Batman V Superman... better than expected.

So I just went to see a movie that I had reliably heard as the latest travesty visited upon the Superhero movie genre by several critics I normally respect. I went to see it expecting to roast it afterwards, and discovered, to my surprise, that I quite enjoyed the film.

Just to get it out of the way at the get go, the movie is very clearly not perfect. It is in the odd place of seeming both too long and rushed... lots of scenes are spliced together with no obvious context, leaving you minutes into a scene wondering "what the hell is going on" before it all gets explained right before the next jump... the movie really needed a primary narrative driving it, and it didn't have one, struggling for most of the run to really be about any cohesive idea beyond "sometimes superheroes frown at things." This made the plot, and especially the evil plan of villain Lex Luthor, very difficult to follow, and some jumps the story made didn't make nearly as much sense without the connective tissue it really needed.

Honestly, the Doomsday storyline needed a movie of its own, giving the opposing ideals of Batman and Superman centerstage would have been enough. But it's not the first movie to get weighed under it's own ambition, and that's not the worst way to fail. Better to strike out swinging for the fences, and all that.

There is also one particularly egregious moment in the movie where material that would have been stingers for three different movies in the MCU gets shoved into a single, VERY flow disturbing scene of Wonder Woman looking at videos on her laptop. Seriously. It was an awkwardly handled, genuine storytelling mistake.

And, of course, I feel that the "don't kill people if you can avoid it" credo for Batman and Superman are hugely important.

But there is a lot the film got right, too. Though the storytelling was often disjointed, each individual scene was beautifully shot, finding beauty in framing and color even in the dark, gritty tones where Batman lived. Few match Zack Snyder in lining up shots that feel like they are ripped from a 90's era comic book and he did that very well here, showing angles and flybys that set the scene of a superhero movie with remarkable grace.

The casting was often effective, as well, and nowhere as obviously as Jeremy Irons as Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred. He was just a good fit for the role and shined in his sadly limited screen time. Jesse Eisenberg's portrayal of a deeply unbalanced but unequivocally intelligent and tortured Lex Luthor has gotten some hate, but I think the problems are mostly in the character he was made to portray... he played what he was given brilliantly.

It also made me, without reservation, look forward to the Wonder Woman movie. I've talked about the Princess here before, so no need to expound too much, but it is worth pointing out that her teasing in the early going, and final payoff for the big showdown, made me excited. Not only was she clearly able to match Bruce Wayne for intelligence and banter in the early going, her arrival in the big fight showed that she is a match even for a Kryptonian, reflecting a character who would be a legitimate match for a Superman on the battlefield, both supremely confident AND powerful in very limited screentime. So huge kudos on that.

That leads us to the big one. The tone.

Batman V Superman, Dawn of Justice, is not the Avengers, nor any other MCU product. The humor of the MCU was almost entirely absent, as was any sign of joy or levity. There were no scenes where Superman just enjoyed flying around, or where Batman had a moment to bask in just how awesome his gadgets were. Everyone was serious business, all the time, save Luthor, whose attempts at humor only seemed to highlight his madness and one joke about two-thirds of the way through. I can't remember what the joke was or even who told it, but the relief it provided was so great I laughed aloud in the theater.

So I didn't like it as much as any MCU feature I can remember. But as I was driving back from the theater, I considered a very real possibility: that liking Marvel better was more a matter of taste than quality.

Where Marvel has chosen to revel in the fun and color of the Silver Age of Comics, DC seems to have settled itself in the darker, edgier world of the Dark Knight Rises and The Death of Superman. And there are people who prefer that. I am not among them, but that didn't make the movie unenjoyable to me, just not as good. And that really is okay.

My love of the DC Animated Universe made me want to love this with the same joy I had for, say, The Justice League or Young Justice. But well casted, well shot, more cerebral, significantly darker fare has it's place, too. After all, DC has tried matching color and tone with the Green Lantern movie, and that was a trainwreck. With talent like Nolan and Snyder working, maybe this is just what they do better.

