Under Christian Attack at tedstrong.com

Under Christian Attack!

First let me say, that when I say "Christian" I mean the hardcore Christians like Christian Fundamentalists and Born Again Christians.

Earlier this week a born again Christian person emailed me about my review of the movie Signs and I responded, and then it kept going like that. He cannot comprehend that I don't see how the Bible can be proof of God's existence, and he's all like, "you need to read the Bible, because it proves that it is in fact the word of God." And then I'm like, "but that's like me saying I'm president, and my telling you that is proof enough."

So, then, it appears this guy got his whole Christian crusade congregation organization or something, to write in to me protesting my review of Signs and my questioning of Christianity. Yesterday and today I've gotten about a dozen or so emails.

Here's the latest:

Dude,

You are a total loser. How can you sit through the entire movie of "Signs," and still not know anything about it? Mel didn't throw the water glasses, his brother hit them with the baseball bat. The exact words were "swing away," which in baseball language means go for whatever they throw at you, but do it to get on base. "Hit away slugger" or whatever it is you thought you heard in your retarded sense of audio interpretation means go for the fences. That might have been appropriate had he not been the strikeout king of his league, but obviously you missed that little detail also.

We all have signs that God sends us. They teach us, and lead us into whatever we direction we decide to take. Mel decided to use his to better himself at the end of the movie, so he wouldn't have to sit around at pretend to be like you. Like Bill Engval said, "here's your sign."

It's time for you to give up on your life as a journalist, or critic, or junkie, or whatever it is that you claim to ! be good at. Also, a bit of advice for you, after you kill yourself by overdosing on drugs since you don't have any friends, I wouldn't be planning on facing the Lord God Almighty with your religious psycho atheistic babble, and smiling. He'll probably tell you to smile in Hell. Look for me. I'll be waving at you from above. How do you think you got here anyway?

God's Peace - Rick

Thanks, and God's Peace to you too Rick!

This one's from Kristine:

Hi Ted:

... Beware that you do not become "wise in your own eyes". "The wisdom of man is foolishness to God."

You said that the movie was "childish". We all have to come to God as little children. The reason why is pride will stand in the way if we don't humble ourselves. Guess what, pride is the number one thing that God hates. Have a great day!

One of my favorite things about Christianity is how we're supposed to hate pride and man's wisdom. We're just stupid, miserable, sinning children in the eyes of God. Bow down and cower. Accomplishments here on earth don't matter. If everyone just went around talking about the Bible and praising God, we would all go to Heaven. That makes sense right? Hooray!

So, now I have finally collected all of the Signs related emails that I've received in the last week, plus my replies. Each author has been given a color of their own. Although not listing these emailers' email addresses, I am using the name that they wrote to me under (whether or not that is each person's real name, I don't know).

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From: Sharalee Worms
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2003
Subject: About your review

Hi, I just saw the movie signs and while your review is definitely as way out there as you think the movie is, I do agree that the movie has some major problems, but they are not the ones you cite.

Don't be too sure about Christianity saying there is no such thing as aliens. Make sure you've read the Bible and understand it before you attempt to make any suppositions as to what God is like. You are so far off the mark on everything you are saying that you are just coming across as an idiot in regards to what Christians believe and what God is like. (God mentions you in His book, the bible saying in the last days (now) there will be scoffers, willingly ignorant (that's dumb on purpose). (You can find this in 2 Peter, near the end of the Bible) Sounds like you've based most of your opinions on heresay and Hollywood. If you truly want to give a proper review, study the Bible yourself for a few years before you give opinions on the subject.

The movie came up sadly lacking in a Christian's point of view in many ways, but it did have a couple of parallels. 1,) When aliens show up they are hostile. Aliens are real, but they are not like we have been taught to think about them in movies. They are not some random creatures from another planet. They are demonic beings from Satan himself. If you read the Bible, you will find out that Satan is the 'Prince of the Air.' What could this mean, except that he has command over things that fly, etc. If you read Genesis you will find that there is a place where it says the Sons of God came down and had relations with daughters of men. This is Angels (fallen angels or now better known as demons) having children by women. The result is a race of giants and other wierd things that cause God to send a flood over the whole world and destroy it. (There is mass archaelogical evidence for a world wide flood) Why did God save Noah. The Bible says because his generations (geneology, or genes were perfect) That is to say not contaminated by 'fallen angel' blood. The offspring from these unions are what the old greek legends come from. The Bible (which has predicted and will continue to tell us in advance of the timeline of the world and it's ultimate destruction) tells us that the last days will be like they were in the days of Noah. So yes wierd things will be coming and whatever you choose to call them, aliens or whatever will be hostile. No question. No ET, try to save them. They will be bad news.

