Riverwood Presbyterian Church

Culture Wars

Ah, Culture…..

by Jimmy Hopper

Most adult Sunday School attendees at Riverwood have heard me speak about the (comatose) state of American culture by commenting on the New York Times Book Review bestseller lists. Well, I’m something of a movie fan also and I was interested in the article in the entertainment insert of the Tuscaloosa News about “Summer Blockbusters” coming to the local movie emporium. My interest turned to amazement as I read it and was once again convinced of the incredible truth and wisdom of H. L. Mencken way back in the thirties when he said, “Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.”

The reviewer lists 45 summer “blockbusters” (I can’t type that without smiling) of which seventeen, more than a third, are re-hashed previous releases (started to say sequel but that has some validity.) Fully 75% of these are the third time around. Maybe they need to go to the Madison Ave. guys who make TV commercials and try to find some originality. Eight are horror movies, always (incredibly) a staple in America. Seven are animated and, believe it or not, three of those are based on children’s toys! One of the live action movies is actually based on a video game.

One of the re-hashed entries is called “Evan Almighty,” a re-hash of “Bruce Almighty” which, were it not for George Burns in “O God,” might have been the worse movie in history and is based on a concept that is offensive to me. One of the new trends seems to be movies about pregnant women but with a certain twist. The woman in “Waitress” gets pregnant by her “worthless” husband. In “Knocked Up,” (what a title) the villainous male is a “slacker” one night stand. In “The Ex,” he is also a “slacker” but at least they were married. One has to wonder if it’s the worthless ne’er do well men or the brainless women who choose them that are the problem. I think we already know the politically correct answer to that question.

I guess there may be a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. Two movies look to be interesting to me (i.e. worth giving a shot in the event that it might be good.) In percentage terms of the total releases, that’s 4.4%. There is a movie called “Imagining Jane” about the early life of Jane Austen, and a comedy about dueling, romantic chefs called “No Reservations.” If it turns out badly, it does have Catherine Zeta-Jones in it, which is compensation of a sort.Obviously none of these will make the Riverwood Movie Night list.

Alas. Back in my day….

Culture Wars

Not a Square to Spare

by Clay Staggs

Well, this is a far cry from the gravity of the discussions about the movie (which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed by the way). But, it was so ludicrous, I just had to post it and offer a brief comment.

Sheryl Crow has now proposed a limit on how many squares of toilet paper can be used in any one sitting - only one - in order to combat global warming. Read the whole thing here.

Now, there are so many things that are just blazingly stupid about this, that it’s not even worth the pixels to detail them. I just ask this question. How completely and utterly divorced from reality do you have to be to even offer such a suggestion in the first place? I mean, this is just downright gross. Is there anything too extreme for these Hollywood enviro-types to suggest? Consider the insular, sycophantic world a person would have to be living in to even suggest such a thing in public.

If anything saves the world from the designs of these radical environmentalists, it will be their own extremism. I’m pretty sure that toilet paper rationing is a big political loser.

Movies

Movie Commentary - “Hotel Rwanda”

by Jimmy Hopper

As noted in the bulletin this morning, we are providing a forum on the Riverblog to discuss our current Movie Night movie, Hotel Rwanda. The suggestions below are just that, suggestions, and everyone is free to discuss any ideas as comments. Please join in with your thoughts on the important concerns raised by this movie.

There was considerable criticism of Evangelicals at the time of these events and even some criticism of their indifference/disdain at the release of this movie. Do you feel this criticism was warranted?

In a current national intervention, a vicious dictator was overthrown. There is a divide there between Sunni/Shite as there was in Rwanda between Tutu/Hutsi. When should a nation involve itself in the affairs of other nations? Are humanitarian reasons a sufficient cause?

Paul Rusesabagina responded to the evil around him in a positive way. We know that he and his wife were Christians. How do we respond as Chrstians to evil? Do we have a choice, given the tenets of our faith? Did Paul really have a choice?

The United Nations was a big player in these events. Were they effective in any way or was it politics as usual? How did the Nick Nolte character respond? Did he wish he was able to respond differently?

Paul, in an attempt to protect his wife, temporarily alienated himself from her. What does this incident say about the strength and nature of thei marriage?

A European journalist who covered both the Bosnian genocide and the Rwanda story spoke of how appalled he was in Bosnia, but caught himself thinking in Rwanda, “They’re only African bodies.” Is this truly any different from the blantant racism of the Hutus that led to the genocide? What should the Christian’s response to racism be throughout a fallen world?

William Faulkner once wrote, “The past is not dead. In fact, it is not even past.” Is this quotation proven out considering the roots of the genocide in the Belgian colonization of Rwanda? Is this applicable to situations in America today?

Let us hear from you!

