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with comments by David Bruce

THE ENDING OF VANILLA SKY
Subject: Vanilla Sky
Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2002
From: Chris Utley

i totally understood it. many people don't. the whole film was a cross between Twilight Zone and It's A Wonderful Life. that may be too much for people to bear and stomach. it would have been nice to see how David Aames lived his life after his eyes were opened. Chris Utley

COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS OF WITCHCRAFT
Subject: Harry_Potter
Date: Sat, 05 Jan 2002
From: "Alisa Webb"

With all due respect to this site and those who have posted, I wish to comment on the usage of the term "witchcraft".

The term "witch", in modern society, has become somewhat interchangeable with the term "Wiccan". As someone of that faith, I am saddened by the lack of tolerance some Christians have of things they do not understand. A true "Witch" is not evil. They DON'T perform rituals in the name of satan, nor do they try to influence others to their way of thinking. In old times, witches were an accepted part of society.

I think many Christians automatically hated the Harry Potter books and movie because of the references they had to Witchcraft. They are fully entitled to their opinions. However, I don't remember this much fuss over the T.V. movie "Merlin", which portrayed the life of the famous mythical wizard. What is the difference? The difference is the common MISCONCEPTION about the word "witch".

I understand that many Christian parents are concerned about what their children read or watch. But when it comes right down to it, PARENTS, not a book or a movie, are going to mold a child's values.

Response: Thanks for your insight! I hope other Wiccans respond. There is a lot of misconception out there. Please feel free to keep your comments coming. I appreciate your participation. -David

THE MOVIE: WALK TO REMEMBER
Subject: The movie: Walk to remember
Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2002
From: Robert

I read the book. The book has a nice spirituality about it. I wonder if the movie is staying close to the book, preserving the some of the spiritual qualities of the book. We are thinking about taking our church youth group to see the movie..If the movie stays true to the book, You might want to discuss this movie on your site.
Aloha in Christ
Cleo & Robert

8 AND NOT 7
Subject: blairwitch 2
Date: Sat, 5 Jan 2002
From: "geckho"

hey..am i the only one to realise that when Kims crashes Jeffs van when she sees those little kids that there are 8 children and not 7 which is the amount killed and the amount that Kim said she had seen to Jeff and reckoned that those were the kids that runstin parr killed..

WHAT WAS THAT!!?!
Subject: Vanilla_Sky
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002
From: Angel

the movie made noo sense and hollywood jesus just restated what i knew... i wish there was some clarity as to what is real and what isn't real. i think the only way we'll know is to find one of the writers!!

Response: Angel, I saw an interview with tom cruise the other day that reiterated my thoughts in the review. Vanilla sky is about a young man so submersed in pop culture that he is unable to connect with people (the opening scene wonderfully suggests this). cruise also said that the character never takes responsibility, and doesn't realize the ramifications of his decisions until the incident with gianni--thus cruise is saying that one of the main themes is taking responsibility. Cruise also said that vanilla sky is about the small moments and decisions that we deem insignificant that actually have a huge impact. Maybe you all are looking for something that isn't there: maybe the film is simpler. -Simon Remark

THANKS, AND TO SAK YOUR THOUGHTS ON A MOVIE
Subject: requiem for a dream
Date: Sat, 05 Jan 2002
From: "Brent

hi david!
id like to thank you for this site, for being everything that www.capalert.com is not. I just think that if a Christian site makes people NOT want to be Christians, the whole point is lost. but anyways, im rambling.

i just got done watching the movie "requiem for a dream" and i was wondering if you had seen it yet. if you havent, go get it! i thought it was amazing, right up there with the likes of magnolia and american beauty. if you have seen it (or if you ever see it) i would really like to hear your thoughts about it on the webpage.

keep up the GREAT work!!
brent

Response: I have seen it. Perhaps I will do a review someday. -David

THOUGHTS FROM A BRIT
Subject: Newsletter 30
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002
From: Steve Kennedy.

