Tag: Religion

Hollywood on ‘Son of God’ and ‘The Passion of the Christ’: If it has Jesus, we’ll find an excuse to hate it

March 2, 2014September 2, 2015by Douglas Ernst19 Comments

‘Son of God’ came out in theaters this past weekend, and you’ll be shocked (not really) to find out that critics hated it while most audiences walked away happy. The movie raked in well over $26 million dollars, coming in second to Liam Neeson’s ‘Non-stop,’ where the bad guy is a veteran who loves the Constitution. I saw ‘Son of God’ this weekend and am baffled (not really) how it could have possibly scored a “26% rotten” on Rotten Tomatoes. While it’s obvious that the movie was made by believers for believers (and those who may want to dip their toes into the pool of Christianity), it’s certainly not a “bad” film.

Perhaps critics were simply harsh because they feel it belongs on television instead of the big screen. That seems plausible. Given that, I decided to revisit another movie about Jesus, Mel Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ.’ It turns out the critics didn’t like that one too much either.

Here is what I found: Rotten Tomatoes doled out a 49% “rotten” score for ‘The Passion of the Christ,’ while audiences overwhelmingly liked what they saw. Maybe if it made an extra $100 million over its already-impressive global haul it would have matched Rotten Tomatoes’ score for Neeson’s evil constitution-loving veterans flick…

‘The Passion of the Christ’ was a “film” by a “filmmaker.” Whether you like Mel Gibson as a person or not, the guy has talent. Audiences recognized it as well, and rewarded ‘The Passion of the Christ’ to the tune of $370 million at the box office in 2004. If I take my “Catholic hat” off and look at both movies from the point of view of someone who doesn’t particularly care for Christians, ‘Son of God’ would get the 49% “rotten” score and ‘Passion of the Christ’ would get a 65% “fresh” rating — but I’d shake my fist at Mel as I did it. There is really no way to read some of the critic’s reviews without coming to the conclusion that they simply don’t want Jesus on the big screen.

Probably one of the best reviews I’ve seen on the movie comes from YouTube critic Jeremy Jahns:

I was really skeptical about this movie. Going into it I was like: “All right, it’s part of a mini-series. It’s going to feel like it’s made for TV.” And it does for the most part, but there there were a couple of things about this movie that I did like what they did with it. Going into this movie first and foremost I was hoping they would touch on the fact as to why people felt this Jesus had to die. Seriously, a lot of these Jesus movies gloss over that. They’re like “Hey it was Jesus and he died because he had to, it’s salvation and stuff. It’s magic.”

But I’m always left with that feeling, “No, like politically speaking why did they feel they had to kill this guy and why was it just such a big deal and what went into it? And this movie — actually to my surprise — touched on that very thing. …

This movie is one of two things: it’s either a really impressive made-for-TV movie or it’s a not-as-impressive theatrically released movie. … ‘Son of God’ engaged me where I wanted to be engaged. And it played the angle I was actually hoping it would play that I didn’t think it would play. It still feels like a made-for-TV movie for sure, especially in some scenes. However, I’ll still say ‘Son of God’ is a good time…”

There’s more to it, but you get the point. It’s a fair review. Head on over to Rotten Tomatoes if you want to see a slew of people who seemed to be looking for things to criticize from the first moment Diogo Morgado — who did a commendable job as Jesus — appeared on screen.

The other thing that ‘Son of God’ did a good job with was showing the relationship Jesus had with his disciples. Think about it: Peter, the “rock” of the Church, denied Christ three times. Matthew was a tax collector. Judas betrayed him for 30 pieces of silver. Jesus called imperfect people to Him. He took in misfits. He loved the unloved and forgave those who society said were unforgivable. While ‘Son of God’ does skip a lot of important parts of the Bible, those it did show were handled with care. It’s a solid movie to watch if there is someone in your life who has ever essentially asked, “What’s the big deal with this guy? Tell me about Him.”

With that said, for those who already believe in Christ I’d have to go with Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ’ as a must-see Jesus film. If you watched ten movies with Jesus in them and someone asked “Which one was directed by a Catholic?” there would be no question (which to this Irish-Catholic is a good thing).

While ‘Son of God’ says, “Hey, there’s this guy and his name was Jesus and you should look into him,” Gibson’s ‘The Passion of the Christ’ says: “Listen buddy, this guy went through some serious s**t — grueling gut-wrenching pain that you can not even fathom as you curl into bed at night with your XBox in 2014 — so check it out and appreciate what this man did for you.”

