Some themes and thoughts on Slumdog Millionaire

I haven’t blogged for a while, but I am starting again. I thought I would start with the notes I made as I prepared for our last Reel Life film event at the Electric Cinema. As I was watching the film I tried to summarise the themes of the film in 4 words, this is what I came up with:

Innocence, suffering, destiny and love

Innocence because we see a progression through the film – of innocence lost –following the death of Jamal and Salim’s mum – and particularly the descent of Salim – the older brother to become a gangster and murderer.

Suffering – Latika and Jamel see and do things they would never have ended up doing – had their lives not been so tragic. One of the things that adds to the pace of the film is the fact they always seem so vulnerable as little kids – and yet their suffering which you tolerate as viewer on the understanding that there is some purpose in it.

And that’s the role of destiny – the fact that Jamel’s very limited life experience has prepared him amply (not just for who wants to be a Millionaire) but to fulfil his destiny in life...

Which is the forth theme - to find his lost love. In Jamel you see a pursuit of Latika regardless of personal cost because of the overwhelming belief that when he is reunited with Latika that everything will be OK.

And those themes are interesting to watch in a film – evangelistically the question they provoke for us is :: is this film itself a parable – for everyone? To what extent are we to transfer meaning from the film into the real world? Are there resonances with how life is meant to be?

2 questions the film prompts:

1. So do our sufferings mean something? When we are suffering intense emotional or physical pain are those sufferings purposeful in any way? Is there an overwhelming sense of destiny that makes purpose of life and means that everything isn’t undone by suffering and death– that is a significant question.

2. And secondly is there a love that can bring about a return of innocence. Is there love that delivers more than just fuzzy feelings but innocence - worth pursuing at any cost?

Having asked those questions I’m not sure what the writer and director would say to them – but there are no shortage of people who say there is no meaning or purpose – everything happens by chance – the film challenges that notion – and says there has to be some purpose to suffering – there has to be some underlying reason for hope & purpose – its unusual in a film!

So listen here’s my 2 pence worth from a Christian perspective:

As a Christian I often get asked about (on a philosophical level – about other people’s) suffering– not a question I’m, going answer here (you can ask me later) but the film asks a deeper more personal question – can any good come out of personal suffering? As a Christian I am able to say yes to that – not because there is an impersonal sense of destiny that eventually makes sense of life – but because there is a personal God who uses the things we go through to challenge and shape our characters. Actually we see it absolutely in the life of Jesus – the innocent man who is willing to die a terrible and lonely death – and yet knowing that through his death (through his sufferings) – he is bringing about rescue. In that way actually that story of Jesus is similar to the end of Salim - the older brother (not because Jesus was a carpenter turned gangster) – but because his death – like the death of the older brother - sets other people free. So in the film - for both brothers – there is a sense of destiny  – but for one it means life, for the other death. So is there a destiny that makes sense of our lives (and our sufferings)? To which the answer from a Christian perspective (at least) is yes - but his name isn’t destiny that is too impersonal for God.

2. The flow of the characters draws us into the story – the fact that Latika is twice let down by Salim (and also raped by Salim in the hotel) there is a progression we see in Latika and Jamel and Salim – of innocence lost. What’s interesting by the end Jamel and Latika end in a Bolywood dance – and that (I think) is emblematic of an innocence regained by the end of the film. It is as if the reunification of those 2 characters can restore and (to some degree) undo the suffering they have been through. The physical and emotional scars are wiped away by this love that brings innocence.

Again I just see some parallels with what is promised by Jesus of a love that does brilliantly restore wounded people. Not with a romantic (and slightly sentimentalised) view of love – (getting the girl) but reunited with the author of love itself. A love that can bring a permanent return to innocence – a total and complete forgiveness.

As you chat about the themes of the film keep thinking about those 2 question:

1. Is there a purpose (a destiny) to our sufferings?

2. Is there a love that can bring a return of innocence – to wipe away suffering?

Well those are my 2 pence worth.

Calvin – 500 years on and still changing the world

I find it fascinating that Time magazine puts Calvinism no. 3 on the “Ideas changing the world right now”. This was an interesting article, particularly now the neocons have left Washington the American media are charting the demise of the political influence of “conservative” Christianity.

How refreshing that an idea (or theology) can still be regarded as influential even when it is not primarily political. It should also cause us to reflect on whether theological ideas still govern and influence the British church. It is sad that many churches do not seek a theological renewal with a passionate return to reformation theology but remain convinced that changing the world comes only through what we do not what we believe. If we make the mistake of putting our theology behind our activity rather than allowing our theology to govern our activity then make an idol of activity and changing the world becomes our goal over and above activity that finds its ultimate goal in the worship and praise of God.

Who are our enemies?

I was deeply concerned to see the BNP exploiting the growing anti-Islamic sentiment that bubbles within the Christian mainstream, combined with the marginalisation of Christian values in order to win more support for the BNP.

This tactic of the BNP plays on the concerns of Christians who feel let down by the growing secularisation and “islamification” of Britain. There are 2 deeper questions:

1. Are concerns about marginalisation and islamification legitimate?

We see many things that ought to make us legitimately concerned about how Christians are increasingly politically marginalised by the wave of secularism and also the introduction of Sharia law. Both of these things may reduce the ability of Christians to be vocal about the gospel and the glory of Jesus - this ought to concern us.