Batman V Superman may not be your thing. But I had fun with it, a pleasant surprise after all I had heard. It is a deeply flawed, but beautifully shot story that is attempting to do it's own thing, if in a rather awkward way at times, and can be enjoyed and even appreciated when taken on it's own terms.

It will never be one of my favorites. But as a fan of comic movies who really wanted DC to raise their game (because the MCU release schedule doesn't have me spoiled enough, apparently) I came away enjoying it... even after critics I respect panned it. And I see why they did... the problems just weren't the dealbreakers for me they seemed to be for them.

There is another fascinating aspect of it all, though. The role of atheism in the movie, and the way it manifested in the characters of Bruce Wayne and Lex Luthor, drove the bulk of the plot, was FASCINATING.

More on that in another, more spoilery post.

Saturday Ramble: Super Hero Pastor

So it is, as of two minutes ago, Holy Saturday. I'm right at the tail end of Holy Week, with just an Easter service between me and the end of one of the most exhausting seasons of church life. I wanted to get in a blog post but just couldn't bring myself to think theologically about anything else right now, so instead, I am going to focus on what it would be like to be the pastor to Super Heroes.

Because those questions need ANSWERING, darn it.

I am currently not watching the second season of Daredevil because I will be seeing my family after Easter and they wanted us all to start it together for... reasons, I suppose. I adored Daredevil, as I have stated previously on this very blog, but one of things I really loved about it was the Priest that Murdoch confided in.

So here's the thing about pastors in media. If we aren't evil, then we're either magic or incompetent. Do we know the sacred words from some ancient text to drive out the menacing evil? Or do we just hang around as walking anachronisms, not understanding (and not really expected to understand) anything about the world around us? Those often seem to be our options.

The Priest in Daredevil (Father Lantom) is none of those things. He doesn't have magical solutions for Murdoch, neither does he just sit there unaware of who Murdoch is. Instead, he cares, he listens, he advises as he is able and tells the truth. He basically is everything I would want to be as a Pastor if I discovered I had a Superhero in my congregation.

But that, of course, got me thinking of what I would do for various Superheroes in my congregation, and what I thought my own personal consequences would be as a minor player in a comic story. So here we go:

Captain America: No secret identity at play here, I would have Steve Rogers come into my church with me knowing completely who he is and wondering how to help. I think I would be partially overwhelmed by him... how do you help someone like him who is lost in time? To help out, I think I would largely just be an ear to hear his stories and encourage him to take part in different social events, primarily to help him make friends and colleagues. When he was ready, we would talk about grief.

Cap himself is rarely a direct target of nefarious schemes, so I doubt I would get personally drawn into his stories, unless I made enough of a stink when SHIELD declared him a Fugitive in Winter Soldier.

Iron Man: I am having trouble seriously imagining Tony Stark attending church, but maybe Jarvis/Vision would point him my way after reading this blog, or he loses a bet with Steve. In any case, I would resist the urge to preach primarily on tithing and talk to Tony about guilt, when it helps, and when it needs to be let go.

I doubt I would survive my time as a Iron Man spin-off. Talking with him about evading guilt, my church would inevitably be attacked by a Power Armored Super Villain looking to take Tony down, and I would get killed protecting him while hijinks ensued around him getting into his armor. Luckily for my family, it's a fair bet Stark puts my child through college after that, so I'll call it a win.

Thor: Man, how complex would that be? I'd probably have some long conversations with him about what he was aware of going on in Palestine for huge chunks of history, but if he came to me for counseling, I suspect it would be in the form of wanting help with his relationship with Jane Foster, and what love means between two people with lives so complexly varied. I'd get to tell him to use his words, and to remember that no time is promised, and so to enjoy the time he has.

A Prince of Asgard in a Midgardian house of worship, and NOT a House of Worship for an Asgardian? THAT would come up, and I would probably end up captured and tortured by some offended Asgardian official influenced by Loki until Thor showed up explain/save me. But hey, probably a trip through the Bifrost, right? That would be cool. Maybe I'd chat with Heimdal afterwards if I survived. (If we were REALLY lucky, it would involve someone in full Asgardian Armor asking me Where My God Was Now, waiting for his challenge to be accepted.)

