Just Say No to Hollywood

I was watching a movie on TV about the life of Bruce Lee. In the story, Bruce was dating a Caucasian girl and they went out to see a movie. The movie they watched was a comedy, where an Asian character was depicted in a degrading way. Everyone, including Bruce's date, was laughing because they thought it was funny. But when the girl turned to Bruce, she noticed that he wasn't laughing. In fact, she could tell from his facial expressions that Bruce was not amused. Bruce was insulted instead. So she told him "Let's get out of here." This made me wonder. Today, there is no shortage of TV shows or movies that are offensive to Christians, especially to Catholics. Many Christians and Catholics would react the same way as Bruce Lee did, when they see shows or movies that denigrate or ridicule Catholics or Christians. So maybe, we should show the same courage as Bruce's date and refuse to continue watching these types of TV shows and movies. We may not be able to change Hollywood, but at least we can stand up for our principles and do the right thing.

Civility - Some People May Surprise You

I was told about a comment made by someone who read my blogs. Although the comment was made by an agnostic, he actually said some nice things about me and my blogs. That surprised me. I was expecting a hostile reaction since I perceived that agnostics or atheists wouldn’t like my blogs about religion. I guess my perception was wrong. Unfortunately, this is the common perception we developed, due to the hostility or animosity that we hear about, from the media, between Christians and atheists. I read somewhere that G.K. Chesterton (a convert to Catholicism) was a friend of George Bernard Shaw (an atheist). Although they debated about God and religion, there was no animosity between them. In fact, when Chesterton died, Shaw had only nice things to say about him. I was just wondering if it was ever possible someday for people to discuss things, whether religion, politics, or other topics, with civility once again. There seems to be a shortage of that nowadays.

Being a Christian Means More Than Just Going to Church

A retired nurse, who went to church last Sunday, told us this story. A man sitting nearby started to go into shock. She recognized the symptoms and immediately helped him. She also called 911. What upset her was the fact that there were other nurses there who did nothing but watch them. Is your notion of Christian behavior similar to these people? Is Christianity limited to just going to church on Sundays? Or does Christian behavior actually require that you practice what you believe, such as emulating the “Good Samaritan”, or “doing unto others what you want them to do unto you?” Will God say to you “Well done,” when it’s your turn to face judgment before Him?”