On Tim Rice, John Rambo, and a statement on religion to kick off July!

 I watched an unusual combination Monday. First, at YaYa's request she and a friend put on the 2000 Glenn Carter version of Jesus Christ Superstar.

I much prefer the light-hearted but spiritual Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat, and I will say it again: Tim Rice's lyrics are what made these musicals, not Webber's music. But after viewing Superstar for the first time since the early '80's, I have to say it wasn't half bad.

It was too secular at times for my taste, never expliciting showing his divinity, but unlike contemporary protests about the musical I don't object to Judas' portrayal. I've always thought that there must be a more complex reason than greed behind the betrayal of his friend and mentor. Not an excuse mind you, but a reason, and the fears expressed in the movie are certainly one option.

Still, it got me thinking. To a degree I feel that anger towards Judas, at least in the here and now, is meaningless. At the time, sure, and I'm not saying he shouldn't rot in hell. But in hindsight he had his role to play, a neccessary one, and he fufilled it.

Was it preordained? Was he chosen as an apostle with the knowledge that it would set in motion these events? Did his betrayal change the dynamic of the group to such an extent that Simon Peter was free to ascend to a leadership role as head of the church? How would the group and the church have evolved if another had been the betrayer? Was he acting of free will (my vote) or asa pawn of the drama that was to unfold? If the latter he must be absolved of the sin, for he was not acting of his own voltion. And on the cross, when Jesus asked his Father to forgive those who killed him, wouldn't that include Judas' soul?

As for the movie itself, I thought the actor who played Judas was superb, Glenn Carter's Jesus less so, and the actress playing Mary Magdalene (patron saint of the church where I was married) was both beautiful and gifted with an equally impressive voice.

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And then, in a 180 degree turnaround, I watched Rambo (alone). This time Rambo escorts a group of Christian missionaries into war torn Burma, and when they face enslavement and torture he does what he does best to get them out.

Allright: first off, Stallone is a heck of a director. Forget his writing (which can be great or poor, depending on the day) and his acting. As a director I think he staged this movie beautifully and artfully, and kudos to him on that.

On the other hand it was bloody as hell and featured 3x as many killings as the other Rambo flicks combined, at least according to an internet source.

I will go on record though as saying that it seems far less violent than its predecessors, in part because very little of the violence (none that I can think of actually) is for sh**'s and giggles.

The persecution of Burmese Christians is brutal and repressive, but CERTAINLY far gentler than the reality some of the people there face. The rescue attempt is matter of fact without excess gore, and the finale . . well there's not much you can say to soften the finale. It makes Saving Private Ryan seem like Toy Story,  but it's a legitimate battle between two large groups, not a one man wrecking crew.

Rambo's character is changed by the events of the movie, as is the character of the missionaries.It's a shame the villian is never fleshed out, because it had the makings of a decent flick.

3 out of 4, 75 out of 100. MUCH better than I expected. 

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Let me say something else. I don't care what your religious beliefs are. I'm Catholic and I have friends and acquaintances who are Pentecostal, Atheist, Agnostic, Mormon, Muslim, Hindu, and Lutheran. Live and let live.

But not everyone feels that way, and time and again I'm struck by the naivety of good people. It's the old example of expecting someone to tell the truth just because you yourself  would never lie in that situation. That's foolish, and just a fancy way of projecting your beliefs and mindset on someone else.

Our own tolerance of other religions in no way guarantees the same respect in return.

At the risk of sounding like a religious nut* I do feel Christianity is under attack and that the majority of believers sit by and let it happen. Across the globe Christians are persecuted and killed and we gloss over it, either because Christians were 'responsible' for such killings in centuries(!) past and we have a guilt complex, or because it isn't PC to just flat out say: Hey, Muslims are killing Christians in X and Communists are doing the same in Y. And heaven forbid we object when someone says "And, oh, by the way, don't you dare talk about Christ but um, I'm gonna wear my veil to work so, uh, tough."

Even here at home we suck it up, afraid of sounding like some old bitty that sends her pension check to the 700 Club. My favorite lurking ground over at Baseball Think Factory recently had a message board thread that wandered off into religious ground. Of the nearly 100 comments I read many were apathetic towards or slightly against Christianity . A vocal minority was VERY anti-Christian. Not anti-religion, but strictly and explicity anti-Christian. On a baseball site.

They listed many of the tired 'guilt' reasons of old, ranging from the Templars to the American West, but in the end it's all crap.**

It's just  cool to bash Christianity because we roll over just swell, like a well trained doggie.

Ugh. Stand your ground. If one of my agnostic friends wanders off into anti-Christian statements, I won't back off a debate. When the Pentecostals get frisky and start tossing around 'Papist' I get frisky back. It doesn't mean you can't hang out and play XBox afterwards. There's nothing uncivil about civilized debate.

After all, what's the point of believing anything if you don't believe in it strongly enough to say so?

*Which a certain Pentecostal at work would say is crazy, because I playfully enjoy the role of agnostic questioner with her whenever we go on break together

** I have the sneaking suspicion that all those fervent guilt/hate spreaders had great-great-grand pappy's who were ever so eager to burn the local synagogue to the ground or toss around measles to the natives. Hate begets hate, it rides in your blood if you're not careful. Nowadays its just more acceptable to hate religion than the black guy down the road, that's all.