Evangeline

This movie was written for the literal believer. It is sensationalism in the same tradition of Nightmare on ElmStreet Horror flicks. It is ironic that the same people that would complain about sensationalism in film and television are probably the same people that applaud this movie. If you believe that pain and suffering have a meaning, in particular, Jesus's pain and suffering has a meaning, this movie does not properly convey that meaning. It focuses only on the sensational part of the story to the exclusion of what precedes or happens afterward and what precedes and happens after are the very parts of the story that give meaning to the suffering and pain. If you don't "mentally" add those parts in, then you are going to miss the essence of what is being said. You just leave feeling numb from the violence. This sort of brutality has and still does happen on this Earth. Sex and violence create very strong emotional responses but they often cloud critical thinking. The movie certainly does not make a strong case for "believing" in Jesus Christ.....it makes a strong case that Roman soldiers were brutal Sadists and that Jews (at least the Sanhedrin) are hard-hearted and materialistic. It is a horror flick that is acceptable to Right-Wing Christians.

One of the best Christian Books that I have ever read is actually a book on the Tarot. The Tarot has encoded alot of Esoteric Christian symbols that would have gotten you burned in another time period if stated literally. "Meditations on the Tarot" is written anonymously and the book cover has an endorsement by Merton....Cardinal von Balthasar also endorses it. I also recommend Richard Smoley's "Inner Christianity" "Renaissance of the Spirit" by Mary Scott, Anything at all by Elaine Pagels, Aion by Carl Jung, The Jesus Mysteries by Timothy Freke, this one is good for building bridges between Pagans/Wiccans and Christians........ Love, Evangeline

If we are truly created in the image of God then this has vast implications. "Knowing yourself" becomes of paramount importance in understanding the nature of God. In fact an understanding of your own humanity would be the quickest most credible method for understanding God...not studying scripture. Knowing all the good and evil that is within human nature this was a frightening thought...at first. Then as years passed and experience was gained, I got to know myself on a deeper level.......if I am made in the image of God......this has become a deep source of happiness.

1. I consider myself a liberal and I have recently reconciled myself with Jesus. I was not raised in any faith but Eckankar had the strongest influence on me because it was my Grandmother's belief system. I was raised to believe that all faiths are valid...but I had this huge problem with Christianity, so in an effort to remove my own hypocrisy, I began studying Christianity. I fell into the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn and this increased my momentum to understand Christianity which uses quite a bit of Egyptian/JudeoChristian symbolism in its rituals and I needed to be comfortable with Christian symbolism in order to effectively do the work. For years Christianity was synonmous with stupid in my mind. The only exposure I got was in history books and on the Sunday morning television all this combined with living in the South synergestically created an extreme revulsion toward it. I discovered a book called "Meditations on the Tarot" written anonymously and approved by several Catholic theologians, which is in my opinion the best Tarot book I have ever read. Then I found Mary Scott's (?) "Rennaissance of the Spirit", Smoley's "Inner Christianity" ,Pagels "Gnostic Gospels" and Jung's "Aion" and slowly my attitudes toward Christianity started warming up considerably. I did a research paper on the Mass (I had never been to one in my entire life up till then) and found attending Mass and studying it very moving....I also did research on the Virgin of Guadalupe that I found very impressive..... I fell in love with a Presbyterian minister, who I met after praying in the chapel at work (I work at a Hospital)........while I could accept and admire him exactly as he was....I was merely a "project" to be altered.....but the experience made me realize that my "ideal" masculine image is that of Jesus. I wanted a man that was that ethical, loving, and compassionate....and while my minister was not totally these things (he seemed to be stuck in Piaget's preoperational thinking stage; egocentric and centratic) I did realize that I was falling in love with the projection of my own animus. Jesus was at the center of my being. The kingdom of God was within. While I can not hold this realization 24 hours a day....I got enough to radically alter my life...and most especially alter my prejudices toward Christianity. In Astrological terms a woman's spirit is represented by her Sun sign which for me was Pisces.........the symbol of the fishes....the birth of Jesus ushered in the Piscean Age. My personal connection to the Spirit was through recognizing Jesus Christ as my savior...........but certainly in a radically different way than most people thought of it. 2. I live in East Tennessee. 3. I am a medical transcriptionist and going to school full time.......I wanted to go into Unitarian Ministry or Psychology but I have not decided......I thought about Episcopalian as I adore the Mass....but I do not agree with creeds.........I am a non-creedal Christian.....just as comfortable (and often times much much more comfortable) with a Pagan, Hindu, Jew, Buddhist as a Christian.....depending on the Christian. 4. I surfed on to these boards. 5. I am looking for interesting people, informative discussions, and mind blowing experiences. 6. That icon looks like a terrified Muslim woman. 7. Does anybody think that perhaps Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of Moral Development dovetails nicely with Pauls three categories of people? I can not remember the name of the first category but the other two are Psychikos, and Pneumaticos. The Bible is supposedly written for the Psychikos and not the other two.........the first group are little more than animals and are innocent/stupid and won't get it and the last (Pneuamaticos) completely fulfill it by embodying it. You could say transcend it.......they don't need rules anymore. I am not necessarily a Pauline Christian but is anybody out there familiar with these categories?