Education

Kookabunga

by Tim Lien

There is an old schoolyard joke that has undergone various revisions—each with different levels of the grotesque and explicit. It goes something like this:

Two missionaries head into the heart of the Amazon jungle. They stumble into a clearing headlong into the Kookabunga tribe. The chief and his tattooed warriors are evidently hostile and blood-thirsty. Through broken Portuguese/Spanish/English, the chief lets the missionaries know that there will be punishment for violating their sacred ceremony. The missionaries are presented with a choice: Death or Kookabunga. The first missionary steps forward and chooses: “Kookabunga,” he says. The chief nods and commences the punishment. The missionary is branded, tattooed, dipped in boiling water, hung upside down for three days, given hallucinogenic poisons, beaten constantly, force-fed angry ants, blinded, and permanently mutilated. Barely alive, he is released to crawl through the jungle. The chief gives the second missionary the same choice: Death or Kookabunga. Horrified by his partner’s ordeal, the second man quickly selects Death. The chief nods knowingly, raises his spear, and shouts the command: “Death! Death by Kookabunga!”

This pertains to a “letter to the editor” (Tuscaloosa News, April 6, 2007) that I recently read. Here it is, below: Reread the second highlighted section. Considering the author’s wish for prosperity in the U.S., this smacks of postmodern pragmatism. Instead of promoting critical thinking and the pursuit of integrated truth, he has settled for two variables which he thinks are foundational for success. But his selection of Salary and Citizenry result in the same thing he bemoans. Understanding and participating in the political process still requires thought; it does not suffice for someone to ably push a “chad” completely through a voting card, and to pay their bills and taxes. That is mere Socialism eking out an existence. Advancement does not come, primarily, through participation, but rather, through excellent, superior, and creative thinking. It is like accepting a mass of bad decisions over and above a singular good one, because “there were more people involved.” Failure to foster critical thinking in the educational process leaves many with choices that seem oddly alike: Death or Kookabunga.

General Theology

Hunger

by Jimmy Hopper

Holy Week is almost always the most moving and meaningful time at most churches but last week at Riverwood was especially so for me. First there was the service and sermon on Palm Sunday on the humility of Christ as He approached Jerusalem and His (wonderful!) mission. Then there was the always special Maundy Thursday service, where we take Communion on the night of the first Communion and this year heard of our family, the family of God; and of family meals and family values. Finally, Easter Sunday; Resurrection Day, and Tim spoke of its uniqueness in all of history, the Hinge of History was his sermon title; the most important day in all of history to each of us individually, and it happened two millenia ago. Again we met together at the table of our Lord and celebrated His (and our) triumph over our enemies and over ourselves.

Something that crossed my mind, however, concerned the two Communion services less than three days apart. I hadn’t thought of it earlier even knowing they were planned, but the closeness of the two services didn’t cause any feeling of stale repetition; it had the absolute opposite effect. Looking back on it, there was a sense of hunger for the Sunday Communion that came from the Thursday night service. The sweetness of the one led to anticipation of the other, and I caught myself on Sunday morning yearning for the mystical joy of being fed by the Lord. It was a far different feeling than the usual general forgetfulness that is typical when approaching first Sunday Communion. It is also something I would like very much to maintain in the future because the blessing of it was intense.

Culture Wars

Bad Pub…..

by Jimmy Hopper

Monday morning, driving in the early morning fog to take my dogs to the Riverwalk, I turned on NPR and heard one of their detailed news items about world affairs; human interest division. This particular item had to do with the coming beatification and canonization of the recently deceased Pope John Paul II, a subject that would normally be of little or no interest to me. What grabbed my attention was a statement that rushing sainthood through would help to make the Catholic Church more “relevant” in Europe. In their rush to make themselves “relevant,” they have waived every rule of the centuries required for “sainthood” and, as the reporter stated, put John Paul on the “fast track”to sainthood. There was a five year after death wait rule. Waived. There was a long investigation into his virtues that generally takes decades. Not waived but started immediately and quickly completed; led by the Polish Cardinal who is behind the big push for beatification. There is the need for one “miracle” for beatification and one more for canonization. Lo and behold, a French nun reported last week that she prayed, not to God, mind you, but to John Paul, about her Parkinson’s Disease and she was miraculously healed. Now John Paul knew nothing of this prayer or this healing but he gets credit for the miracle. Can anyone doubt that a second miracle is forthcoming?

This follows the two previous posts regarding the “artistic” effort of making a statue of Jesus from chocolate and the on-going “selling” of the Evangelical vote. One wonders how long this “artist” studied his situation and tried to find a controversal way get his name and “art” in the papers for some “pub.” It finally came to him that connecting Christ and the chocolate candy that has become associated with Easter at Easter would deliver the proper shock value and someone would complain. At that point he could make a statement about artistic integrity akin to repudiating book burning.

One has to wonder what exactly happened between Fred Thompson and James Dobson, who was one of the key players in delivering Ohio and the presidency to George W. Bush. Probably nothing happened. Thompson probably simply didn’t pay the proper homage to Dobson, one of the godfathers of evangelism; even though his voting record as a senator is spotless regarding the issues Dobson regards as central.

And finally; back to John Paul II. I guess that, in a relativistic world; being willing to throw away all of the rules and traditions of centuries for expediency is looked upon as a virtue. If that is where they are going, it’s all irrelevant anyway. What I hate about all three of these is they are all represent “bad pub” to any thinking man. They are also bad pub to me because I name the name of Christ. However, I can live with that personally because I hold no allegiance to any of these men; don’t need to defend them, and I hope and believe that I could defend my own beliefs against this sort of thing. The real problem I have with it is that these attempts at influence peddling also name the name of Christ and that is truly offensive and disgusting to me.