Dogma and Russell

Dogma is defined as, “a principle or set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true.” Synonyms to dogma include tenet concerning faith and doctrine.  As you can probably guess, the movie I choose to watch this week was Dogma (1999). This movie has a loaded cast with (Matt Demon, Ben Affleck, Chris Rock, Selma Hayek, my personal favorite Alan Rickman, and many more). The plot of this film presents a different view on the Catholic Church as written and directed by Kevin Smith. To sum of the jist of the movie, an abortion clinic worker with a “special” lineage is basically called on to save the human race. The one who calls on her is the “voice of God” or God’s personal Assistant, Metetron (Alan Rickman). On the way for her to save the human race, two prophets assist her. Why you ask does she have to save the human race?? Well, she has to stop two angels who were cast out of heaven from erasing God’s doings by having their souls restored by entering a church celebration.

            You see, Cardinal Glick (George Carlin, who I will talk about more later) gives a presentation at church telling the congregation and the world that they are going to try and change the Catholic fading image. With these changes he proposes a Papal sanction, so anyone who enters the church on the day of the “rededication ceremony” will have all their sins forgiven and will be “good” in God’s eyes. The two fallen angels, Loki (Matt Damon) and Bartleby (Ben Affleck) think that this is the perfect time to restore their angel status and get them out of serving eternity in a place “worst than hell,” Wisconsin.

            Overall, the plot has a lot of twists and turns and represents the changes the Catholic Church is making and how they are comical in a way. In the reading for class on Tuesday, the one I want to focus on is “Why I am not Christian” by Bertrand Russell.

            Bertrand Russell’s discussion on why he is not a Christian contains several different reasons, but he concludes with the idea of “what we must do” regarding Christianity. He explains that our conception of God is unworthy of free men. He explains that the church should not call people sinners and the act of doing so is not worthy of self-respecting human beings. Finally, he concludes that we should stand up and make the best of the world, which needs, “knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men.” Russell urges us to not look back and not look forward, but trust that our intelligence will lead us to a successful future.  

            Using Russell’s approach to Christianity could be shown in the film Dogma because the film uses satire to make fun of the Catholic Church and it’s dogmatic teachings. The first few lines in the film are of Cardinal Glick claiming that the church is attempting to revamp its image so that people will change their opinion about the church.  

Here is part of  quote from that scene:

“Now we all know how the majority and the media in this country view the Catholic church. They think of us as a passe, archaic institution. People find the Bible obtuse... even hokey. Now in an effort to disprove all that the church has appointed this year as a time of renewal... both of faith and of style. For example, the crucifix. While it has been a time honored symbol of our faith, Holy Mother Church has decided to retire this highly recognizable, yet wholly depressing image of our Lord crucified. Christ didn't come to Earth to give us the willies... He came to help us out. He was a booster. And it is with that take on our Lord in mind that we've come up with a new, more inspiring sigil. So it is with great pleasure that I present you with the first of many revamps the "Catholicism WOW. " campaign will unveil over the next year. I give you... The Buddy Christ. Now that's not the sanctioned term we're using for the symbol, just something we've been kicking around the office, but look at it. Doesn't it... pop? Buddy Christ..”

            This quote shows an example of what Bertrand Russell urges us to do. He urges us to move forward and although it is comical, the Catholic Church in Dogma is trying to do that. Though Russell would rather us quite Christianity as a whole, the film shows what would happen if we were to change Catholicism.