie which is intended to be about racism, cultural oppression, colonialism, black culture, anti-religion, and anti-Christianity. As usual, I can make Christian observations about the film which are probably unintended by the director.

“Son, you keep dancin’ with the Devil, one day, he’s gonna follow you home,” from a pastor father to Sammie, nicknamed Preacherboy, who is aching to become famous for his outstanding blues guitar and singing talent. Sammie hooks up with two morally fluid brothers who are opening a juke joint. This sets up a conflict when two white men and a woman show up that night wanting to join in the fun. The problem is that they are vampires.

One man about to be killed/turned into a vampire begins to loudly quote the Lord’s Prayer. All the vampires join in and help complete the quotation. This seems to be intended to show that Christianity has no power against evil.

A Christian response: the frightened man’s words were just that, words, and they did have no power. There is a difference between knowing and believing. The power is not in the words. They are not a Magick spell. God is not our genie in a bottle. The words have power only as they are used by the Holy Spirit.

Satan can quote scripture. He quoted Psalms 91:11-12 while tempting Jesus to misuse his authority (Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13). Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44).

Book Comment: The God You Thought You Knew

 

In his book, The God You Thought You Knew, Alex McFarland responds to ten common secular objections to Christianity.

Some of the objections discussed in this book include:

1.     Christianity is judgemental and intolerant.

2.     Evil and suffering exist and a real God would not allow that.

3.     Christianity is totally made up and not based on any facts.

4.     Modern science disproves Christianity.

5.     Religion is not for the educated.

6.     The whole thing is boring and a waste of my time.

7.     Since I do not like it, it cannot be true.

8.     The Bible is full of errors.

9.     Dead people cannot come back to life.

10.  A loving God would not send anyone to Hell.

As with most books such as this, what you get from the book depends on what you bring with you. You may not agree with everything the author says. Luke (see below) advises to think for yourself.

Information you will need to search for this book: McFarland, Alex, The God You Thought You Knew. Exposing the 10 Biggest Myths About Christianity (Minneapolis: Bethany House Publishers, 2015)

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

Deceptively Beautiful

                                                                

                                                                                                                           

The beautiful giant “corpse  flower” is about ten to fifteen feet (3.1 to 4.6 meters) tall, blooms for about one to two days every seven or more years, and smells like rotting meat. In a Christian context, the flower may be seen as a visual metaphor for evil, which can often seem to be beautiful but inside is stinking and vile. 

The Most Evil Curse Word in the World

The other day I was walking my dog when I saw a woman trying to get into her back door.  From the noise coming out of the house, it was obvious that her husband and his friends were having a wild party.  The woman was holding a case of beer in one hand and a grocery sack in the other.  She started kicking the door and then yelled out in anger, “JESUS CHRIST!”

She had turned the Holy Name of the Lord into a curse word.  She had turned it into a vile epithet full of venom.  The most precious Name had become the most evil curse word possible.

“Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.” Exodus 20:7 and Deuteronomy 5:11

Read what theologian John Piper has to say on this subject.

http://www.christianity.com/theology/what-does-it-mean-to-take-the-lords-name-in-vain-11600552.html

We can take God’s name in vain in numerous ways.

http://mindrenewers.com/2012/03/13/omg-and-other-ways-christians-take-gods-name-in-vain/

Flattop Jones

Flattop Jones Sr. is a fictional character created by cartoonist Chester Gould for his Dick Tracy  detective newspaper comic strip.  Jones was a vicious contract killer loosely based on the American bank robber Charles Arthur “Pretty Boy” Floyd (1904-1934).  Flattop was drawn with a deformed skull which was completely flat on top.   Obviously, Jones was an exaggerated caricature of evil;  he just looks evil and he would kill you without a thought if someone paid him to do so.

http://dicktracy.wikia.com/wiki/Flattop_Jones_Sr.

http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Flattop_Jones

http://www.comicvine.com/flat-top/4005-9900/

One problem with evil is that often it does not look “evil.” Many times it is attractive, seductive, pleasant,  lucrative, even … beautiful.  2 Corinthians 11:14 says that Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. A “light angel” ἄγγελον φωτός.

