A Long, Thankless Trek Through Darkest Europe

There is undoubtedly a great novel to be written about a world in which Islam and Christianity has switched places but the Harry Turtledove novel Through Darkest Europe isn't it.

The chief problem with the novel isn't that it's a bad book -- merely a repetitive one. Turtledove keeps making the same point over and over again and while I appreciate his literary efforts on behalf of Team Tolerance, a little bit of his prose goes a long way.

The sad thing is that there used to be a time when reading the latest Harry Turtledove novel was not such a chore. But those days seem long-gone.

Quote of the Week

I know but of one religion in which the god and the victim are the same.
--Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Christian Culture Meets Pop Culture

From a photo I took last year.

Pensamientos Acerca de Televisión

Davey and Goliath: “Good Neighbor”

Davey and Goliath is a much-ridiculed stop-action animated Christian children's TV series which used to be shown here in the Dallas / Fort Worth area on Sunday morning. For many years I was embarrassed to admit to having watched the show. Then I grew up and realized that the show's messages were not that bad.

Granted, from an adult perspective, it is very easy to find fault with the series. The characters were almost always white, the men and women rarely strayed outside of traditional gender roles and the show had the nerve to promote Christianity as a good thing. (Then again it was produced by the Lutheran Church in America so how can one realistically expect the show to do otherwise?) Moreover, the title character Davey had a talking dog named Goliath whose scenes have not exactly improved with age. (Though I can't help but wonder if that poor much-ridiculed mutt helped inspire the creation of Scooby-Doo or for that matter, the talking tiger in Calvin and Hobbes. After all, stranger things have happened.)

Anyway, the one episode I find myself remembering most often is the “Good Neighbor” episode, perhaps because it is one of the few episodes that does not end happily for Davey. The whole episode revolves around a local celebration of neighborliness in which free balloons declaring their owner to be a good neighbor are passed out on a first-come, first-served basis. Davey wants to get such a balloon but on the way to the celebration, he comes across a young girl who has gotten separated from her mother and he chooses to help her first. He is not the first person to pass the little girl in question but he is the first person who stops to help her out. In the process of trying to track down the girl's mother, Davey loses more and more time until when he finally does manage to reunite the girl with her mother, he is too late to get a balloon.

The irony of the episode? In proving himself to be a good neighbor, Davey loses his chance at any material reward while those people who were selfish enough to ignore the little girl's plight end up receiving all the balloons. And of course, the one such person who is most proud of his rep as a “good neighbor” ends up seeing his balloon burst.

The moral of the episode? We can't always expect to be materially rewarded for our good deeds. Indeed, doing good deeds in hope of a material reward is not what Christianity is supposed to be all about. Moreover, there will be times when in order to do a good deed, a sacrifice will be expected of you. It could be a sacrifice of time or a sacrifice of effort or a sacrifice of money or so forth. But there will be a sacrifice. In other words, you should perform a good deed because it needs to be done, not because you expect to get something out of it.

I know that sounds like an obvious lesson but when I first saw this episode, it did not seem so obvious. Even as an adult, I find myself having to remind myself of this lesson. After all, it is not the type of lesson most American TV shows and movies preach and it is certainly not the type of lesson promoted by many American politicians. Indeed, even many Christian adults seem to forget such a message -- which is why it is a good thing that TV shows like Davey and Goliath exist in the first place.

Movie Quote of the Week

I am a Christian. And as a Christian I hope for resurrection. And even as if you kill me now, It is I who will live again, not your damned apples! No matter what you do, you can't change the fact that I believe in Life Eternal, as promised to us by our Lord Jesus Christ. I BELIEVE IN THE LIFE ETERNAL AS PROMISED BY OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST!
--Edward Woodward, The Wicker Man (1973)

Fantasy Quote of the Week

For the Dream-Master had set up His own picture, and full-length and in the most gorgeous colors, in His window. Choking and spluttering I saluted it, and then, still filled with laughter, I crossed the street once more and went inside, where I knew I would find Him. A man awaited me there -- not the one I sought, but one who understood Whom it was I had come for, and knew as well as I that His capture was beyond any thief-taker’s power. I knelt, and there, though not to the satisfaction I suppose of Baron H_______, Fräulein A_______, Herr R______, and the Count and Countess von V________, I destroyed the Dream-Master as He has been sacrificed so often, devouring His white, wheaten flesh that we might all possess life without end.
--Gene Wolfe, “The Detective of Dreams”