2. Nothing does happen by coincidence. God is in control of everything.

Those are the two basic good points that I saw in the movie.

The bad points, I thought were the way Holllywood always shows clergy to be. Like they are just some mindless idiots that mindlessly follow God saying faith all the time. Every minster I know wouldn't be caught dead portraying the image of a minister without the Bible. This is the way Hollywood fails Christianity by catering to people like yourself who haven't a foggy clue what Christianity is about, then showing a bunch of stuff that seems totally outrageous and backing it up by saying faith all the time as if there is no power behind that faith. God is power. If the movie had been realistic it would have called on the power of God to stop the aliens in their tracks. Not on a glass of water or a baseball bat or a series of 'seeming coincidences.'

Your depiction of Jesus is so incredibly sad and reflects, unfortunately your total lack of education on the subject. Let me try and give you a quick lesson.

God (we don't know who made God, this is where faith comes in. You probably don't know exactly how a telephone works, but that doesn't stop you from using it. You have faith that when you pick it up and dial it you will talk to someone on the other end. You don't know how it works. Or in case you are a electonics expert try this one. You put a seed in the ground, water it, give it sunlight, it grows a plant. You don't know how it works, but you have faith that it will come up. You don't have to know where God came from to have faith that he is there.) So, God created the world and then created man to keep Him company. He created man as a spiritual being. He and Adam were good friends, walking and talking. God created man with a free will. (Other wise it would be like you trying to be friends with robots. Not much fun if you program the robots to do everything you say and tell them they have to love you.) So, anyway, he created the world, so he has the right to make the rules. He gave Adam and Eve 1 rule. Don't eat from the certain tree or they would die. They disobeyed and ate and they died. Spiritually. Because God is perfect he could not tolerate to be around their unperfection. They were no longer able to walk with Him. They were seperated from Him. But God still loved them, He still wanted to walk with them, but He couldn't because of the separation of Sin, so He developed a plan by which he could overlook their sin. There had to be a sacrifice on their part to 'pay' for their sin. The entire Bible is about getting us back into fellowship with God. God is three seperate entities, but one God. God the Father (creator of all) God the Son, (God come to earth as a man in flesh and blood, entering His creation to once and for all provide the sacrifice that would allow us back into friendship with Him) And God the Holy Spirit, which indwells every person that calls on God the Son to accept the sacrifice he made and put them into 'fellowship' with God) It might help to think of it this way. In a corporation, there is one entity, the Company, but the Company is made up of The President, The Vice President and the Secretary. One company, three seperate people. A clumsy analogy, but maybe it will help you see the picture. God, the Son (Jesus) came down to the earth as a meek and lowly servant, paid the ultimate sacrifice by dying on a wooden cross being mocked and tormented by all of us and then rose from the dead three days later. All you have to do is accept that fact. Acknowledge that Jesus paid the price for all of your sins, ask Him to forgive you and He will send the Holy Spirit to indwell you. And you will be spiritually born and adopted into God's family. When you die you will go to heaven and be with Him. Otherwise you will spend eternity seperated from Him. It doesn't matter if you don't like the way this is set up. This is the way it is. Eternity seperated from Him is a very unpleasant place to be, to put things very mildly.

How can I be so sure of all this. I have studied the Bible. There are so many things about the Bible that show it to be absolutely true that you can absolutely not dispute it. Until you have also studied the Bible, I would recommend you don't give out a lot of further opinions on the subject of Jesus or God.

Anyway, in a nutshell, that's why it's called being born again. We are all born physically. Some of us are only ever born physically and nothing more. We need to be also born spiritually in order to be with God, therefore we need to be born again. While a lot of it sounds crazy, it's because God does not think the way we think. It might sound strange to us. But that's the way he has it laid out, just cause we think it's wierd dosn't mean that it's not true. I would urge you to study the subject yourself if you think what I've said sounds strange. Your life depends on it.