I am a teacher in an inner city primary school and wondered if I could contribute something to the HP debate. In my opinion there is a spiritual dimension to movies as in life that can be good and uplifting,(Chariots of Fire) or very troubling and evil (The Exorcist.) As a child Fantasia scared me to death with the 'Night on Bare Mountain' sequence and I had difficulty getting to sleep for days.

Personal experience does not always count for much in today's tolerant world, however, I have known several very damaged children in the inner-city who have exhibited spiritual behaviour of a foul nature. One boy, the son of spiritist parents had real problems with 'unseen presences'. So why my concern about Harry Potter? Isn't that just a fantasy medium for a spiritually searching generation? Well I know that is possibly where you are coming from, but my concern is for those whose childhood is so seriously damaged that it takes on some deeper significance. The bible notes Christ's healing of a demonised child that was being destroyed. Some things are no different today. Should we not speak out for the vulnerable, however unpopular in today's culture?

I remember the days of Dungeons and Dragons and several of my work colleagues getting very obsessed by it and one becoming an apprentice witch searching for spiritual reality. I had great opportunities to share about the Lord's power to redeem. Wonderful for young people, but not always easy for children in an abusive situation.

Harry Potter's portrayal of evil as something good, even if done through the fantasy medium of flying brooms, is my concern, especially when targeted at children. The first film maybe in the family film tradition, and that doesn't make it right, but by the fourth book in the series there are quite disturbing parts which one British paper commented as being unsuitable for Children (The Independent). And doesn't the devil come as an angel of light? (2 Cor 11v14.) Traditionally, in most works of fiction, witches were not seen as a force for good. Indeed C.S. Lewis notes that a witch in the community was considered to be a genuine source of spiritual barrenness to the women.

Having seen what the consequences can be for undiscerning people who have come out of a background of the occult, both young and old, isn't there a place for prevention, warning and discernment about the realities of witchcraft, no matter how tastefully and cleverly marketed.

Anyway, I suppose the final thing to say is that any spiritual interest aroused could be used to discuss the claims of Christ and the fate of the two magicians, Simon and Elymus, in the book of Acts. I hope that is a useful contribution to the debate.
Steve Kennedy.

GOD IS JUDGING
Subject: Newsletter 29
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002
From: "David Alfeld-Johnson"

I'm weighing in pretty late and didn't have time to read all of the other responses, so forgive me if this is redundant. I do not pretend to know all of the ways that God was active, present, or involved in the events of September 11. I would simply make three comments:

1) once again it is ironic to find the liberal and conservative extremes proclaiming similar ideas (just slightly different content) with regard to who is "responsible" for the attacks. While conservative voices suggest God is punishing America for its participation in their favorite sins, liberals also voiced a sentiment that "America brought this on itself" because of our policies and attitudes in the world.

2) You mentioned that the idea that God would work through someone like Osama Bin Laden was outrageous. Yet OT prophets like Jeremiah and Isaiah often suggested that Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon were God's instruments without suggesting that what they did was in any way righteous. God seems willing to act in all kinds of outrageous ways.

3) Love is sometimes painful. Loving America may sometimes involve pain. The problem is that one can't discipline a nation without bringing harm to its individual citizens. One problem we have understanding terrorism is the way it blurs the lines between nations and individuals. Attacking a nation can be justified, attacking individuals is unjustifiable. It feels like Bin Laden and followers viewed themselves as attacking a nation and a culture, while we experienced the attack as an attack on innocent civilians. Conversely, our actions in the world are directed at nations and markets and are easy to justify, but these same actions are likely taken personally by individuals and fuel some of the anti-american sentiments around the world.