When I read reviews by critics who obviously have a thing against religious people I can’t help but think of the Romans laughing, kicking, spitting and punching Christ as he carried his own cross to the place of his execution. Whether one believes Jesus was the Son of God or not, no serious person argues that He wasn’t a real man who was put to a gruesome death for what He preached. That is why guys like Jeremy Jahns ask: “Why was it just such a big deal [to kill Him] and what went into it?” Most people do not know the story aside from the watered-down version they might get as a kid, or (sadly) the jokes that are told about Christ on television sitcoms.

In short, if you’re curious about Christianity, then check out ‘Son of God.’ If you want to get a taste of the very real pain Jesus went through before his death, check out Mel Gibson’s ‘Passion of the Christ.’ In both cases, if you go into each movie with an open mind, then you’ll walk away and realize that the critics at Rotten Tomatoes hold openly Christian films to an unfair standard.

Kevin Smith: I’ll make ‘Christzilla’ — but my courage ends at Muhammad vs. Mothra

December 31, 2013December 22, 2018by Douglas Ernst18 Comments

Remember when Kevin Smith’s Westboro Baptist Church-inspired horror flick ‘Red State’ barely cracked $1 million dollars? Since portraying roughly half the nation as potential religious whack jobs worked out so well for him, he’s decided to up the ante by pitting humanity and Satan against a giant raging “Christzilla” figure. As usual, the “daring” filmmaker failed to disclose any plans to ridicule Islam.

From The Hollywood Reporter:

Smith shared details about that project and updates on other movies in the works, and also revealed how he’s going to approach his film career going forward, in an extensive Facebook post on Monday.

The filmmaker wrote that he’ll soon start writing a movie about mankind teaming up with Hell to fight a rapturing giant Jesus.

Here’s what Smith said on his Facebook page:

“[R]ight now, the aim is to shoot CLERKS III this May — so this HELENA HANDBAG picture would still be a ways off anyway. But why sit around commenting on other people’s lives and art on the internet when I can try to make some NEW art instead? As for the title: If you heard the podcast, you know Scott suggested CHRISTZILLA in place of HOLY CHRIST! – the title of the fake movie in the original podcast. I asked the audience to offer up their suggestions at #BeatChristzilla and they were all really fun! But I’m going with the title HELENA HANDBAG – which comes directly from the plot of the flick (it’s kind of a nod to David Lynch’s unproduced ONE SALIVA BUBBLE screenplay, too — which was also about the end of the world and also carried a title that didn’t really prepare you for what the movie was about). So I’m off to write HELENA HANDBAG.

“Clerks III” followed by another attempt to get under the skin of religious folks? Perhaps in a few years “Clerks IV: Dante’s Inferno” can fuse Kevin Smith’s two primary go-to career options. Jay and Silent Bob can travel to the depths of Hell to save Brian O’Halloran.

For younger moviegoers, it is hard to explain how time has exposed Smith’s incredibly limited range as a writer and director. 1994’s “Clerks” was a truly inspired effort, and “Chasing Amy” solidified his reputation at the time as a witty guy with his finger firmly planted on the pulse of American pop-culture. People started copying his style, and instead of searching out new intellectual landscapes to explore he stayed in the same arena of thought with the usual creative teams. With each iteration, the “Kevin Smith” brand became more stale. Smith, however, doesn’t quite see it that way:

JERSEY GIRL, ZACK & MIRI, COP OUT – while I love them all, these are movies anybody could make. Like ’em or hate ’em, nobody else but me could’ve (or would’ve) ever made CLERKS. Or CHASING AMY. Or DOGMA. Or RED STATE. Or CLERKS II. Or MALLRATS. Or JAY & SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK.

Mall Rats — a funny movie about slackers. No one but Smith would have done that? The 90s would disagree.
Chasing Amy — a sharply written romantic comedy involving Lesbians? No one but Smith would make that? The growing Netflix section on gay and lesbian movies says otherwise.
Dogma — a critique on the Catholic Church. No one but Smith would make that? Okay.
Red State — a horror flick that blasts fundamentalist Christians. No one but Smith would make that? Gotcha.

Does Kevin Smith use the caps lock button to convince himself that his assertions are true, or does he think that talking loudly convinces the rest of us of the veracity of his claims? Will the sequel to “Helena Handbag” be called “Islamabad Burka”? Don’t count on it.

If Kevin Smith wants a movie that no one else would make, perhaps he could write a film that pits Giant Muhammed against Mothra. Giant Muhammed could also have a harem of topless women the size of The Sacred Mosque Al-Masjid Al-Haram. But Smith won’t go there because it’s easier to needle Christians with “Christzilla” than it is to make a film that lands on the radar of the world’s nuttiest Islamic clerics. Just ask Mark Basseley Youssef (formerly Nakoula Basseley Nakoula), the director of “Innocence of Muslims.” He’s the guy the Obama administration couldn’t act fast enough to pull out of his home for a perp walk. Crime? Daring to criticize Islam.

