"The world expects of Christians that they will raise their voices so loudly and clearly and so formulate their protest that not even the simplest man can have the slightest doubt about what they are saying. Further, the world expects of Christians that they themselves will eschew all fuzzy abstractions and plant themselves firmly in front of the bloody face of history. We stand in need of folk who have determined to speak directly and unmistakably and come what may, to stand by what they have said."
From his Nobel acceptance speech:.."to fashion an art of living in times of catastrophe, to be reborn by openly fighting against the death instinct at work in our society."
I cannot recommend too highly, in response to this, the following:
The German language film, "Sophie Scholl" which tells the story of the White Rose individuals in unforgettable terms. The ending is particularly fitting for our times.
Any of the many films about Dietrich Bonhoffer esp. the most recent one; a study of his book on ethics, or any study of his life and the stand he took. His letters from prison are also incomparably rich. American Christianity has not been tested in this way, the way the third world followers of Jesus have been. More's the pity for offering an ersatz version of the Gospel which eschews suffering at all cost.
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Amen! Evangelical Christians seem to think that if you suffer, you did something wrong. The whole theory of the so-called "Rapture" posits that those who are "good" will be taken up early before the Second Coming and will not experience the suffering of the "Tribulation." This denies the central fact of Paschal Mystery - that Christ suffered as one of us in part to show us how to accept suffering (hence the martyrs)and that God, having suffered, is in solidarity with those who do, such as the people in Haiti.
ReplyDeleteThis is the 50th anniversary of Camus' death. He wad the french winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1957. The French president Sarkozy is suggesting that Camus' body entombed in Provence should be moved to Paris. I hope they leave his remains alone to rest in that unhurried region of France known for some of the best peasant food in Europe to say nothing of good hardy wines.
ReplyDeleteI saw Sophie Scholl: The Final Days last year and I have to give it a thumbs up for those who like that type of movie.