I mention these random thoughts in my attempts to understand (not condone, although in the current climate, understanding is often confused with condoning), these terrible and destructive events.
Thanks for listening.
David Alfeld-Johnson

POOR ROWLING
Subject: Poor Rowling Newsletter_30 Harry_Potter
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002
From: Jeff Harvey

When I first looked into the whole "Harry Potter" phenomenon, I read the bogus interview that was supposedly held with it's author. She was made to look as a sapient trickster whose sole objective was to deceptively draw in the youth of America to her dark world of witchcraft and sorcery. Fortunately, I found out that this article was as fictitious as the Harry Potter books themselves. Personally, this type of blatant sophistry has done more damage to our reputations as Christians than attempting to do accurate research.

The articles that I read from reliable sources that actually did interview Rowling portrayed a much more accurate portrait of a woman who had thought of and then scripted a story that she would have enjoyed hearing for herself. Simple as that. It's a fun story: simple, fulfilling all children's (as well as adults') desire to be special and to be seen for their own uniqueness.

She had no agenda when writing this story (aside from selling it), but we were quick to make one up for her. She is now the one having to endure these attacks on her character. I, however, am glad that she's now able to live without welfare and has had a new start to her life.

My father is a pastor and was chastised by other Christians for letting me read the stories of JRR Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. If it weren't for such stories, however, I would have never learned to love reading novels. They had spiritual overtones and magic, yet they did not cause those who read them to join Wicca or leave their faith.

Look at what the world has thrown at us before: Dungeons and Dragons, Star Wars, countless music videos, all with a much stronger and more harmful message of witchcraft, magic and dangerous philosophical viewpoints. Harry Potter is innocent in comparison with much of what we have seen before.

I would encourage those looking into the whole Harry Potter issue to simply do that, look into it. Research it for yourselves and don't buy into the hysteria of the moment.

PARADOX
Subject: Newsletter 21
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002
From: "Moo-ree"

David,
I have to wonder if religious people are targets of suspicion for the very reason they are respected: conviction. One's convictions, based on beliefs about God, man, sin, redemption are core to how we live. Even if one is NOT religious, he or she has beliefs about these core issues, even if they are counter to Biblical thought. Religious convictions set up this paradox in that faith based on evidence- note EVIDENCE and NOT proof-which for many seems fuzzy and ethereal as opposed to being concrete and measurable. If I live my life by the conviction that I am a sinner in need of grace, then I will more than likely conduct myself with humility and tell others of that grace that saves and restores me. My neighbor, who may possess the opposite conviction ("I don't' need God I'm my own person. I don't even think He exists"!)sees me as strange and foreign. I become a target of suspicion because my motives are "too good to be true" or completely incredible. Bridging the gap takes time, sincerity, genuineness in relationship and prayer.

In The Pledge, Jerry didn't have TIME to see if the fruit of the pastor's life was good and real. He had a murderer to apprehend before someone else was killed. Even as a Biblical Christian, I've become increasingly suspect of much of evangelical Christianity for the reasons I mentioned above. There is precious little honesty and authenticity among those who claim to be believers. The fruit is all too frequently bad or lacking and we won't admit to our brothers and sisters that we are in desperate need of God's grace even though we are already saved. Sean Penn's suspicion is a product of who we are a society and of our personal tendency to distance ourselves from a sovereign Creator who so dearly loves us. As I get older, I realize all the more that the good we do is by His grace and not of ourselves. We need to extend that grace to others as we see failings and weakness, believer and unbeliever alike. That conviction may get us into worldly trouble (by not being suspicious enough or looking naïve) but that's where faith comes in. Just some ideas,
Marie from Ohio

Response: Thanks -David

GREAT MOVIE
Subject: AI Artifical Intelligence
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002
From: "Mat Carpenter"

Truly wonderful, if a little strange. Okay, very strange! Also, note how, at the end, the aliens mention that their human clones only live for one day. Could it be because the clone has no soul?