Kevin Smith is an intelligent guy with some good instincts. He was way ahead of the game when it came to podcasting and the format plays to his strengths. However, his role as screenwriter and filmmaker has suffered from years of staying inside his comfort zone. Worse, he still thinks that making jokes at the expense of devout followers of Jesus is edgy. It’s not. It’s just sad and, on some level, cowardly considering many of the real threats to the creative freedoms he enjoys as a citizen of the United States.

Kevin Smith doesn't want to end up like Mark Basseley Youssef (Nakoula Basseley Nakoula), the director of "Innocence of Muslims," so he sticks to mocking Christians. — Kevin Smith doesn’t want to end up like Mark Basseley Youssef (Nakoula Basseley Nakoula), the director of “Innocence of Muslims,” so he sticks to mocking Christians.

Argentina’s animalistic feminists assault, sexually molest praying Catholic men

December 8, 2013December 8, 2013by Douglas Ernst36 Comments

In April of 2013, the world had a chance to see what modern leftist “feminism” is all about when Belgian Archbishop Andre-Joseph Leonard was harassed by screaming topless women who drenched him in water while he prayed.

Now, Argentina’s feminists are making news, less because of their stance on abortion and more because their behavior is hardly discernible from wild animals.

Buenos Aires, December 2nd, 2013 – Extremely disturbing video footage from Argentina shows a mob of feminists at a recent protest attacking and sexually molesting a group of Rosary-praying Catholic men who were peacefully protecting the cathedral in the city of San Juan from threats of vandalism.

The women, many of them topless, spray-painted the men’s crotches and faces and swastikas on their chests and foreheads, using markers to paint their faces with Hitler-like moustaches. They also performed obscene sexual acts in front of them and pushed their breasts onto their faces, all the while shouting “get your rosaries out of our ovaries.”

Who is the feminist genius who thought that spray painting the faces and crotches of praying men would be a good public relations move?

Let’s give a slow clap for the women who decided that spitting in the faces of men, who only wanted to protect their church from vandalism, was a legitimate way to express their feelings.

Where were the police? Answer:

The police reportedly told the media they were unable to intervene because “they are women.”

Women are unequal before the law in Argentina — unfortunately, they are unequal in ways that allow them to assault and sexually molest peaceful citizens with impunity. In a more just society they would have gotten a crack of the baton across the wrist and then hauled off to jail for attempting to spray paint an innocent man’s face and eyes.

More fascinating at these kinds of protests are the women who think stripping down naked and acting like a fool says, “I love myself,” when in reality it says, “I loathe myself.”

Nothing telegraphs the righteousness of your cause more than proudly displaying rolls of belly fat and inviting another woman to shove her head between your crotch.

Disgruntled because a chain of men who believe in God prevent you from filling their church walls with graffiti? Take off your shirt and rub your breasts against the arms linking them all together. Bravo.

Eventually, their “protest” broke down into what can only be described as a bunch of savages howling and hooting around a fire. Apparently, there was singing:

According to InfoCatolica, some of the women chanted a song, with the lyrics: “To the Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, who wants to get between our sheets, we say that we want to be whores, travesties and lesbians. Legal abortion in every hospital.”

Whores, indeed. Mission accomplished, ladies!

And finally, no protest populated with screaming banshees would be complete without burning an effigy of some kind. These women chose Pope Francis.

Inside the cathedral, 700 people were also in prayer accompanied by their bishop Mos. Alfonso Delgado. After unsuccessfully trying to get into the building, the women burned a human-sized effigy of Pope Francis.

If modern liberal feminists want to burn effigies of the guy who sneaks out in the middle of the night to give alms to the poor, who washes and kisses the feet of drug addicted teens, and who lovingly embraces people with tumors all over their body, I say “go for it.” I’m actually a little disheartened that some religious people want evidence of this protest banned from YouTube — the world should see it. Any town that wants church attendance to skyrocket should invite Argentina’s liberal feminists to protest in their neighborhood as soon as possible.

Different versions of the video are disappearing on YouTube, but I’ll keep it up as long as possible.

Atheist believes in God after witnessing one man’s angelic act of kindness

November 17, 2013November 18, 2013by Douglas Ernst43 Comments

What would the world look like if more people realized that they were spiritual beings temporarily housed in human form — and then acted accordingly? To give you a clue, I present you with the story of “Thomas Coats,” as chronicled by Steve Hartman for CBS. Every year Mr. Hartman goes out with a businessman who poses as as “Secret Santa.” The anonymous good Samaritan gives out roughly $100,000 during the holiday season to people in bus stations and thrift stores. The effects are amazing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjzHZU2fCZw

Steve Hartman: You don’t really know what people are really going to do with this money. Do you care?