Ted's response:

But there is nothing to even come close to proving that the bible is the so-called "word of god."

From: "Sharalee Worms" Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2003 Subject: About your review

How can I be so sure of all this. I have studied the Bible.

From: Sharalee Worms
Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2003
Subject: Re: About your review

I would like to reply to this, but I would just like to get a bit of background. How much have you studied the Bible. What does that mean? You read it through cover to cover once, or you're a seasoned theologian? I have plenty of proof for you that the Bible is the Word of God, but I need to know where to start.

Ted's response:

You don't seem to understand the problem. It's hard for a normal person to talk about religion with most born again Christians because they all come from the viewpoint that the bible is the word of god. That's your given, and then you say that you must follow what the bible says word for word, or else... hell! So, I'm not saying "oh yes the bible is the word of god, i just don't care." I'm saying that Christianity like all religions are based in myth. And why is Christianity the answer, other parts of the world have other religious beliefs, why are they wrong. So, I think we are both coming from such different places that we couldn't really even discuss it. It's not like arguing is there "a god" or is "it" something vaguer? Or did Jesus even exist? You're coming from the extremist point of view that everything in the bible is the word of god, and the bible must be followed exactly, or else you're sinning, and going to go to "hell" or something. Right?

From: "Matthias Provan" Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2003 Subject: OM

Hey, I read your review of Signs, and either you really got the movie and are messing with people in a really awesome way, or you completely missed the point.

If I'm not mistaken, the director/writer/whatever Shyamalan is Hindu/mystic. The movie was about life, not God, not Christianity, not religion. It was about you. It was about me.

"We are one. Breathe."

~Matthias

"My mind is glowing..."

From: "Sharalee Worms" Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003 Subject: Re: About your review

You are right that I am coming from the point of view that the Bible is the word of God and you are right that the Bible says that if you don't do what it says you will go to hell, but I wonder if you realize that the Bible does not say you have to do this, and this, and this, and this, etc. or you will go to hell. There is only one thing it says and it is in every single book through every passage that you must 'believe' (and you must believe in Jesus Christ) to save yourself in eternity. We are all sinning, all the time. I am probably one of the worst. I've broken every single one of the commandments. I am not going to hell. You, however, could do every single physical action that the Bible says and be labeled the 'goodest' person in the world, and yet you would still go to hell. Why? Because the entire Bible points to the doorway to heaven. That's Jesus Christ. You cannot do anything well enough to get there. You can only believe that Jesus died in place of you, for your sins. I realize that this sounds strange. But if you actually study the Bible, you can come to no other conclusion than that it is true. It's not like us Christians are some dopey brainwashed wackos with some goofy idea that we made up ourselves. There is an amazing book that explains it all and the deeper into it you go, the more astounding it is.

Let me give just a little example based on fact. Not my fact, but facts agreed on by the non-Christian world. The Bible is a book which is a collection of 66 books written by 40 different authors over thousands of years. It is a given fact that things written 300 years before they happened came to light exactly as they were written about.

This would be like me telling you that in 3 weeks your going to meet a beautiful woman who is going to tell you 3 secrets about yourself that no one else in the world knows except you. Then you are going to get married within 3 months, have two sets of twins within 2 years and you will win the lottery on the 23 of February 2005. You would be amazed if that happened. But you would be even more amazed if I could show you a book that had this written in print, with your name and the names of your, as yet not met, wife and your unborn children AND it was written 150 years before you were born by someone who had no ties to your family.

This is the type of thing that the Bible is made of. The only explanation for this type of writing is that if the person writing it has written it from outside of time, which is exactly what the Bible claims. That it was written by God from outside of time itself, using 40 different human authors.

