back to vendetta
Zetigeist topic http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=172543 http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07081b.htm
http://www.decentfilms.com/sections/reviews/vforvendetta.html
<strong>V for Vendetta = Anti-Catholic? Hah!!</strong>
No, I do not think the movie was portrayed as “anti-Catholic” at all and I feel the movie review at decentfilms.com is sadly inadequate and overly biased on looking for “pro” or “anti” Catholic symbolism instead of taking in the message of the film as a whole.
Just look at the facts, the BIG IDEAS instead of getting caught up on the details. The corruption. The tyranny. The abuse of authority. These are all MORALLY WRONG things, whether it be associated with a government or church - the state message of “Strength through unity! Unity through faith!” calls for blind trust to all authorities, without criticism of their abuse of power. This is immoral. Our own country (failed US foreign policies, CIA covert actions, etc) and church (child sex scandals, Galileo, etc) are not above scrutiny as we all know all too well the imperfection of mankind!
Think more along the lines of Orwell’s “1984” (big brother) and “Fahrenheit 451” (forbidden books). (PS - Which sci-fi novel showed the television acting like a camera for the government to spy on the people? one of these or Brave New World? The imagery of how tuned everyone was to “main stream media” and Evie working for the news service strikes a cord with the environmental conditioning of hatred filled messages.)
I felt it was actually quite “pro” religion and personal belief (hidden copy of the Koran, obviously Guy Fawkes was Catholic fighting oppression) as well as “pro justice” and “moral good” to stand up against evil and corruption. We saw peaceful activists distributing flyers and trying to educate people (the grassroots), then captured in the middle of the night, beaten and killed/missing indefinitely (no trials, no habeas corpus). <strong>After peaceful means failed, finally V had to take a stand and use force, HOWEVER his violent justice was only directed specifically at those who were responsible - not the public at large (which we call ‘terrorism’, he was more of a vigilante or the cowboy of Western cinema who saves the girl and drives out the corrupt sheriff or outlaws) for the crimes committed against him and society.</strong> So we love what he is fighting for, but don’t approve of his means, though we realize there is no other choice against such a totalitarian police state.
“Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable.” - JFK
“a little rebellion now and then is a good thing” - Thomas Jefferson (Shays rebellion)
(continued, I was too wordy and was cut off)
The <strong>most powerful imagery of the film</strong> for me – reminiscent of peace activists placing daisies in the barrels of guns during the Vietnam war, or the unknown rebel student who stood up to the tanks in Tiananmen square – was when <strong>the people</strong>, clad in Guy Fawkes masks and capes (~anon voting), <strong>finally make that stand - peacefully and en masse they walk up and right through the military forces poised with their guns and tanks.</strong>
“No army can withstand the strength of an idea whose time has come.” - Victor Hugo
<strong>We can still vote!</strong> Have we forgotten that we live in a republic with the power to address our leaders for grievances, hold them accountable, and elect new leaders? <strong>We have in our system of government the mechanisms to AVOID VIOLENCE as a means towards revolution, our method is to vote!</strong> We must get off our sofas though, hear the message, and exercise our right...
“Evil triumphs when good men do nothing.” - Edmund Burke
Ron Paul is a man who does not subvert an unjust law because it is unjust, rather he tries to change the law. (e.g. Ron Paul vs. ex-IRS agent who advocates ‘income tax avoidance’ 2:00m, http://youtube.com/watch?v=JZl6202HJGQ)
He is our hero, our leader, and a man of principle that we need to run the country simply because... he KNOWS that the power of government belongs to the people, and he cannot be corrupted by it! He cannot be bought! His record of integrity account to this. Any Catholic who wants to see justice, morality, and the ideal form of government drafted by the constitution should be proud to support Ron Paul!
- A proud Catholic, critical thinker, and self-proclaimed “Ron Paul” junkie! - PS: I put in $200 on November 5th!