Film Comment: The Twilight Series

The Twilight series of films is based on a highly successful five book young adult romance fantasy series by American author Stephenie Meyer.  The films are:

Twilight (2008)

Twilight: New Moon (2009)

Twilight: Eclipse (2010)

Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1 (2011)

Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (2012)

To date (25 November 2012) the series has grossed over $2,500,000,000 worldwide.  The basic plot is this: Bella, a lonely teenager, displaced by divorce to a boring small town on the United States northwest coast, becomes attracted to a strange but handsome boy at her high school.  She eventually comes to realize just how strange he is.

Edward is a member of a vampire family which lives in one location until it becomes difficult to disguise the fact that they are not aging.  The “family” members are not biologically related but were collected together by the patriarch, whom they recognize as their father.  The family long ago stopped hunting humans for food and lives off the blood of forest animals.

Edward proves to be a sensitive and protective boyfriend for Bella and he strongly holds to his Nineteenth Century values of sexual abstinence and chaste love until marriage.  That presents the problem: a vampire cannot marry a human.  Because he loves her, Edward is reluctant to “turn” Bella though she begs him to.  He realizes that he would be damning her to become a monster like himself.

Stephenie Meyer, the writer of the Twilight novels, is a Mormon and some believe this is the origin of the series’ emphasis on family and chastity.  Feminists have complained that the novels and films present Bella as a helpless female, with her life revolving around her man.  Edward must continually protect Bella from other vampires (and werewolves!) who disapprove of their relationship.  Feminists also object to the relationship’s violence, as Bella is seriously injured when she and Edward eventually do consummate their relationship.

Bella eventually becomes a powerful vampire with a beautiful half-human half-vampire child.

I see all these things, but what I really see is perhaps a message which Meyer did not originally intend.  The message is this:  to succeed, to really get what you want in this world, you must submit.  Adapt to the world.  Adjust what you believe.  Buy into the system, and you may find love, success, wealth, and maybe even power.  The darkness is very seductive.

What They Think of Us: Unblack Metal

Advisory: There may be profane and/or disturbing content in this post. 

http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=64176

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110616205051AAMWMWX

“The whole purpose of black metal was to create the most dirty, unclean, antichristian sound possible. The spirit behind black metal will always be antichristian. That's where the sound comes from. You can't have good and evil mixed together and it be Christian” Death Raizer  (Note: Many black metal musicians draw a distinction between black metal music and satanism.) 

Unblack metal is music which sounds identical to black metal but which has lyrics and content which promotes Christianity.

http://christianmetalfellowship.blogspot.com/2009/10/interview-with-elgibbor-22208.html

2008, the Polish Christian Unblack musician Fire (Jarek), comments: "God created music and satan distorted it.  I want to bring people to know Christ through music that they enjoy.  My lyrics are always either from the Bible or inspired by my life testimony and experiences.  ... he delivered me from drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and black magic!  We serve an awesome God."

http://www.google.com/search?q=%22fire%22+%26+%22Elgibbor%22&hl=en&tbo=u&tbm=isch&source=univ&sa=X&ei=MjytUP2CFpDk9gTmk4DgCw&ved=0CDcQsAQ&biw=1202&bih=812

http://sonic14va.tripod.com/Christianextrememetal/elgibborinteview1.html

You tube video

A list of Unblack Metal bands.  Several of the bands are European.  A few of the names are based on Hebrew or Greek words.
Admonish
Arch of Thorns
Armageddon Holocaust
Azmaveth
Bedeiah
Beeroth
Bleedience
Borgarzur
Cabalistic
Crimson Moonlight
Dark Endless
Demoniciduth
Diamoth
Dormant
Elgibbor
Exaudi
Fire Throne
Frosthardr
Grim
Horde
Hortor
Keber
Lo-Ruhamah
Phanerosis
Sanctifica
Shadows of Paragon
Slechtvalk
SorrowStorm
Soterion
Stronghold
Syringe
Trastorno
Vaakevandring
VIXIVI

My personal take on this: Unblack metal music is certainly on the far extreme fringes of Christianity.  I believe that the Christian musicians who produce it are sincere in their intent and that God knows men's (and women's) hearts.