If that's not enough for you to get interested, then how about this. The last book of the Bible is called Revelation. It reveals what will happen at the end of the world and says to the author that writes it, things will be locked up and not understood until the last times where there will be an increase in knowledge (sounds like the computer age to me) and why will these unknown things be found out then? Because of computers. People are now taking the Bible and running it's words through computer programs and finding all kinds of things hidden in the text. One of the most famous of these is when Princess Di died. In equadistant letter sequences they found all kinds of words, including date and other specific details that related to her death in the Bible. This from a book written well over 2000 years ago. There are hundreds and hundreds of these codes found. Not used to predict the future but to show that this book was not written by human inspiration. Another theme which shows the Bible was not written by humans is the code of 7. Across the thousands of years this book was written there are codes of 7 every where. Names appear always in an amount divisible by 7, numbers of letters in passages divisible by 7. Values of letters divisible by 7. ( I am just learning about this so I can't be too specific but there is so much about the Bible that shows that it's not just another book. And like some people say (who haven't a clue) the Bible is just a good book about a guy who was a good teacher to teach people to do good things. These people have not read the Bible, because if Jesus was just a good guy teaching people to be good he had a major character flaw because He also said he was the God of the Universe. He was the most humble man on the face of the earth. This is not disputed. He was the most giving, truthful, modest, etc., etc. Doesn't sound like someone who would claim to be God, unless He was God.

Also the reason Christianity is the only way, is because it is the only way. You can deny the truth, but that doesn't mean it's not the truth.

Christianity is not based on myth. It's based on fact. Archaelogically, prophetically, tangibley. The only person that would make a statement like that is one who doesn't have the credentials to make that statement.

Anyway. If you have no desire to continue a communication that's okay. I just want to ask a favor. Please don't write about God or Christianity in any sort of authoritative negative way unless you seriously have studied the Bible and know what you're talking about. Otherwise you just open yourself up to looking like you're not very smart.

If you are interested in carrying on any dialogue I would be happy to try to explain any questions you might have as to why Christianity doesn't make sense. I appreciate that you have been as open and non-defensive as you have been and I would really like to show you that despite Satan's attempt to get everybody so involved in meaningless stuff in this world, that there is another world, the least of which the benefit is being able to live on after you die in this world in something so incredible that Jesus himself said we could not comprehend it. I personally can't comprehend the amazing stuff in this world. For Jesus to tell me there is something so much better coming that I can't comprehehnd it sure makes me say, 'I'm not going to miss it' and I hope you eventually come to a point where you make the same decision.

Ted's response:

This is the problem I was talking about. Right off the Bible is the word of God and you must believe to save yourself in eternity. But that right there is what I consider myth. There is nothing to prove that's the case. So, you say, well you have to have faith. But what is that faith based in? It's nonsense.

From: Sharalee Worms
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003
Subject: Re: About your review

Ted, What I'm saying is that the Bible says it is the Word of God and it authenticates itself, if you study it.

You're coming across with the attitude like if someone says to me 'The best Hockey Player in the world is Wayne Gretzky and I say 'that's a myth' knowing nothing about the subject. I just say Wayne Gretzky's not the best player. And you say to me well read about the guy, see if there was anyone whoever accomplished what he did in the game of hockey. And I say No, that's just some people's opinion that he was a good player, but I refuse to look at the facts that are there for anyone to see.

Or if you're not into hockey let's go with movies. If I say there's no such thing as a funny movie, without ever having watched a movie. How dumb does that make me look?

You can't say the Bible is a myth. You can say 'I choose to make an opinion based on my limited knowledge' but you can't say it's a myth because there is too much proof that you haven't checked out. You can't say there is nothing to prove the case, because you obviously haven't checked out any of the facts.

Do you know what one of the biggest things is that gets the most hardnosed anti-christians to come to Jesus is? It's when they set out to prove that God and Jesus don't exist and that the Bible is based on myth. These are usually well educated people who set out with a specific course to prove once and for all that the Bible is just another book. The overwhelming facts usually make their lives turn an about face because the facts are on the side of the Bible.

I have no respect for what you say when you say things like your last email. Study the matter, and then give me your opinion based on knowledge, but you can't just dismiss it as nonsense because you feel like it. Well I guess you can, but that doesn't mean your right and with the stakes as high as they are, are you willing to base your life on it?

If you have specific questions, I'd be happy to try to explain the logistics of it.

