The spiritual 'Matrix' - Hit movie inspires religious dialogue

Houston Chronicle ^ | May 16, 2003 | TARA DOOLEY, Houston Chronicle Religion Writer

[Qwerty]

Too bad it wasn't as good as the first Matrix.

[canalabamian]

Frightening that a pastor is turning to Hollyweird for "spiritual" relevance(sp). Folks are searching for answers, but humanism isn't it. Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father, but through Him. I'm probably just intolerant, though.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I haven't seen it, yet.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

If they're so powerful, why do they need to use human bodies? It's just science fiction. But I guess it's human nature to think about these things.

[canalabamian]

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the first one, and I'll see the second one when I can. I just think its pretty sad when a pastor starts looking to Hollywood and pop culture for his message. Thats why we have the Bible. Just goes to show that the deceiver is still at work. Be strong and faithful!

[Cincinatus' Wife]

Too many pastors cater to their flock instead of leading them.

[Samurai_Jack]

I havent seen the matrix reloaded yet. But I detected the christ figures in the first matrix. Paul made use of the 'Unknown God' to relate to the greeks. Jesus reached out to the people with parables. The Father actually used the 'adventures' of the Israeli people to parallel his love for his children. C.S. Lewis used some interesting parallels. So it wouldnt surprise me to find analogies being represented in the story lines. It might be interesting to find out the background of some of the writers.

Watch out though, it's easy to inject a tiny bit of poison into the story. This is very common so it's important that every theme be filtered through the bible. The challenge is to locate the poison so you can readily identify it for those whos spiritual curiosity has inadvertently been awakened by this movie.

If you ask me... This is the sowers seed falling on the rocky ground.

[RaceBannon]

I saw it yesterday.

There was one sex scene, it added nothing to themovie, was only put in to satisfy certain groups of people, no nudity showing parts, only from the rear of Reeves.

Oce scene where the driver of the vehicle, comes home to his wife/girlfriend, and asks where his (vulgar term for a womans anatomy) is.

Messages in the movie are all about conscious self determination, and whether all things happen because of our lack of choice or because of it. Hints of many things already being chosen by people before they ever knew it, kind of an illusion of whether thought or choice is real or already made.

Interesting action flick, but Reeves is also a bad example of a Martial Artist in a movie, not because he doesnt know it, but because it just doesnt look genuine, he does not have the freedom of movement, he is rigid, not flowing in his technique. The scene where he takes on 100 fighters is certainly unique and interesting, only believable because of the movie itself.

Ending was good, wont reveal it here, but all in all, either skip it due to the normal Hollywood sex and language, or wait until the video comes out.

It's only a movie, and after seeing it, I think I should have stayed home.

[weegee]

Sounds like he's refering to the first film (which was about drugs, "take this pill and open your eyes to a new way of seeing"). Bend a spoon with your mind. Alter your perception, control your reality.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The scene where he takes on 100 fighters is certainly unique and interesting, only believable because of the movie itself.

LOL

[weegee]

There was one sex scene, it added nothing to themovie, was only put in to satisfy certain groups of people, no nudity showing parts, only from the rear of Reeves.

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THE MATRIX RELOADED
(Warner Bros.)
WHO Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, and Carrie-Anne Moss
WHAT The first of two sequels to The Matrix tells the story of a future in which computers have enslaved humans and kept them locked up in a virtual reality so they won’t rebel.
WHY Out actor Anthony Wong of Australia plays Ghost, a weapons expert, in both sequels and even the video game. Keanu Reeves as the Christlike savior of the world? Whoa, dude. There’s also Hugo Weaving (The Adventures of Priscilla…) as a multitasking bad guy.
HOW GAY Around the edges

[horse_doc]

Rev. Henry Straw, an ordained Methodist minister and Jungian analyst in Houston.

Why did I already know that this guy would be either a Methodist or a Unitarian minister?

[KeyWest]

Good analysis of about any "tool" out there that is an opening for the Gospel. The issue of coming at people with the Bible instead of meeting them first on their own ground and then working from there to the gospel is too common with evangelicals. I agree with you, that there are many seeds out there planted in whatever soil by those who are not Christians but who cannot escape Christ's message and His life. We are a Western society and the message is implanted in the foundation of our society, even though many would disagree. It is one reason that it is difficult to understand Muslims, since they come from a fundamentally different society with a very different foundation.

