DUMPSTER DIVING-SORT OF

Forgive me my fellow bloggers, for I have sinned. I signed on to AOL last night, saw the stories about the DaVinci Code film and went diving into the calls for a boycott like an addict looking for a fix.

 

Let me see, what can I say?  To the cardinal from Nigeria who thinks that some sort of lawsuit should be attempted and that Christians have “turned the other cheek” long enough. I could say this. Your government makes Al Capone look like an Eagle Scout, you’ve got rebels blowing up your oil producing facilities, Muslims and Christians are practicing mutual ethnic cleansing and there are countless other problems that are probably covered pretty much under the verses from Matthew 25. Quit worrying about a couple of hours worth of celluloid and get busy doing what Jesus told you to do.

 

To the executive secretary for the president of the Philippines. Pretty much the same thing only less oil and more rebels who like to kidnap foreign tourists and threaten to behead them. Although since the word has gotten out that a visit to the Philippines may include more thrills that you bargained for, this seems to have quieted down. Maybe less corruption, too but the jury is out on that. Maybe it’s because they have less to be corrupt with. Still don’t have the democracy bit down pat though, and there’s plenty of poverty, hunger, bad housing and child hood diseases to deal with first. Again, get busy taking care of what Jesus told you to worry about and I suspect that rest will take care of itself.

 

To Opus Dei. Funny, the story about you disappeared. Appropriate for a group accused of secrecy and cult like tendencies. With a founder who thought that Hitler should be admired because he helped defeat Communism and who cooperated with Spain’s own home grown fascist, Franco, I think I’d want the story to disappear to. If you want a thrill, look up the word cilice on the ‘net. Heck, if you have the time, look up Opus Dei. There are several sites on the ‘net. They range from adoration to extreme skepticism. I suspect that the Vatican would prefer that more main stream Catholics not find themselves wondering how and why the late Pope ended up designating this group a “personal prelature” answerable only to him.

 

To everybody else. I have five words. The Passion of the Christ. There were a lot of people who didn’t want that movie shown either. (loud two fingered whistle) Guess what, Mel Gibson had the right to show his film and the DaVinci Code, (flaws and all) has the right to be shown too. No one is going to twist your arm and make you fork over the ten bucks or whatever movie tickets are going for these days and make you see the film or read the book. Get over it. God/dess has managed to survive Constantine, Justinian, the Crusades (both sides), the inquisition, more than a few corrupt popes, several severely bent “reformers,” the European wars of religion, etc and ad nauseaum. I think H/She will survive a couple of hours of film and an extremely convoluted book.

 

And if some folks get curious enough to look up the details on how the books of the bible were chosen, how and why the various creeds came to be written, how certain teachings that might have the original disciples scratching their heads and muttering “what the …. ? Where’d that come from” came about, and how the people who didn’t agree with the results were dealt with, more power to them. I suspect that this is what has the churchmen worried, and the only spokesmen I’ve seen quoted are men. Curious, I wonder how that happened?

 

Oh, and I don't even want to go into this turn the other cheek baloney. Puhleez! Get over the inferiority complexes already.

 

I think my "cranky" genes are in full tilt today. Good.