Ted's response:

Except that instead of reading about Wayne Gretzky and all his stats and point totals, etc, you saying that to find out that Wayne Gretzky's the best player ever, you read his autobiography. That's like what you're saying about the Bible: the Bible says it's the word of God, case closed. It's completely ridiculous.

Also if someone who believed in Judaism or Islam or some non-Christian religion, I mean there are believers of those religions who have studied bibles or similar books of the word of gods, said, oh, all you have to do is study our book, and then you'll get it.

Me telling you I'm the president isn't proof enough that I am, in fact, president.

I also don't see how you can say you have no respect for this statement: "This is the problem I was talking about. Right off the Bible is the word of God and you must believe to save yourself in eternity. But that right there is what I consider myth. There is nothing to prove that's the case. So, you say, well you have to have faith. But what is that faith based in? It's nonsense." Why not?

From: "Sharalee Worms" Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003 Subject: Re: About your review

Ted, What I'm saying is that the Bible says it is the Word of God and it authenticates itself, if you study it.

From: Russ & Sandy Gonnering Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003 Subject: Your review

Ted-

"Signs" was a movie--can debate it from now to forever.

I would be interested in your take, as a movie critic, on a film based upon John 1:18. Read it like a storyboard. Fantasy...SciFi...Documentary...ChickFlic..."Silly Parlor Game"..Reality.

Russ Gonnering

From: Dan McWhorter
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003
Subject: your review of signs

If I were only more disciplined, I would have clicked the "x" at the top right of the web page and moved on to something more insightful, like wondering if God laughs at his own jokes. But I'm not, so I'll just comment on you're review of "Signs", and God. The entire basis for your negative review is it's portrayal of God, though behind the scenes, and so I'll stick to those assumptions, and ask you:

After summarizing the film's ending you say, "So God knew all this." Two sentences later, you say, "So, God took away Gibson's wife for a reason..." On the one hand, you seem to want God to prevent bad things from happening that he knows about; but on the other hand, you attribute the bad thing he knows about to him as his doing. But if everything "God knew" were things he did, preventing those things would be preventing himself from acting. He would contradict himself. What you failed to assume along with your other assumptions, is that God does not cause everything that he can prevent.

In the movie, the wife who died was killed by the drivers of the cars. Is it really "childish and simple-minded" to think God might intervene in that moment of death caused by the driver to spare a man of faithlessness, a child of poisoning, and a family from death. Is it "simple-minded" of me to think that "if there is a God", the wife's life did not end at that last breath, and therefore God could look beyond the moment?

Even on the issue of aliens being a anti-Christian concept, you assume too much. Christianity's teachings do not reference aliens in any way. If they were to exist and be intelligent, the Christian message would apply to them as well as to anyone else, because after all, "if there is a God", then he is God.

These few points, along with the idea that such designs of God would serve the purpose of self-amusement, are packed with assumption.

I have been a Christian for 24 years, and I have never read about God being a "recluse", or an "ego maniac". And as for marriage, you know, he's God, not Mr. God or Mrs. God, and Christianity teaches that there is no marriage in heaven, so if even we wouldn't marry, why on earth, and who in heaven would he marry? Before I become redundantly rhetorical, let me add: he created the heavens (universe) and the earth (world). Jesus always existed and therefore wasn't "all of sudden" God. He was "all of a sudden" man, when he came into this world to die a substitutionary death, and Jesus' father (the "old God" as you call him) always was and will be God the father.

In case you're confused, the terms, father and son, refer to the roles and relationship that exists among the "persons" of God.

You know, there is a book about all this. But my final point is that you call all of the God-oriented aspects of this movie a "superficial take on Christianity". And yet, you seem to know little to nothing about Christianity yourself. So, how can you judge what is superficial. How can you say, "great films have been made that support, or confirm, a Christian viewpoint", when you seem to know so little about the "Christian viewpoint".

I suppose by my own words I can say you don't know better. But I do hope you can learn to write with less ignorance and assumption.

Maybe then, when a poor, unsuspecting and undisciplined person stumbles across a review of yours, their time will not be wasted.

~ Dan

Ted's response:

Hi, thanks for writing! A few comments...

It wasn't about what I wanted God or god or "God" to do, it was what I felt the film's POV was.