You can understand why Islam does not like Western media. It carries the message of our society, which, however flawed, is Christian. There are seeds being planted and by the most unlikely sowers.

[mombonn]

Like Seay, the Rev. William Vanderbloemen of Houston's First Presbyterian Church sees Christian themes, enough to inspire a four-part sermon series that ends with the 11:05 a.m. service Sunday.

Two thumbs down.

I once heard a sermon based on "The Glass Menagerie" while trying to find a church in East Lansing. My search continued.

[Buggman]

With all respect, I think you're both missing the point. Read again what Rev. Straw says: "How many people read philosophy or theology? How many people hang out with professors who talk about deconstruction? Millions of people around the world watch these films."

He's right.

If Christianity persists in speaking to people only in its own internal language, we won't be doing the Gospel any justice. The average young person in America knows jack about the Bible above whatever stories he remembers from when he was five--and doesn't care. He or she may be interested in the ultimate questions, but has a massive(and unfortunately well-earned) skepticism towards anything put in the context of coming from Organized Religion. Want to watch a young man wave you away and run in the opposite direction? Whip out that Four Spiritual Laws tract.

On the other hand, are you legitimately interested in speaking to a person of GenX or the Millennial Generation about Christ and actually connecting? If so, you need a bridge, a common interest and frame of reference. Enter The Matrix. You literally cannot have a discussion about that movie without the opportunity to express your faith in Christ in a way that is not threatening to the other person coming up.

The pastor isn't excited about the movie because he thinks the Bible is passe. He's excited because he sees an opportunity to bridge the gap between him and his audience. He's excited because he now has several dozen new illustrations to use in his sermons. And ultimately, he's excited because even though The Matrix doesn't give all the right answers, it's getting people to at least ask the right questions.

[JohnEBoy]

Many movies have an alleged symbolic Christ-like figure as Hero. I saw the original Matrix recently on video tape after reading a four page article on the Christian influence, so I was aware of the possibilities even as I saw it for the first time.

I am dubious. A guy says to Neo, "you're my personal Jesus", he meets a girl named "Trinity" and people throughout the movie say "you're the one". There's a Judas character and that's about it. Meanwhile, his little group goes around shooting everything and everyone in sight, in a most un-Christ-like way.

For it's ability to influence, I believe the Matrix inspired the Columbine killers ... they wore long trench coats and used multiple weapons on their death march. (I believe the movie came out pre-Columbine, but I could be wrong.)

Don't get me wrong ... the Matrix is compelling science fiction with an interesting premise, but I believe it is being attributed with a lot of religious symbolisms and allusions that are just not there.

[Cincinatus' Wife]

I understand and agree up to a point but I don't think this will put movie goers into pews. And if you use pop culture to teach religion, you give Hollywood and ad-men a theological status.

[kanawa]

I just think its pretty sad when a pastor starts looking to Hollywood and pop culture for his message.

"Where was ever a sermon preached that could make filial ingratitude so hateful to men as the sinful play of 'King Lear'?
Or where was there ever a sermon that could so convince men of the wrong and the cruelty of harboring a pampered and unanalyzed jealousy as the sinful play of 'Othello'?
And where are there ten preachers who can stand in the pulpit teaching heroism, unselfish devotion, and lofty patriotism, and hold their own against any one of five hundred William Tells that can be raised up upon five hundred stages in the land at a day's notice?

It is almost fair and just to aver (although it is profanity) that nine-tenths of all the kindness and forbearance and Christian charity and generosity in the hearts of the American people today, got thereby being filtered down from their fountain-head, the gospel of Christ, through dramas and tragedies and comedies on the stage, and through the despised novel and the Christmas story, and through the thousand and one lessons, suggestions, and narratives of generous deeds that stir the pulses, and exalt and augment the nobility of the nation day by day from the teeming columns of ten thousand newspapers, and NOT from the drowsy pulpit!"

Extra bonus points to the Freeper who can identify this author

[9999lakes]

Using a point from contemporary culture {books, magazines, the news, and movies} is something every good preacher does. I've heard Billy Graham do it hundreds of times. Same with Dr. James Kennedy, Dr. James Dobson, Chuck Swindoll et al.

In fact even Paul did exactly that when he preached on Mars Hill {Acts 19 I think}.