May 17 2009
Angels and Demons
Watched A&D last night. It was pretty entertaining (perhaps because I never read the novel). Still, it wasn’t a movie worth blogging until I saw this piece on WaPo, Angels & Demons & Disclaimers.
While discussing why he didn’t watch Mel Gibson’s The Passion of Jesus Christ, the writer, David Waters, mentioned the idea of “the myth of redemptive violence” (by Water Wink, a religion professor), which begins with:
The belief that violence ”saves” is so successful because it doesn’t seem to be mythic in the least. Violence simply appears to be the nature of things. It’s what works. It seems inevitable, the last and, often, the first resort in conflicts. If a god is what you turn to when all else fails, violence certainly functions as a god. What people overlook, then, is the religious character of violence. It demands from its devotees an absolute obedience- unto-death.
A couple of years back, when I saw another movie, “A History of Violence”, I had the same feeling about the adoration of violence in Western culture. What drew my attention back then was the irony that a liberal, peace-loving Hollywood could have produced a rich body of work depicting violence so approvingly–almost poetically.
Of course, Walter Wink’s essay is much deeper than a dilettante’s blog. His inspiration comes from a Babylonian creation myth (instead of a Hollywood movie). Yet here comes another surprise-spark – in terms of depicting violence, redemption and order, don’t religious texts read awfully a lot like national history prepared for grade school students?!
Lastly, I was very impressed by David Waters’ writing. Found another admirer’s blog quite on target. I can sense a passion in religion reporting like mine in discovering the inner workings behind State and Society.