But if everything "God knew" were things he did, preventing those things would be preventing himself from acting. He would contradict himself.

? Huh? So, in other words you ARE saying that God sets up these things to happen so that later he can step in and save the day?

What you failed to assume along with your other assumptions, is that God does not cause everything that he can prevent.

Again, the review of Signs didn't have very much to do with what I think about God, it was my take of the film's view of God/Christianity, and that it was above all, silly.

Again, you are taking me out of context: "The film has no structure. It just goes until it stops. It wants either to be a really good episode of The Twilight Zone or something bigger, like some grand statement on religion or Christianity. Either way it doesn't work. As the first, it's too long and ultimately empty. As the second it's childish and simple-minded." I wasn't saying God was simple-minded, I was saying that the film's point of view, which seemed to be pro-Christian, also was very simple-minded. And in re the film, the Gibson character had faith and never would have become faithless if God hadn't killed his wife in the car accident in the first place (or let her be killed).

Uh huh, but do you really think Christianity is going on on other planets or in other worlds or galaxies? How is that possible, as Jesus lived on earth and the Bible takes place here. So if there are aliens, how can they be Christian? And as they are not Christian, they have to go to Hell and spend all eternity in the fires of Hell, isn't that right?

These few points, along with the idea that such designs of God would serve the purpose of self-amusement, are packed with assumption.

I have been a Christian for 24 years, and I have never read about God being a "recluse", or an "ego maniac".

Again, I did not say God was a recluse or an ego maniac. I said that that appeared to be the point of view of the film.

And as for marriage, you know, he's God, not Mr. God or Mrs. God, and Christianity teaches that there is no marriage in heaven, so if even we wouldn't marry, why on earth, and who in heaven would he marry? Before I become redundantly rhetorical, let me add: he created the heavens (universe) and the earth (world). Jesus always existed and therefore wasn't "all of sudden" God. He was "all of a sudden" man, when he came into this world to die a substitutionary death, and Jesus' father (the "old God" as you call him) always was and will be God the father.

But where did they come from?

In case you're confused, the terms, father and son, refer to the roles and relationship that exists among the "persons" of God.

I know lots of people who consider themselves to be Christians, so the "Christian viewpoint" seems to me to be variable and personal.

I suppose by my own words I can say you don't know better. But I do hope you can learn to write with less ignorance and assumption.

And I could say the same thing about you and other born again Christians/Christian fundamentalists/hardcore Christians. That YOU'RE ignorant and assuming because you only deal with the one book, the book of god, the bible, the undisputed word of god, the book that everyone should live by. Stand back and get out of your little box and look at what you think and believe from a world view -- it's the most cloistered existence there is. And why is your religion the right one? Why are the Jews wrong? Why are those who subscribe to Islam, Hinduism, Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist, Buddhism, Scientology, etc wrong? It's you who seem to be the one assuming and ignorant.

Maybe then, when a poor, unsuspecting and undisciplined person stumbles across a review of yours, their time will not be wasted.

But, do you really believe your time was wasted, Dan? Anyway, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I don't write to Christian sites and tell them not to preach because THEY'RE close-minded. So, I'm sure your Heaven -- which is so 100% real -- is going to be rad, and a lot of fun too, since apparently only born again Christians will be up there. What are you going to talk about up there? Don't you think Jesus is going to get tired of hearing how great he is?

Sorry, I was getting a little sarcastic at the end of this, but it's so frustrating trying to talk about religion with people who are so damn provincial, superior and smug.

My main attitude is how can you be so sure of yourself in re what is: truth, God, Jesus, afterlife, etc?

Again, thanks for taking the time to write!

Ted
http://www.tedstrong.com

From: William Livingston
Date: Tue, 14 Jan 2003
Subject: your signs review...

Ted,

If you didn't like the God in signs then watch out. Next is Jesus "God incarnate", who will be portrayed in an upcoming movie from Mel. I for one am excited to see Mel wanting to make an "accurate" movie about Christ's last 12 hours on earth.

As far as your thoughts on signs, it seems you don't understand God very well or humans for that matter. While I have plenty of doubt about aliens. There is nothing in the Bible telling us there are aliens but I guess God could do whatever he likes. He seems to have an interest in us here on earth though.