Secret Santa Businessman: No, because one of the things that I do is I do not judge.

It’s easy to look at a man and make all sorts of judgments about who he is and what he represents, but that is a dangerous game to play if those judgments fill us with pride while sapping our ability to empathize with those less fortunate. The Secret Santa Businessman does not fall victim to pride, and that is why the story gets better:

Thomas Coats: “I didn’t earn that.”

Secret Santa: “You did earn it, because I can tell you’re a good man.”

The Secret Santa Businessman says that Mr. Coats is a good man because he is. We all are. We all have the capacity for great good or great evil. Yin and Yang. The little devil on your shoulder vs. the little angel. However you describe it, that is the blessing and the curse of free will. We can be angels … or fallen angels, and those of us who realize that have an obligation to reach out a helping hand to those who have stumbled. It is our moral duty to remind others of the greatness inside them.

“When was the last time you heard that?” asks Steve Hartman to Thomas Coats. “Maybe … my mom?” he replies.

Steve Hartman: 30-year-old Thomas Coasts is a total deadbeat — at least by most accounts, including his own. Addicted to heroin, he recently hawked his own son’s toys for drug money. That’s how bad it is.

Thomas Coats: I haven’t worked in over a year. I’ve spent so much time in and out of treatment facilities.

Steve Hartman: Why his girlfriend hasn’t left him and taken their son is a mystery. Even to her. But she is now running out of patience, which is why the night before we met him, during another one of their many money fights, she suggested he try something radical.

Thomas Coats: “She said maybe you could shoot a prayer up to God real quick, you know? I know that you don’t really believe in Him, but maybe you could start.”

Steve Hartman: And so, he did pray — for the first time since childhood. Then, out of the blue this saint shows up, slipping hundreds into his hand. You could almost see the wheels turning. That kind of kindness from a total stranger the day after he prayed … it was too much of a coincidence for this atheist to bear.

Thomas Coats: It’s amazing. That to me was a miracle. That was God saying: “Have you had enough, now? I’m going to show you something.” So from here on out, it’s up to me.

Steve Hartman goes on to say that Thomas checked himself in to a treatment facility, although this time “he says this will be the first time with a higher power at the helm.”

The point of this story is not to say that this is definitive proof God exists. I’m not making that claim. What I am saying is that those of us who do believe in God have to think long and hard about how we go about reaching out to atheists, the poor and those who are just generally different than us.

One of my Catholic friends, who is just as annoyed with rumblings that Pope Francis isn’t “conservative” enough, put it to me this way:

This is why I support the Pope. By not being judgmental, “Secret Santa” found this guy. Maybe Thomas kicks addiction, maybe he doesn’t — but for the first time in years he has hope. Pope Francis has drawn criticism for not being “conservative.” That’s dumb. The guy is super conservative, but he’s not judgmental. He actually extends a “hand” to those different from him. Atheists, gays, juvenile delinquents … it’s amazing what a non judgmental hand can do. Catholic church attendance is even up around the globe.

We are told faith the size of a mustard seed can move mountains. In the story, it was the guy’s girlfriend that 1.) hasn’t left him, and 2.) told him to pray. That is faith. Kudos to her. I hope it works out for them.

This is why I think it is wrong to tell strangers they are going to hell. We (humans) don’t know that. It’s not our place to judge. I referenced St. Paul with that before. Second to Jesus, a huge chunk of the new testament is about/written by him. Before his conversion he made a living hunting down and killing Jews that converted to Christianity. He worked for the ruling priest class of Israel and possibly the Romans. Now, he’s a saint. He wrote of the tears when he felt Gods presence at his conversion, probably just like the “deadbeat” in the news story.

While I do not quite understand how individuals can walk through life and not realize that there are things at play beyond human comprehension, the fact remains: they’re here. As you move forward, try and figure out ways to reach out to those who are different from you politically, spiritually, and socially. Perhaps they’re just like Thomas, who went through his entire life with only his mother having told him he was a good man. Through your temperance, empathy, humility and random acts of kindness you too might become someone’s guardian angel — or the one who makes an atheist believe in God.

Mysterious ‘angel’ priest at car crash reminds us of our true nature

August 8, 2013March 15, 2015by Douglas Ernst10 Comments

Miracles happen every day. Angels exist. If you’re on the fence about either statement, look no further than New London, Missouri, where a mysterious priest has fire fighters and rescue workers scratching their heads:

Emergency workers and community members in eastern Missouri are not sure what to make of a mystery priest who showed up at a critical accident scene Sunday morning and whose prayer seemed to change life-threatening events for the positive.