Nightcrawler/Any of the X-men: Likely approached initially for my equality stances, my church would welcome Mutants and I would have fascinating conversations with Nightcrawler as he further explored his faith through Biblical imagery, while constantly reminding him that the Image of God is not a visual thing, but a spiritual one.

I probably go down by a bullet from a mutant hater in this scenario (or maybe Wade Wilson because why not) but maybe I would eventually be revealed to be a low-level mutant myself, with my struggle not being welcoming the mutants who come to my church, but welcoming the humans, until Kurt finally convinces me to "come out."

Spiderman: I can imagine a teen-aged Peter Parker in my Youth Group or confirmation class, realize what he is doing and working with him as he struggles with concepts of responsibility, all the way up to the point where I die for being a trusted figure who isn't Aunt May. If this seems short, it's because it wouldn't take all that long.

Got any other heroes you want me to run the evaluation on? Toss me a question or comment, and I'll do another one of these after I've watched the second season of Daredevil!

An Open Letter to the Christian Parents of my Atheists

Hi there, I'm Pastor Dan.

And I really am a Pastor, ordained by the Presbyterian Church, USA after getting my Masters of Divinity and more than 15 years of intense scriptural study, alongside a lifetime of growing up the son of a highly talented minister.

You're probably reading this because it got forwarded to you by someone you care a lot about, and someone you worry about because, you know, they're your child. And they've made some decisions about their lives that you aren't too sure about, especially when it comes to their faith life.

It may even surprise you to see them sending a link to a Pastor's Blog, after some conversations you've had with them. They read this, and knew about me, probably because at some time in the past they had a question about faith and religion and I was available to talk, and they liked what I said enough to keep reading, and keep asking more questions.

And now they've read this, and sent it to you.

I get a great deal of messages from atheists all over the world who are having difficulty with their faithful families, and I understand the difficulty. You love them, you want the best for them, and you believe that "the best for them" includes a rich faith life. You want them to know Jesus the way you do, and you worry about the consequences if they don't.

This has likely led to tension. Arguments, hurtful comments, from you to them and vice versa, because you're human, you're passionate, and you're scared. That can lead to words being said that are hard to unsay and impossible to unhear. Maybe it has led to awkward silences at family get-togethers, or even a lack of get-togethers.

And so, again, it might be surprising that they are reading a Pastor's Blog.

I have a large number of atheist readers and correspondents, and I believe the reason they have chosen to entrust me with their questions and concerns about faith is because I let them come to me. I have promised never to directly evangelize, instead to listen, to advise, and to pray as requested, never more.

The first thing I want to assure you is that I exist, and by virtue of you seeing this open letter, you now know that there is a person of faith out there who your loved one, your child, knows that they can talk to if they need a person of faith to talk to. They know how to reach me and I'm nearly always on call. I promise I will never judge them, or take advantage of them by calling for money or attempting to "steal" them for my church. That's just not what I am about.

The second thing I want to urge you to do is to trust God when it comes to your loved one. You believe in a loving, powerful God who cares for the ones he loves, which regardless of your personal theology I assume at least includes you, and so will care for those you care about as a result.

Finally, the last thing I want to urge you to do is to give your loved one room in matters of faith. The fact that they care at all about what I say means they are at least asking questions and listening, so don't feel the need to press them. Paul felt the need to exhort his listeners twice (In epistles to the Ephesians and the Colossians) on the subject of warning parents not to exasperate or embitter their children.

You don't need to be their pastor, and your time as their disciplinarian has passed. But you can be their parent, modeling the love for them that God showed you by welcoming them home, not with a checklist of stuff they need to achieve or say, but with a hug and a smile, like the Father welcoming the Prodigal son home.

All that is achieved by harassing and nagging them about the faith is driving them further from it and from you, and that helps no one.  Instead, focus on loving and caring for them, being there for them when they need you and only discussing faith with them when they asked. You might be surprised just how effective that can be. You do your part, I'll do mine, and between us we will count on God to handle everything.

