One of the blogs which hadn't floated to the top of my “other voices” sidebar for a while is Simon says, which yesterday popped into view with a live event notification. Simon says is the low key window onto a quiet but very interesting person: Simon Taylor, "a human being, a father, a husband, a Christan, a priest and a theologian (in something like that order)", whom I met through an education day responding to the Boxing Day tsunami of 2004. As I've said several times before: being an atheist myself doesn't mean I can't recognise a good person or good mind in believer's clothing.
Having been alerted by appearance of Simon says at the most recent update position in the list, and having popped over there t see what what had been added, I followed an article link. Since the article is dated more than six years ago, I am obviously very slow off the mark ... but hey, better late than never.
Every major society on earth, however secular it may be, is shaped by its history and, thus, by its religions/mythologies (take your pick, according to your viewpoint). In the case of western Europe and its new world descendants that means the abrahamic religions in general, christianity in particular, with the crucifixion as a central dominant image. Simon Taylor's examination of the film The bad lieutenant, from his theological perspective, though the crucifixion metaphor, is fascinating reading regardless of where you stand on belief.
As Unreal Nature often rightly points out, disagreement stimulates us to think; Simon Taylor always delivers on stimulation, and this example is (however belatedly) no exception.
Simon J Taylor, “It all happens here: locating salvation in Abel Ferrara's Bad Lieutentant”, in The journal of religion and film, April 2003, vol 7, no 1. University of Nebraska at Omaha.
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