Even odder, the black-garbed priest does not appear in any of the nearly 70 photos of the scene of the accident in which a 19-year-old girl almost died. No one knows the priest and he vanished without a word, said Raymond Reed, fire chief of New London, Mo. …

The scene unfolded Sunday morning. Katie Lentz, a sophomore at Tulane University, was driving from her parents’ home in Quincy, Ill., to Jefferson City, Mo., where she has a summer internship and planned to attend church with friends. The Mercedes she was driving collided with another vehicle on a highway near Center, Mo. The accident crushed Lentz’s vehicle into a ball of sheet metal that lay on the driver’s side, Reed said.

Reed’s team and emergency workers from several other jurisdictions tried for at least 45 minutes to remove the twisted metal from around Lentz. Various pieces of equipment broke and the team was running out of choices. A helicopter waited to carry Lentz to the nearest trauma center. Though Lentz appeared calm, talking about her church and her studies toward a dentistry degree, her vital signs were beginning to fail, Reed said.

“I was pulled off to the side by one of the members of the” helicopter evacuation team, Reed said. “He expressed to me that we were out of time. Her condition looked grim for her coming out of that vehicle alive. She was facing major problems.”

At that point, Reed’s team agreed to take the life-threatening chance of sitting the vehicle upright so that Lentz could be removed from it. This is dangerous because a sudden change in pressure to the body can be critical, he said.

That’s when Lentz asked if someone would pray with her and a voice said, “I will.”

The silver-haired priest in his 50s or 60s in black pants, black shirt and black collar with visible white insert stepped forward from nowhere. It struck Reed as odd because the street was blocked off 2 miles from the scene and no one from the nearby communities recognized him.

“We’re all local people from four different towns,” Reed said. “We’ve only got one Catholic church out of three towns and it wasn’t their priest.”

Mr. Reed continued in an on-air interview with the local news station:

“He came up an approached the patient and did offer a prayer. It was a Catholic priest. He had anointing oil with him. A sense of calmness came over her then, even more so than what she had been already — and it did us as well. I can’t be for certain who said or how it was said or where it came from but myself and one of the other firefighters who was beside me — we very plainly heard that we should remain calm, that our tools would now work, and that we would get her out of that vehicle. …

As a first responder, you don’t know what you’re going to run into. Everything is on a case by case basis. Everything that we come across. We have a lot of tools that allow us to do many things and we have extensive training. In this particular case it is my feeling that it was nothing more than sheer faith and nothing short of a miracle,” (Raymond Reed, fire chief, New London, Mo.).

Who was this mystery priest? Was he an angel in human form? Was it just a priest who happened to be wandering the corn fields of Missouri at the perfect time in the perfect place to come to the aid of a devote Catholic who asked for someone to pray out loud for her — just as her vital signs were failing? Did the fire chief of New London, Mo. and the local townspeople all decide in the moments after a gruesome car crash to put together an elaborate hoax? Interesting questions, indeed.

The fact of the matter is this: Whether Katie Lentz was saved by an angel or comforted by the wandering priest of the Missouri cornfields, a miracle happened. And in the end, this story reminds us that we are all spiritual beings. We all have a higher self. When we realize that, we too can act as earth’s angels. Are the emergency workers any less of an angel than the priest? In many ways, no. As humans, we are confined by our physical bodies but we are certainly not our physical bodies and we are not our thoughts. We are the animating force behind our thoughts. Once an individual realizes their true nature then nothing is impossible.

Matthew 21:21 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done.

The story of the mystery priest reminds me of the two Christian girls who pulled a 3,000 pound tractor of their father’s chest when they prayed for God to give them strength. When you believe in something with all your soul the physical world has no choice but to react. There are countless instances of this being the case, but to the non-believer such stories simply serve as more material for a round of jokes. And that is fine.

Teal Scott explains the predicament of the non-believer with stunning accuracy:

Even though every single person alive today has [the attention and devotion of angels], regardless of what you’re doing, you must ask for their active help in your life because of the law of free will. When you came into this physical dimension you chose to become two points of perspective. You are the perspective of your higher self; you are also the perspective of your individual physical existence. And as such, you have the free will of focus. You get to pay attention to whatever it is you want to pay attention to, and thus your subjective reality will become the exact match, the physical match, of that focus. And so, if you choose not to focus on the presence of angels they can not show up in your objective reality. And we can flip this and say: Unless you choose to consciously focus on and invite these angelic presences into your life they can’t be a part of your reality. If you choose to focus on angelic presences and invite them into your life, they must become a part of your subjective reality. They can not impose themselves on your reality.