Be watching for the new film on Jesus in Aramaic and Latin. Finally a Jesus who speaks like the middle easterner that he was and not some british accent based on the King James translation of the Bible.

will

From: r bonds
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003

From your review I dont belive you even watch the movie. Ygot most of the facts wrong you must have read some other stupid athiest review and just copyed it. Sad I thought maybe this movie with the alien theme might catch some of the nonbelivers by surprise but I guess you are to shallow to see it .

Even though it will problay make you made I will pray for you,-Randy

From: Sharalee Worms
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003
Subject: Re: About your review

Ted, are you a hockey fan? Or what kind of things do you do for fun? Just curious.

About what your saying with Gretzky. Yeah you're right. To find out if he was the best player I would read his autobiography. (This is a bad example to use cause I don't know a lot about Gretzky) Let's go at this the way you're approaching the Bible. I don't believe Gretzky was a very good player. As a matter of fact I don't even think he exists. First off I might talk to some of my friends and say something like ' I don't believe Gretzky was a very good player. As a matter of fact I don't even think he exists.' What would my friends do? first of all they would laugh at me then they would say 'Of course He exists.' I would say prove it. They would say things like 'I saw him play in Edmonton years ago. I know he exists. Another would say I actually met him one night in Winnipeg after a game there with the Winnipeg Jets. Another would say 'I went to school with his kids when I lived in California. Another would say 'HAven't yu seen him on TV? He's on lots of commercials. Another would say 'Go look up any book that has to do with great players of the NHL, he's in it.

Then I would say to them, well okay, maybe he exists, but I doubt if he's the best player that ever lived. Then one of my friends might point me to his autobiography. And it would say something in there about his having won the trophy for best player 10 times or whatever the facts are. Or that he had the most goals. I would read it and go hmmm, that sounds a little ridiculous that one guy could win the trophy that often. Must be a bit of a myth. Something this guy is saying just to make himself look good. So what would I do then? I'd go find more information and verify the facts, and what I would I find? Yes indeed he has in fact won that trophy exactly as many times as he said he did. Okay, but (and remember here I'm still trying to cling to my own opinion that Gretzky was not the best player) his record for goals isn't that impressive. (Like maybe now adays because of longer seasons or whatever maybe his goal record isn't that impressive.) So what would I do? I'd go back and research the NHL in the year that his goal record was set, and the facts, aside from his autobiography, would tell me that, indeed he was the best player, by far out doing all his fellow players.

I would never be so gullible as to just walk up to Gretzky and say, are you the best player that ever lived? Have him say yup, and me go okay. I would check all the actual facts available and make my own opinion.

The reason I say I don't have respect for your statement is that you are making your statement without any knowledge about what the Bible is. It's no different than you telling me 'Gretzky never scored a single goal.' What are you basing that on? Not fact, because if you had looked into the facts, you would know you were not telling the truth.

Like I said earlier, if you research the Bible and you make a statement I'll respect it, but to outright say something about something you have no idea about, there's no reason why I should respect what you're saying. You can't just say something is ridiculous, if you don't know what you're talking about. It just makes it sound like you're not very intelligent. Which by the way I think is not the case.

One thing you'll find if you actually do study the other religions is that the claims they make are not all true, whereas the claim the Bible makes is true, and there are incredible amounts of facts that back it up.

Just out of curiosity, do you believe there ever was a person, Jesus Christ?

From: Vicki
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003
Subject: Signs: Jesus, are you home? It's me Mel Gibson Review

Hi there.

From your review it sounds to me like the movie was pretty flaky. That's not so surprising to me - there are a ton of those out there today. I guess the question that came to my mind, though, from reading your review is: "Are you an angry person?" Just wondering...

Vicki

Ted's response:

not an angry person, but i was upset at how ridiculous the movie signs was, and how a lot people seemed to think otherwise.

From: Kristine Vollmer
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003
Subject: Hi

Hi Ted:

I have never seen the movie but have heard some good things about it. Actually, I believe that you are not a Christian so who knows what God will use to open one's eyes? He used a death in my family. Beware that you do not become "wise in your own eyes". "The wisdom of man is foolishness to God.³

From: Kristine Vollmer
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003
Subject: forgot something....

