JohnPalmieri.com

Reconciliation

I recently read Michael Emerson’s and Christian Smith’s book; Divided by Faith – Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America. I resonated with Emerson’s conclusion that evangelicals tend to live and thrive in the land of the urgent. Evangelicals revel in the activism of the imperative, crusade, rescue and therefore have little time to reflect inward and think through processes and systems that contribute to systemic societal ills – like racism. As I’ve gotten older I’ve learned to appreciate the slower and more contemplative approach – before taking action. Emerson quotes Mark Noll in, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind, effectively stating; “The evangelical ethos is activist, populist, pragmatic and utilitarian. It allows little space for broader or deeper intellectual effort because it is dominated by the urgency of the moment.” (171). Emerson also quotes N.K.Clifford’s poignant take on the evangelical mind; “The Evangelical Protestant mind has never relished complexity. Indeed its crusading genius, whether in religion or politics, has always tended toward an oversimplification of issues and the substitution of critical analysis and serious reflection for inspiration and zeal.” (171)

Angels and Demons – Official Trailer

Ok – I’ve read the book and seen the movie. I’ve also read and seen the Da Vinci Code.  Like many of you I read the Da Vinci Code before A&D. I have no intention in making a full review. However, I do want to make a couple of points.  First, Dan Brown knows how to write a page turning novel. I know that there is a lot of controversy surrounding Brown’s novels; many of his opinions, presented as factual history, I clearly disagree with.  However, if you are familiar with Brown you’ve got to agree that he is an accomplished craftsman. Having said that, there were a couple points in the book and movie that dragged for me; for example Robert Langdon spends a lot of time in monologue. Langdon expends a lot of energy explaining the clues – catching the audience up on the unknown facts of an obscure cult called the Illuminati. I caught myself feeling like I was watching a movie in the same genre as National Treasure.  In addition, the movie didn’t include some of the more interesting points in the book. Like Langdon’s under water fight with the assassin and the kidnapping of Vittoria. Langdon’s final battle with the assassin was also a highlight that the movie omitted. 

From a faith perspective I thought that the movie did two things:

1.       It challenged believers to study history. If you don’t know the history of the Catholic Church this is not the movie to learn it from, however, it serves as a catalysts to read, study and learn Catholic history in particular.

2.       The movie ended with an open door to the possibility of the God factor in everyone’s life – even to those who feel like they have no faith

Let me wrap this up by stating that established believers do not need to avoid the Dan Brown books or movies. I encourage believers to engage the pop culture. Make it your ambition to learn what is influencing the masses and then be ready to share your personal faith.