Do the form and origins of this type of art make it inherently evil?  Is Christian country music acceptable?  Is Christian rap music acceptable?

A few years ago there was a woman named Kellie Everts who claimed to be a "stripper for Christ."  Could there be Christian pornography?  Where is the line?

What They Think of Us: Woody Allen About God

"If it turns out that there is a God, I don't think that he's evil.  But the worst that you can say about him is that basically he's an underachiever."  Woody Allen

They're Not Happy About it!

On Facebook they are buzzing, Stop Unblack Music !  There are calls for Metalheads to unite and fight to the death.  They feel that their musical form is being hijacked by interlopers: Christians!

Black metal, a form of Death metal, is loud, fast, aggressive, hostile, and anti-religious.  Many of the singers actually growl rather than sing.  The music speeds up, then abruptly slows down, then explodes again.  It is obsessed with violence, death, and evil.

The same musical form is used by Unblack metal bands to present Christian messages.  The music sounds the same, but instead of Satan, murder, gore, and sex, the focus is Jesus.  This is apparently greatly resented by Black metal enthusiasts.  The link below is from metalunderground.com.

http://www.metalunderground.com/news/details.cfm?newsid=64240  This is disturbing stuff.

My take on the issue is that Christians have every right to be in every corner of the world.  Jesus is the Lord of the Universe and we are His Ambassadors.  Though I am not personally a follower of the Unblack musical form, I believe that it is pleasing to God because its intent is to praise Him.

Music is a thing, neutral in and of itself.  Whether or not it is evil or holy depends on the message placed into it.

Film Comment: The Bad Seed

Maxwell Anderson's broadway play, The Bad Seed, has been filmed three times; the 1956 original, a 1963 version made in Turkey, and a made-for-television 1985 film.

The 1956 original looks like a staged play because it is directly based on the Broadway production and features the cast of the stage version.  This gives the film a very claustrophobic feel, a good thing in a classic horror film.

To her horror, a loving mother (Nancy Kelly) slowly comes to the ghastly realization that, Rhoda, her cute little eight year old daughter (Patty McCormack) is a cold-blooded psychopathic killer.  Though she loves her daughter and her daughter obviously loves and trusts her, she decides that the only way to stop the murders and to spare the little girl a life in detention, is to kill her child.

All the violence in this film is offscreen and we never see the aftermath of Rhoda's murders.  We only see her blonde pigtails and her cute smile.  This is evil masquerading as innocence.  The Bible describes Satan as beautiful (Isaiah 14:13,14, Jude 6, 2 Peter 2:4).  If he were hideous or frightening we would run from him.  He masquerades as an angel of light (2 Corinthians 11:14).
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Similarly themed films: Devil Times Five, Bloody Birthday, The Good Son, Bad Ronald, The Omen, The Children

Book Comment: Think

Think.  The Life of the Mind and the Love of God (2010), by John Piper, is a book which challenges Christians to use their minds.  "My goal is to encourage you to make serious thinking an important part of the way you pursue the knowledge of God." In the book Piper opposes prideful intellectualism, Christian anti-intellectualism, and the poison that is relativism.

Relativism, the philosophy that there is no universal external standard for judging the truth or falsehood of any statement, is seen by many Christians as a cancer on the world.  Piper goes further, he declares relativism to be evil (2 Timothy 4:3-4) and a treason against God.  Piper attacks the relativist philosophy, showing its gaping logical inconsistencies and exposes it for what it really is, a glorification of the self in opposition to God, which is what all sin ultimately reduces to.

