Do you believe in Hell?
We don’t ask this question as much as we should. Buildings burn and babies are mutilated for reasons rooted in this question. If your answer is no, then okay. Go like all of my reviews.
If your answer is yes, then what in god’s name are you doing here? On Letterboxd.com? Isn’t life on earth nothing more than a game played to avoid eternal suffering?
If you genuinely believe in Hell, how does that not alter every single action you take? Of course, modern Christianity has significantly lowered the bar of entry into the other, more air-conditioned dominion, but I’m reminded of the common thrust theists jab towards atheists - Do you really want to risk it? I see it as more aptly returned: in my mind, if you really are convinced of the existence of Hell, do YOU really want to risk any bit of attention pointed away from this paramount endeavor?
All this goes to say that the question of Hell is more pernicious and fraught than it is treated as, for when the stakes are infinitely high, the bounds of behavior become frighteningly wide. People who truly hold this disposition with full conviction inevitably become isolated from those who don’t. It’s gotta be hard to make smalltalk with someone who will soon burn endlessly without your intervention. Thus isolation. Desperation. Further commitment to the cause.
That’s why fledgling religions force their followers to uncomfortably proselytize to passersby on the street. Contrary to what many think, the purpose is not to grow their following; it’s to galvanize their current devotees, to make them feel ostracized and isolated by the outside world, only able to trust and feel comfortable around their own. The more strange glances received, and the more people that hurry to the other side of the street, the more resentful they grow, and the more open to extremism they become.
Then imagine all of this on the shoulders of someone burdened with mental illness.
We don’t give guns to mentally ill individuals. Should we be so open-handed with religion?
Anyway, this is a great movie. Chilling final act, with an unforgettable closing moment that will rivet you to your seat in silence as the credits roll.
Do you believe in Hell?
We don’t ask this question as much as we should. Buildings burn and babies are mutilated for reasons rooted in this question. If your answer is no, then okay. Go like all of my reviews.
If your answer is yes, then what in god’s name are you doing here? On Letterboxd.com? Isn’t life on earth nothing more than a game played to avoid eternal suffering?
If you genuinely believe in Hell, how does that not alter every single action you take? Of course, modern Christianity has significantly lowered the bar of entry into the other, more air-conditioned dominion, but I’m reminded of the common thrust theists jab towards atheists - Do you really want to risk it? I see it as more aptly returned: in my mind, if you really are convinced of the existence of Hell, do YOU really want to risk any bit of attention pointed away from this paramount endeavor?
All this goes to say that the question of Hell is more pernicious and fraught than it is treated as, for when the stakes are infinitely high, the bounds of behavior become frighteningly wide. People who truly hold this disposition with full conviction inevitably become isolated from those who don’t. It’s gotta be hard to make smalltalk with someone who will soon burn endlessly without your intervention. Thus isolation. Desperation. Further commitment to the cause.
That’s why fledgling religions force their followers to uncomfortably proselytize to passersby on the street. Contrary to what many think, the purpose is not to grow their following; it’s to galvanize their current devotees, to make them feel ostracized and isolated by the outside world, only able to trust and feel comfortable around their own. The more strange glances received, and the more people that hurry to the other side of the street, the more resentful they grow, and the more open to extremism they become.
Then imagine all of this on the shoulders of someone burdened with mental illness.
We don’t give guns to mentally ill individuals. Should we be so open-handed with religion?
Anyway, this is a great movie. Chilling final act, with an unforgettable closing moment that will rivet you to your seat in silence as the credits roll.
