The Horror

Sundial, Chilleurs-Aux-Bois, France

This article is inspired by the extra cable movies channels my Mom has purchased. My Mom is a retired senior with some health issues and spends a fair amount of the time watching television and being on the internet. Many of the movies are of good quality, but some of the horror/suspense/thriller films seem to lack basic quality in the story and are very disturbing.

As a child and teenager I remember staying up late and watching some classic horror/suspense/thriller movies with Vincent Price such as Pit and the Pendulum (1961), The Raven (1963), The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971), and Dr. Phibes Rises Again (1972). I personally do not enjoy watching this kind of material often, and I do not necessarily recommend that these films be viewed, but I have to admit that although these movies contained some disturbing scenes they were basically well written stories with good acting. These films although dealing with some evil subject matter still appeared to have significant artistic merit. Many of the current horror/suspense/thriller movies to me lack basic quality of story, have very disturbing scenes, glorify evil, and promote fear. I do not have a problem with evil being artistically shown in films in either the context of our real world or a fantasy world such as in The Wizard of OZ (1939), The Harry Potter series (2001), The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001), or in the excellent new Spanish film I just viewed in the theatre, Pan's Labyrinth (2006). I do not see much artistic merit in films that appear to focus on promoting evil as something that should be glorified as entertainment and at the same time promote a fear of evil. Many modern horror/suspense/thriller films seem more concerned with establishing an atmosphere of terror rather than an atmosphere of artistically looking at the problem of evil. Below are portions of reviews from screenit.com of some of the movies I have had the misfortune of running into with my remote control. I debated on whether or not to include graphic material as in torture details but decided not to, however, that information can be found through the links provided.

Hostel (2005)

http://www.screenit.com/movies/2006/hostel.html

The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated horror/suspense film. Profanity consists of at least 100 "f" words, while many other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Sexually explicit dialogue is present, as are several sexual encounters (featuring nudity, movement and sounds) and various views of nonsexual nudity (many views of bare breasts, butts and some female full frontal).

Violence consists of many people being tortured, wounded and killed via sadistic means, most of which has extremely bloody and gory results (the film is definitely not for the squeamish), and those scenes and other moments of peril will likely be quite unsettling or suspenseful to viewers. The perpetrators of such acts, those who support them, and others have bad attitudes, while some of that and other behavior might be enticing for some disturbed kids to imitate.

Saw (2004)

http://www.screenit.com/movies/2004/saw.html

Here's a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated suspense/thriller. Profanity consists of at least 27 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Some brief, but sexually explicit dialogue is present, a man calls off an affair in a motel room and a man's bare butt is very briefly seen in a nonsexual context.

Violence consists of lethal and bloody acts where people are killed by various means and in various fashions (shootings, a head repeatedly smashed, etc.), others are threatened and/or severely injured, and the results of earlier, unseen violence are visible (with extremely grisly and bloody results).

Those scenes and other moments (including some jump scenes) may be disturbing, suspenseful or downright scary to viewers, especially those with low tolerance levels for such material as well as younger kids if allowed to watch this. The killer who's responsible for the deaths and sick traps obviously has a bad attitude, while a married man is noted as having an affair (with some other related tense family material being present). A man smokes several times and a woman is noted as being a drug addict, but no use occurs.

The Devil’s Reject’s (2005)

http://www.screenit.com/movies/2005/the_devils_rejects.html

Here's a brief summary of the content found in this suspense film that's been rated R. Profanity consists of at least 203 "f" words, while plenty of other expletives and colorful phrases are also uttered. Various instances of sexually explicit (and sometimes crude) dialogue are present (including talk of bestiality and necrophilia) as is a sex scene with nudity, movement and related sounds, other sexual material, and various instances of full frontal and partial female nudity, while scantly clad women are also seen.

Violence consists of people being killed by various means (gunfire, stabbing and much more), while there are also scenes of sadistic torture. Much of that has extremely bloody and gory results, and those scenes and other moments of peril might be disturbing and/or suspenseful to viewers. All of the main characters have extreme cases of bad attitudes (including the cop after the killers).

Thanks for reading.

Russ:)

Chucky's Revenge?

Heritage Coast, Wales

My good friend known as Chucky responded to a multi-topic blog article I posted on satire and theology.

Within the article I had posted a link from the Albert Mohler program which discussed global warming, but also Richard Dawkins. Here is the Albert Mohler link:

http://www.albertmohler.com/radio_show.php?cdate=2007-01-23

Chucky noted:

Sounds like Dawkins is kind of a scientific Jerry Springer: he is more interested in provoking, offending and getting people riled up than in seeking truth. His righteous anger toward religion makes me think of the character of Saul of Tarsus. It is hard to think that anything other than a revelatory experience would cause him to change his ways.

Re: Global warming, I simply don't understand how our governments can just keep throwing gazillions of dollars at out-of-control health care, pointless wars, ineffective gun registries, all kinds of "squeaky wheels", etc. while productive industry shifts to developing countries, never mind placing additional restrictions on businesses which may do nothing more than hasten their demise (due o inability to compete with non-Kyoto countries). Yet I believe that we ought to be good stewards of what God has given us. The dilemma we face is caused by having already gone too far down the wrong road (of fossil fuel depletion) to make things right, unless there is a concerted global effort to change. Probably only a global dictatorship would have a chance at this point. 1984 here we come...