Pastor Piper is no kinder to Christian anti-intellectualism.  One subchapter heading is Not Thinking Is No Solution for Thinking Arrogantly. "I we abandon thinking, we abandon the Bible, and if we abandon the Bible we abandon God."  Rather than being suspicious of deep thinking, we need to learn a humble way of thinking deeply.

"... the main reason God has given us minds is that we might seek out and find all the reasons that exist for treasuring him in all things and above all things.  He created the world so that through it and above it we might treasure him."

What They Think of Us: Ronnie James Dio

"Early on, in my life, I decided that religion was stupid.  I didn't believe the things they told me about some guy that was crucified.  What we have are two things: good and evil.  There aren't many people in between and they are such broad subjects to write about.  I hope I'm not one of those people on their deathbed who goes, "God forgive me!"  Ronnie James Dio (Ronald James Padavona, b. 1942, New Hampshire, USA - d. 2010) American heavy metal vocalist, songwriter, producer, and instrumentalist.

Book Comment: When Religion Becomes Evil

     Kimball, Charles, When Religion Becomes Evil (New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 2008)

     In his book, When Religion Becomes Evil, Charles Kimball is talking more about human corruption of religion than about religion.  He points out the danger signs which indicate that a religious movement could descend into violent and destructive activities and gives concrete examples to make his points.  And, he makes the sad point that religion, while vitally important to millions of people, has not overall caused their behavior to be demonstrably different from that of non-religious people.  Religious people (including Christians) have committed heinous crimes in the name of their deities.

     The warning signs Kimball discusses are:

1. Absolute truth claims

2. Blind obedience to a charismatic leader

3. Trying to force world events to a desired conclusion

4. The end justifies the use of any means

5. Declaring holy war 

     Kimball shows a few biases in his book:  he goes to great lengths to stress how peaceful Islam is;  he dismisses Biblical literalists as ignorant; and he sees Christianity as merely one religion among many.

     When Religion Becomes Evil is an interesting read and has many valid points to make about the temptation to declare one's religious views as the only correct way and to take the step into trying to force others to agree.  The one major criticism I have for the book is that it steps dangerously close to , and perhaps steps over, the line into relativism and denial that there is any Absolute Objective Truth.  

Film Comment: Time Bandits

Film Comments: Time Bandits, 1981, PG, Color, Great Britain.

Directed by Terry Gilliam.  Cast: Craig Warnock, John Cleese, Sean Connery, Shelly Duvall, Katherine Hellmond, Ian Holm, Michael Palin, Sir Ralph Richardson, Kenny Baker, Peter Vaughn, David Rappaport, David Warner.

Plot Synopsis:   A young boy named Kevin (Warnock) hears a commotion in his closet  and, then, is surpised when an armored knight comes crashing into his bedroom.  The next night, a group of overly excitable dwarves abduct the boy and take him on a wild adventure across time as they run from Evil Incarnate (Warner) and also from the angry Supreme Being (Richardson).  It seems that the dwarves have stolen God's map of the universe and are using it to collect treasure and wealth.  God, otherwise totally uninterested in His universe, is annoyed at the loss of His map.

     A final confrontation between Evil Incarnate and the Supreme  Being leaves everything destroyed.  God gets His map back and Kevin is unceremoniously returned to his home, orphaned, and left to fend for himself. 

     The message of the film is that there is no meaning to life or anything else.  We exist as specks of dust on an insignificant speck of dust within a massive dust cloud.  God may exist, but He is uninterested in our affairs and will be irritated if we bother Him.  

     This nihilistic philosophy has been adopted by many modern people, especially in the form known as materialistic determinism, which holds that we are merely the sum of our chemical and physical processes, completely devoid of free will, and, in the most extreme versions of this philosophy, even of conscious thought.  Since there is no meaning outside of the physical processes involved, there are no moral absolutes.