We create our own reality. The difference between Katie Lentz and the person who makes jokes about the priest who appeared before her when she needed him is this: Katie invited God into her life with open arms. Ms. Lentz is smart enough to know that there’s a whole heck of a lot out there that is beyond human comprehension. Thankfully, she’ll be around for a lot longer to share her experience with others once her wounds heal.

I believe Ms. Lentz may very well have been visited by an angel. However, if I am wrong I hope the priest stays silent. I like it better that way.

Matthew 6:1-6

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

No matter how you slice it, a miracle was performed in Missouri. For that, we can all be thankful.

Update: The mysterious ‘angel’ has come forward. His name is Father Patrick Dowling of the Diocese of Jefferson City:

“I thank God and the amazingly competent rescue workers,” Mr. Dowling said Monday. “I thank them for making me welcome in such a highly charged situation and allowing me to minister as a priest.”

The Aug. 4 wreck near Center, Mo., involving Tulane University sophomore Katie Lentz made news nationwide after reports of a man dressed like a priest who supposedly cured her and disappeared without a trace.

Miss Lentz was trapped in a clump of twisted metal that used to be her Mercedes as her vital signs continued to fall. Rescuers spent almost an hour trying to remove her from the wreckage when she asked someone to pray for her.

“I will,” the priest said.

Some people have already used this revelation to mock the idea that an angel came to Katie’s aid. Indeed, a priest just so happened to be in the perfect location at the perfect time to come to the aid of a devout Catholic who asked for someone to pray out loud for her — just as her vital signs were failing. I still maintain a miracle was performed.

Also note this from Father Dowling:

“I was probably part of the answer to their prayers, I came by and Anointed and absolved, (but) I didn’t say another word … I did not say anything like the machinery would begin to work or they would succeed in getting her out of the car.”

Take it for what you will.

Banksy doesn’t get it: The world owes you nothing

May 24, 2013May 24, 2013by Douglas Ernst18 Comments

Let me first start off this post by saying that I think Banksy is a creative genius. There is something special in his work that is worth tipping our hats to. It makes us think and question and turn over ideas in our head that we long ago cast aside like a child bored with the new toy mom bought the previous week.

With that said, I think it is ironic that in many ways he contributes to strengthening the system he rails against.

Take the following piece:

“Asking for permission is like asking to keep a rock that someone just threw at your head. … They owe you.”

Translation: “Do what you want because the world owes you.”

No. The world doesn’t owe us anything. Advertisers don’t owe you anything. The government doesn’t owe you anything. Rich people don’t owe you anything. Poor people don’t owe you anything, and neither does your neighbor.

In the middle of the vast cold void of space we were granted life, health and intelligence, and we often spend it sitting on a couch shoving potato chips in our face while complaining we don’t live like a Hollywood celebrity. Life alone should motivate someone to look inside themselves, be eternally grateful and then go out into the world to be the best person he could be. But instead, we’re told that someone or some thing “owes” us. It’s a poisonous seed of thought that generally just sprouts fear and envy and jealousy.

One of my best friends sent me the following email that sums it up quite well. (I’ve altered the text slightly, but he’ll understand why):

I think it’s the whole mindset that only govt can solve things … Since there is no personal responsibility, there are no personal human failings in their world because they believe only the system corrupts. Where they confuse me is that they want to add on to the system they hate.

I’d point out that when govt dominates every facet of life, you inevitably get the mess that you have in Detroit, and the people suffering are the poor, tax-paying (if there was a job available) people that they want to protect. The officials in Detroit artificially inflated wages (unions/politicians in city), they taxed heavy to “look out for the poor,” they filtered every city contract through a goverment committee that led to worse corruption — they threw money at everything — and look at Detroit now.

Talking biblically to them is difficult because belief in God forces you to acknowledge you are a sinner, which forces you to look at yourself. It’s much easier to blame the system. The reward is heaven. Jesus dies a horrible death, St. Paul dies a horrible death, 11 of the 12 apostles meet an end at human hands, and yet they didn’t “blame the system” — they kept trying to do what’s right (Jesus didn’t have to “try,” but you get my point). Even Judas took some sort of personal responsibility and threw the silver away and killed himself in shame realizing what he did. You will never get that mindset in their world.

I’ve thought long and hard about guys like them. I think it’s a fear to fail. Doing something about your situation is riskier than blaming God for your problems. The television will always be there, but stepping out on your own is much more difficult. I may fall flat on my face for leaving a comfortable job, learning a new skill set, and establishing a new career, but I hated what the company I worked for morphed into, so instead of blaming the system I decided to do something about it. I’d have it no other way, but I have faith in God and because of that, faith in myself. I actually feel sorry for individuals who won’t see past a system and tap into their own abilities.