For now, they don't believe. Maybe that will change in our lifetime, maybe not. But the one thing that never changes is our call to love them for who they are. And partly thanks to you, who they are is pretty darn great.

In Christ,
Pastor Dan McCurdy

Breaking My Rules: Don't Vote for Trump

Long ago I was taught by my Father and other teachers to avoid directly espousing or opposing political Candidates from my platform as a pastor. Issues were fine, if done carefully... of course my faith has inspired me to think about issues in certain ways and it is literally my job to share that with my congregations and others who care what I have to say about things as a Pastor.

But I have always avoided using that platform to back or reject Candidates for office, because unlike ideals and issues, Candidates are people, beautiful and complicated each in their own way, and as proxies for how we would like to see issues handled, I think we often do them a disservice. Besides, no candidate is ever the "clear" Christian choice, as in, if you are a real Christian you will vote this way or that way.

But in Donald Trump I have been faced with a Candidate for whom I will break my rule. I say this as a Pastor, with all the weight that lends me... do NOT vote for Donald Trump.

Is Trump a Christian? I don't know. He certainly claims to be, Presbyterian, to be precise, though our national office has no record of him ever joining. That's fine, plenty of people claim to belong to Churches that they haven't formally joined. I don't know who he is personally, I can't tell you his heart, any more than I could for the Candidates I might potentially vote for.

What I can tell you is that image he maintains and the things he says from the campaign trail, the "values" he promotes and atmosphere he cultivates is absolutely, 100% NOT in accordance with the commands of Christ.

Again, this isn't a matter of issues, because TRUMP DOESN'T HAVE ANY. He doesn't have a platform, he has a dizzying array of off-handed comments, spur of the moment conjecture and angry, insulting rhetoric. His campaign persona is GamerGate, 4Chan, and the youtube comments boards combined, his atmosphere built on fear and hate.

He claims that his wealth makes him incorruptible. He claims to love groups of people with one breath while calling them mostly drug dealers and rapists with the other, all the while using them as cheap labor. He feeds fear of Muslims, claims he wants them blocked or deported from the country. He is backed by hate groups like the KKK and isn't in any hurry to denounce them, he demands (and receives!) a vow from his followers, makes claims about his penis size as proof of his suitability to lead and the one enduring promise of his campaign is the wall he plans to build on Mexico's dime. He encourages violence at his rallies and mocks those who question him. He brags of his ability to command a military and derides the people who actually served.

I have disagreed with many candidates in my time, but this is the first I can remember who has been so whole-heartedly opposed to anything that could ever have even remotely been considered a Christian value, except for those who preach a gospel of hate.

And the worst part of all of this? It's an act. A carefully cultivated persona built not based on who he is, or deep-seeded beliefs, but an intentional media manipulation. This isn't like the Klan member or Mob Boss who gets up and speaks madness based on personal belief. At least that person believes what they say, has a warped worldview to blame. Instead, this is an entity custom-designed to feed on the very worst of American Culture and use it to create a monster. It's deeply, darkly horrifying. And based on the returns from the GOP Primaries... it's WORKING.

I can't tell you much about Donald Trump as a person. But the Donald Trump Political Persona is a force created to fan the flames of racism, fear, hatred, greed, misogyny and bigotry. He has embraced them openly and willingly, and presents them as "American Values."

He cannot be permitted to become President of the United States. But the GOP is in disarray, and finds themselves increasingly unable to stop him. At first I thought his candidacy was a joke... now, it's horrifying. The only power left that CAN stop him is the American People. But that's the thing... we're also the reason he has all this momentum to begin with.

So as a Pastor, as a Christian, as a US citizen, as a human being who would like to be considered a decent one, I beg you. Do NOT vote for Donald Trump.

Reader Question: All Faith Created Equal?

I used to belong to a very controlling church. When I left I wanted nothing to do with religion anymore. But I see you write about the same things that made me want to leave. What is the difference between your faith and the faith I had when I had it? - Andre

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Thanks for writing in, Andre.