I replied:

Philosophical truth should not be overlooked as questionable and for the most part only empirical scientific data accepted as the means by which truth can be understood. Since the universe is expanding it is likely not infinite and eternal and neither is matter. What existed before matter and what caused it to exist? If time is eternal we have a vicious regress and an infinite amount of time cannot me traversed. If time is finite, what existed before time and what caused time? These are problems that are in my view larger than the problem of evil which is my MPhil and PhD topic. My articles on first cause and infinite on thekingpin68 blog point out difficulties with rejecting some non-materialistic explanations for truth in reality. Certainly supernatural occurrences are not typical but I would conclude that the existence of finite matter required the first miracle as a supernatural first cause created the universe. This first cause would have the capability to intervene within creation when desired and this would of course have the potential to appear untypical. I reason that Biblical revelation is a result of the creator intervening within the universe..

http://thekingpin68.blogspot.com/2006_07_01_archive.html

http://thekingpin68.blogspot.com/2006_10_01_archive.html

I would add that I am no expert on Richard Dawkins or science, but I saw an interview he did on the Charlie Rose show and he basically indicated that religious people were not educated. Clearly it is not that simple or easy for scientists who rely primarily on empirical testing to dismiss religious views that are developed through rational, reasonable deduction and revelation. There are educated scientists and educated philosophers, theologians, and Biblical scholars. Rather than dismissing those of other disciplines I think it is better to admit one's own intellectual short comings with an open mind. If I need to go into a hospital for open heart surgery I do not want a theologian to attempt to operate on me with the use of the Bible and theology texts. If I am terminally ill in the hospital a surgeon's skill becomes useless to me and if a theologian demonstrates to me that God has historically revealed himself in Scripture and provided a means of salvation and everlasting life through Christ, then he is of use to me in my time of need.

Russ:)

The problem of evil: your input requested

Le Mont Saint Michel, France

Greetings,

As part of my PhD dissertation, I am issuing a short and completely confidential and nameless problem of evil questionnaire through the internet. Anyone who is attending a Christian church, my sample group, that is interested in filling one out please let me know by leaving a comment or contacting me at rnmwales@shaw.ca

I will send a copy to those who are not within my sample group upon request as well. I will shortly be looking to sample local churches.

Here is an explanation of what is basically contained within the questionnaire.

Part 1:

Questions on basic background information, but the questionnaire remains nameless.
Questions on the church attended and religious beliefs in general terms.

Part 2:

Questions on the nature of God.
Questions relating to free will, sovereignty, and soul-making views on the problem of evil.
Questions relating to practical theology from a feminist perspective.

Part 3:

Questions concerning society and the problem of evil.

Thanks for reading.

Russ Murray

Beckham and Grey's Anatomy

Lake Wakatipu, New Zealand

Greetings,

Here are two of my recent philosophical comments from two other blogs. The first comment relates to Western materialism and professional sports. The original article discusses David Beckham's move from Real Madrid to Major League Soccer. The second comment relates to world-view and Grey's Anatomy, which I have never actually watched. The original article discusses what Isaiah Washington has been put through because of his negative comment.

http://redeemingthetime.blogspot.com/2007/01/beckhams-millions-jackpot-or-insanity.html

I have been a European soccer fan for several years and was fortunate enough when I lived in Manchester to have home membership for Manchester United and away membership for Arsenal. As a student I viewed a handful of games. At the time Beckham played for United he was a hard working above average player, but not the best on the team. Beckham coming to L.A. is seemingly largely about the MLS increasing media exposure. In a sense this move reflects the notion in our society that bigger is better and since the MLS is not a major sport in North America they will pay a player likely past his prime, a ridiculous amount of money. In my opinion the NHL in expanding to many non-hockey markets in the United States is as well suffering from the bigger is better mentality. To a point, I do not blame a business or organization for wanting to expand, but the MLS is not going to become a major league by throwing money at a player they are overrating, and the NHL is likely never going to be a major sport in much of the United States. This move by the MLS is largely a bunch of hype attempting to convince North Americans that soccer is becoming major league on this continent and I deny that soccer is becoming that popular here. Soccer may be growing in the United States but the top American athletes will largely continue to play football, baseball, basketball, golf and other sports at a high level rather than soccer. Kirk you mentioned the love of money, but when I think of how of the MLS and the NHL are making all these attempts to become very popular in the United States, I reason there is also a love of success going on here. In other words an attempt to eventually match the success of the NFL and European Soccer. As a Christian I think that there are much more worthy pursuits.

http://professor-howdy.blogspot.com/

Please see under Official Notice!!!

A thoughtful article. If I had made such a negative public remark I would apologize. It is one thing to disagree with a person's lifestyle but another to disrespect a person with a term. I would then refuse to succumb to any further pressure from groups that would think I needed counseling and such. An apology for a bad word is one thing, but an apology for a world-view is another. Any further discussion would require a debate on the world-view issue. With God's help I would aim not to offend anyone on my blogs or academic writing, but if I did offend and was wrong I would apologize. However, I would refuse to be pressured into acting as if my world-view was incorrect just because certain people in Hollywood and the media did not agree with it.

Russ