Again, Banksy is a creative genius, but for whatever reason he looks around him, doesn’t like what he sees, and instead of looking inward he keeps his eyes focused on the material world. He seems to assume that people do not have free will, and instead of coming up with art that unleashes what is already inside all of us, he expresses himself in ways that, in all likelihood, calcifies the human spirit.

Coupling the idea that we should be able to do whatever we want with the belief that others owe us something is an extremely dangerous thing. While Banksy’s creative talent is worth acknowledging, the effect it has on society is something that deserves much more scrutiny.

Miracles happen every day: Girls pull 3,000-pound tractor off trapped father

April 10, 2013April 11, 2013by Douglas Ernst5 Comments

How do you prove miracles happen to a person who doesn’t believe in them? Short answer: You can’t. You would think that the millions of chemical reactions that have to perfectly take place every second of every day for our bodies to function properly would be “evidence” enough for the skeptics, but that’s an issue for another time. Today, I’m talking about miracles in the classical sense.

For example: Say two teenage girls who might weigh 160 lbs. between the two of them lifted a 3,000-pound tractor off a man’s chest. Would that count? I think so.

LEBANON, Ore. — A Linn County man pinned by his overturned tractor said his teenage daughters saved his life by lifting the 3,000-pound machine off of him.

Jeff Smith was able to wriggle free and get breathing room after his daughters, 14-year-old Haylee and 16-year-old Hannah, lifted the huge machine up, as first reported by the Albany Democrat-Herald.

“I was saying, ‘God help me’ over and over because I obviously could not lift it myself. It was heavy,” [daughter Haylee said].

Recently I broke 300 lbs. on my dead lift. As my buddy told me, I’ve gone from a range that isn’t worth talking about to “sh*t” status. My next range is “suck.” I’m shooting for 340 lbs. by my 34th birthday. Regardless, I’m ecstatic. I consider myself a pretty strong guy, pound-for-pound. I weigh 154 lbs. And yet, my rational brain tells me that finding a way to leverage a tractor off a guy’s chest would be a Herculean feat. I have to believe that only with the help of God would I be able to move a small mountain like that.

Apparently, Jeff Smith agrees and his daughters are still in disbelief:

“They’re great girls, but I mean that’s a lot of weight. I’m a big guy and I don’t know if I could do that,” Mr. Smith said. …

“It’s crazy. I can’t believe we did it,” said Hannah.

It kind of like a dream when you think back. It feels like a dream. It feels like it never happened,” said Haylee.

But you did do it, Hannah. And it wasn’t a dream, Haylee. You did it. There was a hidden reserve of strength inside two teenage girls that was on display that years from now people will dismiss as if it never happened. Or they’ll call it a lie. Or they’ll come up with all sorts of reasons why it’s “really not that hard when you think about it.”

Sure. You go with that, guys.

Regardless, I think the takeaway here is that all people have a reservoir of strength inside them that is beyond human comprehension. This spring can be channeled into the body or the mind. Harnessed properly, it can take people to great heights. And, obviously, it can be used for good or evil.

Jim over at Vermont Verse adds to the story:

Being a farmer’s son, I know a thing or three about tractors and their dangers. The tractor in question appears to be a l940′s or /50′s International low-bow general purpose rig – made for plowing, discing, cultivating, planting, hauling. Not for heavy stump pulling. There are no front end weights to hold the machine down, and there is no roll cage to protect the operator. Dumb.

Dad’s a lucky dude, and Mom should make him sell that tractor immediately. God’s sending you a message, bro.

I couldn’t agree more. God sends us messages all the time, but you have to be willing to look and listen for the calls. My atheist friends think I’m crazy for saying that, but I don’t really care. They do not find God because they are not looking for Him. Imagine yourself turning your back on your father and then berating him because he isn’t visible. Imagine screaming “Why don’t you exist?!” when he’s standing right in back of you smiling, patiently waiting for you to turn around.

Let’s put this another way using string theory, shall we? Correction: M-theory and F-theory.

Can you see what the implications are of the scientific geniuses working out these theories? It means that there could me entire planes of existence all around us that we can not see because we are not operating on their frequency. (What’s the frequency, Doug? What’s the frequency?) I don’t know, but I know that the more I learn about science, the more my faith in God is strengthened. Faith is that bridge between what we know and what we can never know, and contrary to popular opinion science keeps making that bridge smaller and smaller.

Keep believing in miracles. They’re real.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go assault Dan Rather.

Pyrros Dimas was able to chuck almost 400 lbs. over his head in his prime. But could he lift 3,000 lbs. of the chest of a dying man? Two high school girls did when their father's life depended on it. Amazing. — Pyrros Dimas was able to snach almost 400 lbs. over his head in his prime. But could he lift 3,000 lbs. off the chest of a dying man? Two high school girls did when their father’s life depended on it. Amazing.