So this is a bit of a tough question to answer because, without having details, I don't want to assume too much. But I have noticed some consistencies among folks who leave controlling churches ready to say goodbye to religion behind forever, and I imagine they have something to do with it.

Frankly put, while we worked from the same Bible and used the same names, I don't think we were actually believing in the same God. Now before people get the "No True Scotsman" memes to throw at me, let me explain what I mean.

"Controlling Churches" are usually named such because they seek to control the lives of their members even beyond the walls of the church, forbidding certain types of media, keeping an approved list for reading, and generally insinuating (if not outright declaring) that failure to adhere to these strict models will be reason for a member to be thrown out of the faith community.

Meanwhile, within the churches walls, similar levels of control are maintained. The Bible is read in a highly controlled manner, only approved parts of it, and probing questions are generally discouraged. The pastor or pastors hold the "approved" interpretations of the texts and dole them out as needed, but more often simply "sum up" the Message of God to their congregants, and any questioning of that Message is discouraged, if not outright anathematized.

Finally, God in these churches is declared to be kind, loving, and wholesome, but the actions and warnings do not match the message. People live in fear of judgement, seeing every tragedy and natural disaster as God's will punishing those who deserve it, and generally looking to point out how OTHER people deserve that punishment more than us in hopes that the next punishment will hit them, instead of us.

When faith of this kind falls, it falls hard. We start to wonder why our faith in a supposedly all powerful God is vulnerable to things like movies, tv shows, or the internet, and why a supposedly merciful God would disown us rather than draw us back in. We start to read the Bible and see the interpretations of our teachers as sorely lacking, ignoring large swatches of Scripture in favor for an overly simplistic (and often terribly judgmental) worldview, and then we see a God proclaimed to be one thing, feared to be another, and then just finally say; "Screw it," and walk away from the whole thing.

There is no reason for someone in this situation to assume that the problem is with the church. Many have never had another perspective given on the Divine. Those who are unwilling to abandon spirituality entirely often find faith elsewhere, and many more simply become the most ardent of anti-theists, disregarding any spiritual experience they may have had in those abusive confines just another aspect of brain-washing and control.

So what is different about my faith? Simple... I didn't believe in that God.

My church and family taught me to engage with culture, to watch, listen, and enjoy, to see God wherever I went rather than fear anything that wasn't us. I learned to relish different perspectives on faith, to see them not as challenges to a TRUTH, but rather as new approaches to familiar concepts. There weren't really outsiders in that worldview... even the most broken sinner in the world would have something of merit worth learning.

Inside the church, the Bible was a toy, an amazingly complex document that had provided different answers to different people over thousands of years. With my Parents as coaches, I approached Biblical Interpretation as others approached batting practice in Little League, knowing that I would make mistakes but that those mistakes were as much, if not more, a part of being a faithful person than the "right answers." I learned to respect that I could be wrong about anything, and also to dare to believe that I could be right. So when people presented me with the complexities and contradictions of Scripture I wasn't shocked or appalled... I knew them well, and was ready to talk.

And finally, I was raised to believe in a loving and caring God who actually loved and cared for people. Who hurt as they hurt, who felt their loss, who walked the fine line between making the world a better place and honoring the decisions people made about their own lives. I didn't cower in fear of what God might do next... rather, I looked forward to finding out, and struck out on my own, knowing that mistakes made would be seen, again, as learning experiences.

And when an aspect of that faith no longer made sense, when I grew intellectually, emotionally, as a human being, when a part of my religion was no longer a part of me, there was no need to cast it all aside. It wasn't the collapse of my faith... simply yet another corrected mistake in a long history of them.

I know we use the sames word for Christ and for God, and so why it could be so infuriating for someone of the former religious experience to talk to someone of mine. I do not persist in my faith, while yours failed, because I am a better person. It's also not due to superior brainwashing or weaker intelligence.

We didn't have the same faith... we didn't believe in the same God. The one I suspect you left was absolutely worth leaving.

Mine is constantly calling me to the next adventure... and is, at least so I believe, worth telling others about.