Poverty Is Not an Accident

Poverty Is Not an Accident
Nelson Mandela

Sunday, August 01, 2010

MOVIE: "Son of Man"

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From Mexican Pastorales to Michegan Sunday school pageants, humans try to portray what the stories of Jesus mean for them. None is historically accurate; none are literal interpretations of the four contradictory Gospels. All are, potentially, poignant, heart felt metaphors and allegories. All renditions are incomplete and imperfect, including the King James version of the Bible. So, let us get over that, please. No film about Jesus goes uncriticized, usually by those steeped in religious traditions that have, tragically, taken poetry, allegory, metaphor and symbolism out of faith and replaced them with rigid doctrines, literalist interpretations, fear and hatred of The Other. SOM is not ths story of Jesus. It is a question: if Jesus were born on the African continent now, what might happen and how would it look? This is liberation theology: we are all sons of man. God is supposed to be love. We are made in the likeness of God. So, where is the love? Yes, Jesus is, finally, Black, strong and virile. He espouses non-violence, justice and personal dignity for everyone, women included. Everybody is Black African; this is not about racism, but oppression & liberation. I will never call myself a Christian, because of cultural abuses of that word. I am agnostic. If I had lived in such a vivid interpretation of spirituality, rather than rigid, dogmatic repression, this might not have been true for me. Liberation, salvation, redemption are for everyone. I loved this film.

http://www.southafrica.info/what_happening/arts_entertainment/son-of-man-250106.htm 
 





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