I Don't Know How to Say This

I actually celebrated Mother's Day this past weekend by accompanying my mother and my youngest brother to a local fish restaurant, after which we went to a local theatre to see the new release Soul Surfer. And even though Soul Surfer was billed as a “Christian” movie made primarily for the appreciation of “Christian” movie-goers and even though I have a tendency to cringe whenever the makers of a certain form of entertainment go out of their way to emphasize that it's a “Christian” movie or a “Christian” TV show or a “Christian” record and not just a form of entertainment which has Christians in it -- I actually ended up liking the movie.

That's right. Despite all its religious messages and Biblical allusions and mentions of a certain Christian savior, I actually liked Soul Surfer. And this despite the fact that I am a mere heathen Catholic who is supposedly too hip to like “Christian” movies.

Perhaps it was because of the acting chops of Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid, who play the parents of the title character, a young girl who was maimed by a shark and then forced to learn how to relive almost half her life with only one arm. Or perhaps it was because I could not help identifying with the title character. Or perhaps I relished the irony of a movie which saw no reason why surfer culture and traditional Christian culture should not be part of the same lifestyle, which was not the type of thing one would have expected from conservative Christians four or five decades ago.

No matter. The movie was enjoyable in its own way and while I would not necessarily go out of my way to see it again, I can hardly pretend that it was one of the worst cinematic experiences I have had this year.

It would be nice to blame the success of the movie on the number of scenes involving bikini-clad teenagers but I've seen Hollywood movies that have bared far more skin and still managed to be boring. Indeed, one of the most surprising things about this movie is that it appeared to have more in common with traditional Hollywood sports movies like Ice Castles and Gracie than it did with the average religious movie. And it did not hurt that many of the values it promoted (perseverance, fair play, willingness to help others) seemed suspiciously like the ideas liberal movies used to promote.

I really do not see this movie converting many viewers who were not already Christian to begin with. But I liked it anyway.

And I like to think that the fact that I was able to walk outside afterwards and not worry about getting hit by a lightning bolt says something good. If not, I am sure I will soon find out.

Pop Song of the Week: “Stranger in Town”

The Passion, MTV style.

Trailer of the Week: The King of Kings (1927)

One of the earliest versions of the Christ legend to make it to the silver screen.

Pop Song of the Week: “Find a Way”

Ah, that Amy Grant. Not only is she a good Christian singer but she's as pretty as a picture.

Random Thoughts

Isn't it funny how often those same Christians who kvetch about Cafeteria Catholics who pick and choose which part of the Bible they choose to obey routinely pass over that part of the Bible that says "Judge not lest ye be judged"?

Would Jesus Christ really care that much about some poor schnook of a store clerk who dares use the words "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas"? Wouldn't he care far more about the poor and the homeless?

Aren't good Christians supposed to celebrate Jesus' death and resurrection far more than his birth?

Isn't it strange that our main response to the AIDS epidemic involved finding a new way of selling something? No one ever needed a separate store for condoms before the mid-1980s and one has to wonder about the imaginative powers of someone who is not only incapable of buying a box of condoms in an average drug store but who insists that they come in more than one color and glow in the dark to boot.

When cultural conservatives object to something, cultural liberals routinely tell them to ignore it. But when cultural liberals object to something, they can't resist making the same foolish gestures as cultural conservatives. And of course, they never just sit back and ignore what they hate but insist on giving the item they allegedly hate more and more free publicity. Witness, for example, Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series. If these books were really as bad as their detractors say, one would think that the last thing that people who hated the series would want to do is give the series more publicity but instead they find it more satisfying to go on and on about how bad they think the books are than, say, talking about how much they like some other author.

TV Quote of the Week

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you this day is born in the City of Bethlehem, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men'”. That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.
--Christopher Shea, A Charlie Brown Christmas