CAN THERE BE ANY DOUBT?
Subject: Change_Is_Good_for_Churches-News31
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002
From: "Willms"

Is change good for the church?
Can there be any doubt? Change is good. Very good. Not change for change's sake, of course. But change that represents a natural, organic evolution to something better. Christianity is a movement of progress. Christianity is so vibrant because of its astonishing ability to adapt over time and across cultures. Change is a visible sign of God continuing to be at work in the world. But change is also threatening -- at least to humans. The history of my Anabaptists ancestors contains thousands of martyrs executed as heretics by those for whom change was not good. But not to worry. The church will change regardless of whether we want it to or not. Through a process of natural selection God will continue to work through those willing to do His will.

PHEW, AT LAST...
Subject: harry_potter
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002
From: Helen

It's nice to see that there are some Christians out there in cyberspace who don't want to make me feel guilty for loving Harry Potter! It's true that magic features in many stories - good and bad. Arabian Nights tales, fairy godmothers, Narnia (!)... all over the place. I used to fantasise I was the fairy godmother from Cinderella, which would probably have struck most people as cute. Magic is fun as a tool of the imagination - it is blatantly obvious to most people who have enough knowledge that Harry Potter and real witchcraft are incredibly dissimilar.

But most of all, the thing that excites me is the comparisons with the message of Jesus... who knows, maybe someone will hear the gospel and think 'Hey, it's like Harry Potter!' and it will make sense.

(On an aside, of course parents should be careful - if they aren't being careful on matters aside from Harry Potter I want to know why.) I find the sensationalist regard of Harry Potter, and Lord of the Rings for that matter, a bit misguided at best. Love this site, keep up the good work.
Thanks, Helen
-<:Punctuality is the thief of time:>-

Response: Thanks for the kind words. -David

MY FAVORITE FILM -AND NOT JUST CAUSE I'M A GIRL
Subject: Prince_of_Egypt
Date: Fri, 4 Jan 2002
From: Emily

I saw The Prince of Egypt when I was about... ten, was it? Um, 1998 was the year it was released... I'm thirteen in February...er, yes! I was ten! So anyway, I was ten years old. I had rarely read religious books, even for my age group, but I knew the story vaguely. I was also unfamiliar with Dreamworks.

I was completely electrified by The Prince of Egypt- and not just because I was a ten-year-old girl. Yes, I did like the songs, but only because I basically like music and the Hebrew in them interested me. My mother, then a grown woman with three kids, also liked the movie, even if she did have to put up with my little brother (then a small baby)- and not just because she's a mum. We liked it because we thought it was a good movie, with animation that I, personally (although at that age I wasn't rating the animation in movies unless it really sucked) loved. I loved, and still love, the way the people looked- I had been exposed to drawings of Exodus people with blonde hair, blue eyes and brightly coloured, immaculate clothing- and the voices, even if they were American, suited the characters. I am a serious writer and have decided that if my stories are ever televised, I will help with the casting. Because the people in my stories are English, French, South American and other nationalities, thinking about it now... I even think I don't suppose casting people Americans to play Ancient Hebrews in an animated feature is that mad. IF IT'S PULLED OFF PROPERLY!

At the tender age of ten, something that I really liked about this movie were the vast amounts of children in it. Although none of them were in speaking parts (as far as I can remember), other films seem to have scores of adults, teenagers even- but they are devoid of people whom the younger audiences can relate to. For some time, I liked to imagine what those kids must've felt like... leaving the land where they'd spent all their lives, moving on to better things. This is a point that will probably make everyone roll their eyes, but the look of the kids in this film was one I really liked. They looked really happy and suitably scruffy (I have a certian love for scruffiness, maybe because I'm the living definition of the word!). AND NOT ONE PERSON IN THE ENTIRE MOVIE WAS BLONDE! (No offense to blonde people. I mean, I am a blonde person, but- GET- IT- RIGHT-! The Ancient Hebrews were not blonde!)

The movie became my favourite film. Although I now have other favourites (anything with Drew Barrymore in it, the Harry Potter movie, Shrek, Antz and Chicken Run, if you're interested, and I'm guessing you're not), but it is a movie that really got to me. It made me feel good to see it, and it makes me feel good even now- and for reasons beyond my being young, a girl, a music-lover and a kid.

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