Hi Ted:

You said that the movie was "childish". We all have to come to God as little children. The reason why is pride will stand in the way if we don't humble ourselves. Guess what, pride is the number one thing that God hates. Have a great day!

From: "Thomas Hard"
Date: Wed, 15 Jan 2003
Subject: RE:Signs: Jesus, are you home? It's me Mel Gibson.

Dear Ted,

I just finished reading your article on "Signs" and thought I would respond by just answering some of the questions you asked, mostly the ones about Christianity.

For one, your comment about aliens being against general teachings of Christianity is correct. But if we can move beyond this problem with the movie, we can get to some deeper issues.

The basic gist of Christianity is that human kind is in rebellion against God our creator, the God who created us only because He wanted to love us. But true love always comes with the choice to love, and we have all chosen not to love God at some point or another. God made a promise at the beginning to Adam and thus to all others that if we disobey Him, we will die. It is the choice we all make, obey God and have a personal relationship with Him, or disobey Him and suffer the consequence. God's perfectness and justice demands that we pay the penalty, much like any good judge would not just let a murderer get off scott free. However God is also all love. As such, to destroy humans would be to destroy the very objects of His love and affection. This was a delima of God sized proportions. So God chose to pay the penalty Himself. At the cross God's Justice and Love intersected when He chose to die for our sins and He promises to forgive us if we ask Him to and beleive He will. Again we are given a choice...for if we hate God and choose not to accept His forgiveness, He's not going to force Himself upon us or force us to live with Him for eternity.

As the Bible account goes, and as I've seen in my own life, God is not a recluse, but instead is actively involved in the world pursuing a continual love relationship with each and every one of us that is both real and personal. When Jesus walked on the earth he had many friends and followers, and not the self-righteous kind, but He was known as the "friend of sinners." Nor do I beleive the Bible presents him as an egomaniac, for He humbled Himself enough to take human form, live among us, and die a gruesome death for us, being shamed and scorned by all. Very much an act of humility.

As far as Jesus and God goes, they are one in the same. Christianity does not believe in three gods, but in one God....much like water can take three forms, ice liquid steam, or other such analogies which fall short because they are limited and God is infinite.

Now back to the matter of the movie...God making the wife die, all the suffering, etc..

As told in the Bible, man brought sin into the world, and all suffering is a result of that. God does use bad circumstances for good though, as the case with the car wreck in which the wife could have died instantly, but instead allowed her to live long enough to tell the preacher the "sign" he needed. As far as it all being an elaborate sharade...God sees all and is constantly working around us, and the fact that I cant understand everything, or even much of what God is up to doesnt bother me much. For starters, I understand I'm enormously limited in my understanding of the world in comparison to God, and second that I have faith that He's in control and knows best. I've learned the secret of being content in any ad every situation, whether well fed or hungry, in sickness or in want, and it lies in faith in Jesus.

As far as Gibsons character being able to spread God's word better...I have no idea. In my life however, events that test my faith and sometimes even hurt me I've learned to accept and grow from, for they have grown my faith, my perseverance, and my testimony to others. It has grown my reliance upon God, and my relationship with Him. God involves me in His work not because He needs me, but because He loves me and wants me to grow better, stronger, etc.. and I have real direction and purpose to my life, real fulfillment, as well as mercy, love, forgiveness, and compassion on others.

Perhaps the movie made people think more about religion, but I hope not. I dont care much for "religion" or religious people. What I'm into is not religion, but relationship. A relationship with God that affects every area of my life, not some superfical mask to wear on sundays.

Anyways, thanks for your time, and if you have any questions feel free to ask, I'll be glad to answer.

Tommy Hard

Ted's response:

Right, but you act like the Bible is all-important, as though it actually is the word of a god, which is of course ridiculous. All of your statements point to the Bible for proof, but the Bible isn't proof of anything.

From: Vicki
Date: Thu, 16 Jan 2003
Subject: Re: Signs: Jesus, are you home? It's me Mel Gibson Review

Well, I can understand that.

--- Ted Strong wrote: > not an angry person, but i was upset at how ridiculous > the movie signs was, > and how a lot people seemed to think otherwise.

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