2. What do you do with these concerns?

This is the key question :: just because we are being marginalised does not mean we are free to ally with anyone who seeks to return a Christian voice to the centre of society. It is deeply distressing if (normally level-headed) Christians chose to ally themselves with groups like the BNP for the sake of political expediency. To do so values certain political outcomes above our motives. In the face of the obvious enemy (secularisation) we can blinded to our true enemy Satan. To refute the enemy of secularisation by embracing the enemy of bigotry and racism is not an honourable action or outcome and will not serve the church well and may well acceleration any marginalisation. Our approach to increasing marginalisation would be better served by seeking renewal of society by proclamation of the gospel and praying Paul’s prayer of 2 Thessalonians 2:

16May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, 17encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

New scientist expects the economic downturn to be good for churches

The suspicion of rationalism towards faith makes the humanists scared that the economic downturn will be a boom time for religion:

SCIENCE has allowed us to smooth over many of the natural ups and downs of human existence. We have predictable harvests, food on supermarket shelves, savings and pensions that will help us get through difficult times, and economies that provide most people with what they need to survive. Alongside these developments a rational, scientific world view has become the dominant mode of thought.

Take the comforts away, however, and the rationality often evaporates too. When human beings lose control over their lives, they become more prone to superstition, spiritual searchings and conspiracy theories.

There are some interesting and depressing conclusions the editor makes here (including the whole article), this is a bit rushed but here are a couple of thoughts.

The idea that science is now, and ought to be recognised as our super saviour. Yet if he were to be honest he would remind us there are great battles within science; eugenics, Stem Cell Research, GM farming, modern nuclear & chemical weapons all these things has made the wider public aware that science does not go on in a moral vacuum. The ethic that seems to guide many scientists; “we can and so we do”, just doesn't wash with the rest of us, not taken in with the saviour promise of humanism. The fact that science has brought some control to areas of our lives has never been a good enough reason to abandon faith in God.

Searching for answers, for realities outside our circumstances, is not a sign that we have abandoned our brains, willing to believe anything. Rather without the constant noise of consumerism, materialism etc. during a downturn, we are able to see through the folly of things that promised but failed to impress or satisfy – e.g. the technological revolution. May touch screen phone doesn't actually make me happier. And as our debts catch up with is maybe we might catch a glimpse of the hollowness of our existence and become desperate for more significant and meaningful answers.

Similarly as the economic cycle turns south the thin veneer of control is finally rubbed off. We realise that science, an excellent pursuit in truth, in itself cannot provide the answers we are most searching for, and as a saviour in itself has failed to provide the security that it promised & we hoped for.

Britain has got talent and its name is Stavros

Review of Symphonic Theology

I’ve really enjoyed reading Vern Poythress’s Symphonic Theology.

His most helpful insight I found towards the end; the reminder that the study of Christian Doctrine isn’t something we should do on our own. Instead it should be a cooperate discussion within the church family and the value of the diversity of perspectives within the family of Christ. Conforming to Christ only “destroys only the bad forms of diversity”. Instead we are confronted to identify the “the grain of truth” in others arguments and practice deliberately shifting our perspective to advance our understanding. This is because the aim of doctrine is more than just the correct answer discovered by one who owns entire knowledge about a single subject but instead the whole church body contributes to, and receives from, a shared body of knowledge of growing and developing perspectives. All share the commitment to “a single ultimate perspective on truth, God’s perspective” and all benefit from the exercise as a worshipping and loving family.

His central method is:

1. using a variety of perspectives on a doctrine or  topic

2. Pre-emption method of argument – where you take the “grain of truth” from the other person’s argument no matter how wrong they may be.

3. Dissolution of poorly posed questions and debates that are based ultimately on semantic questions – I love this section where he basically accuses theologians who desire greater and greater semantic accuracy of desiring for human omniscience (albeit of a single word or phrase).

4. Enrichment by reconciliation of opposite emphases.

The new equalities bill has Christians in its sights…

I try not to be alarmist in my approach to government policy, and want to submit myself to the rule and authority of my civic leaders (I do now rigorously obey the speed limits) - I am not an anarchist! However I see the new Equality Bill as the greatest institutional threat to the freedom of independent churches – far more significant than the religious & racial hatred bill. I believe this a law I may be forced to disobey…

“The circumstances in which religious institutions can practice anything less than full equality are few and far between” so says Equalities Minister Maria Eagle (pictured) addressing a UK conference on Faith, Homophobia, Transphobia and Human Rights in London.

Worryingly the new Equalities Bill (claiming to be anti-discrimination) is actually the means for the state to take greater religious control over churches forcing churches to conform to a particular state endorsed religious ideology (even where that ideology is thoroughly secular). Where the state insists that churches must accept members regardless of their sexual (or otherwise) activity, is wrong because:

1. Any church’s first responsibility is to God not the state. The association between Christians (and the individual and God) comes before their association to the state.

2. The authority of the state is exclusively derived from God’s authority over the state.

3. A church is subject to the state insofar as its members are citizens and (where the two are not in conflict) submission to the state is obedience to God. Romans 13v1

4. A failure of the church to discipline its members (for either confession of faith and/or practice) according to God’s law is serious leading to moral and spiritual decay within the church - it is nothing less than the church refusing God’s authority and instruction. See Matt 18 & 1 Cor 5.

5. Since state authority is derived from God any request by the state for a church to defy God’s law is itself a tyrannical action substantiated by false religious claims.

6. Therefore the church is compelled to disobey the requests of the state that conflict with the command of God.