Tony Jones wants to know whether people think that "The Life of Brian" is an anti-Christian film. And the answer, from my perspective is "yes, clearly it is" and "no, of course not, don't be stupid."
Tony draws our attention to this converstion between Pythons John Cleese and Micahel Palin and two, presumably Christian, critics of the film.
The Christian critique is, apparently, that no non-Christian viewing the film could walk away from it believing about Christianity what Chrisitans believe about Christianity, which is clearly the case. But then, why should they? The point of the film is obviously not to make Christian converts, and the mistake these critics make is in misunderstanding what the film was intended to lampoon.
Cleese and Palin try to make the point repeatedly that the film is sending up forms of religious hypocrisy and fanaticism that distort and undermine the message of Jesus Christ. Palin gets to the heart of the matter when he notes that he can't comprehend how Christians can go to church every week, listen to the Gospel, and yet continue to support war and vote to cut funding for hospitals. The response of the clergyman in the conversation (who Tony identifies as "the guy in the pink robe with the huge pectoral cross") is beside the point. The fact that there are Christians on the right side of the issue doesn't mean very much when the established church of England and the bulk of its members sit idly by and allow things to happen which are contrary to heart of the Gospel that they claim to follow. The most it might serve to prove is that Christians can be found, against all expectations, even in the Church.
And this leads me back to my point above: Yes, The Life of Brian is anti-Christian if you identify Christianity with the established Christian churches, their leaders and their followers. The movie is mercilessly anti-Chrsitian if that is your benchmark for Christianity.
On the other hand, if Christianity is understood in light of the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, then the movie can't be said to be anti-Christian in any regard. Jesus Christ himself is treated with utmost respect throughout the movie. It's those who listen to him and purport to follow him (or his analogue, Brian), that are the butt of every single joke. So in that sense, Christianity isn't even the subject of the movie, never mind something the movie is against. And the movie seems to take no stand whatsoever on the other theological matters of God's existence or Christ's status as the messiah.
Of course, this requires us to make an uneasy distinction between Christ and his church, and that distinction is difficult to make to the degree that Christ is known and followed by this church. But the church is, like the apostles, a fumbling bunch of ninnies, who are usually incapable of finding their ass with both hands, never mind speaking definitively or authoritatively about the revelation of God among God's people.
I think your analysis of both movie and interview are pretty much spot on. The 2 guys critiquing, or rather criticizing the film totally miss the point of the film. It isn't a critique of Christ, rather it is a critique of the church, and a darn funny one. I think that both things serve to highlight the theme of Dan Kimball's book of a few years ago, that being "They Like Jesus, But Not The Church."
That being said, when discussing and lamenting the so-called culture wars one I think a fair question to ask is: "who started it?" Granted, there are and have been good reasons for having disdain for the church in some of her manifestations. But is there nothing that can be said of the church that is or has ever been uplifting, socially and/or personally redeeming, or in the least bit positive?
I think there would be far less outrage and willingness to laugh at oneself if it were possible to find in popular culture the least little bit of perspective. We don't ever get that, and so people chafe, possibly wrongly and inappropriately at times, at that lack of balance. Out of the thousands of planes that take off and land each day, we will only ever hear about the one that crashes. Is that balance? Perspective?
If you are a parent you've probably made mistakes. Serious ones. But ask yourself if you would only like to be remembered for those mistakes.
Posted by: Chris | July 31, 2012 at 08:47 AM