Good Friday and the wisdom of self-denial

April 6, 2012April 7, 2012by Douglas Ernst3 Comments

knights_of_malta — Americans can learn a thing or two from the Knights of Malta, particularly when it comes to self-denial and its ability to lead to personal growth.

It’s Good Friday, and if you’re a Catholic you’re probably sick of people asking why you can’t eat meat. You’re forced to either listen to a bunch of dumb jokes, or take time out of your day to explain it. If you’ve had a tough time articulating why fasting is so important—not just for religious reasons but for for personal growth—then you’ve come to the right place.

Perhaps the most eloquent passage I’ve found to date comes from The Spiritual Heritage of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, by Francois Ducaud-Bourget. (I’d link to it, but it doesn’t exist online. If you want more you’ll probably have to go to a rare books library like I did, at least for the time being.) If you’re not familiar with the history of The Knights of Malta I highly suggest researching them, the numerous works of charity they’ve done, and the work they continue to perform for the world’s sick and needy.

Regardless, Ducaud-Bourget writes:

The first means for attaining perfection offered by the Rule of the Blessed Raymond is chastity, which is the domination of the flesh and its appetites by the spirit.

For good reasons it was formerly called “continence”, a restraint which contains, which masters what is opposed to duty.

Of the three lusts of which St. John speaks the flesh is the most brutal, the most seductive, but the easiest to overcome. To dominate it, the will to do so, with the help of the grace of God, suffices. But since it is not only outside of us but also in us, because we are its unconscious accomplices, it can all the more easily charm, flatter, madden, and reduce us to slavery. Energy yields, truth fades away, before lying pretexts and more or less subtle excuses; courage is broken, and we fall. We no longer have enough strength to flee from danger, and, giving it the false name of love, we accept weakening pleasure, the always degrading sensuality. All the “muscles of the soul” are relaxed, loosened, by this acceptance; then they are atrophied by the inaction in which this disorder immobilizes the high powers of the spirit and heart. Reaction against evil becomes difficult, then almost impossible, without a kind of divine miracle. The sensual person finally finds himself completely a slave of his appetites: laziness, gluttony, or voluptuousness, a trilogy often fusing in the same individual to annihilate his real personality and suppress his spiritual, fecund, and creative virility.

Against all the forms of egotism summarized in those three capital sins, against that unrestrained love of self (or rather, against that blind hatred of self) which makes of the individual the center of the universe and sacrifices the whole world to his appetites and desires, against that monstrous caricature of real love which forgets itself in order to procure happiness for others, against the blasphemy of the self-centered flesh which sets itself up as the god and universal rule of creation, the Order of St. John of Jerusalem supposes the virtue of chastity which, strangling the interest which each person has in himself and the appeals of a nature which promises pleasure, but brings only disillusionment, affords us the real and noble joy of being our own masters and of making our own that Law we have received and heartily accepted, and finally, of accomplishing the noble and exalting sacrifices required to fulfill the Christian ideal.

Amazing stuff. To see how such teachings are applicable to everyday life all you need to do is look at Sylvester Stallone’s chiseled abs at 65, or you can look at the walking heart attacks you see at work, in retail stores, a Kevin Smith interview or…possibly in the mirror. When we improve our self-control and discipline we become a completely different person. In fact, we move closer to the person we were meant to be, because we can never reach our full potential if we don’t have control over the desires of the flesh. Don’t believe me? Ask any number of politicians caught with their pants down. Think back to your favorite musician or movie star who died too soon because of substance abuse. Ask your next door neighbor who is sure he lost the love of his life because he was unfaithful.

It says a lot about our society that abstaining from meat a few times a year for six weeks is considered an onerous task. It says even more that so many people are unfamiliar with self-denial as a means with which personal growth can be attained.

Every day I am thankful for the few short years I spent as an infantryman. Having to live and work in the field for long periods or time, deprived of life’s amenities—it was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I became focused. I became serious. It was there that I learned the wisdom of self-denial, and by extension the wisdom embedded in many of the teachings of the Catholic Church. In the Army there were constant references to conditioning the body and the mind; the Catholic Church does the same thing, except it stresses that a sound mind and body will in turn feed the spirit. The Knights of Malta fused the best of both worlds, and came up with The Spiritual Heritage of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta. When it comes out in print I’ll be sure to review it here.

Happy Easter,

Douglas

PS: for my non-religious readers, I’ve included a little philosophy from Tyler Durden, who it’s probably safe to say is not a Catholic character. He does seem to know a thing or two about self-denial and humility, though.