What is Digg?75 Comments
- allthewhile, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4And what a surprise! Someone mentions a catholic priest and the regular crowd falls in line with the hackneyed molestation bit. You'd think atheists and agnostics and other such naysayers would think more freely with their originality. Oh well.
Meanwhile the Church marches on. - skartel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Neo's original name is "Thomas" Anderson and this reflects his unbelief. Neo at first refuses to believe the truth, just like the biblical character known as "Doubting Thomas", seeing is believing. "Anderson" means "Son of Man". So he is a doubting Son of Man.
His name is later changed to Neo, which means "New", but Neo is also an anagram of One. He is often called the One in the movie, just as Jesus proclaimed that he was the One. The Chosen One of God.
Near the beginning of the movie, Neo is told to meet Morpheus under "Adam bridge". He is picked up in a car and driven to see Morpheus. On the way Neo has the choice to leave them or continue. Trinity tells Neo that she knows that he no longer wants to go down that road, as he knows where it leads too.
This reflects the biblical truth that we must leave our old lives in "Adam" the first Son of Man and choose a new life in God through Jesus Christ the second Son of Man or new Adam. As the scriptures say, All in "Adam" die, all in Christ shall live.
Had Neo chosen to leave at that point, he would have gone back to his old life by simply getting out of the car. This road represents his old life. Instead however, he chooses the new life by remaining in the car and not going back to Adam bridge. He eventually meets Morpheus who will reveal the truth to him.
In the movie Neo asks Tank why he doesn't have a plug in the back of his head like everyone else. Tank says it is because he and his brother Dozer were born free of the Matrix, and he says that he is a true human "A Child of Zion". Zion is the only city that the humans have left, or the only city where humans are free. In the bible, Zion is the city of David (the great king). The city which God loved and showed his favour and the city of the messiah.
Also near the end of the movie the Agents are trying to get into Morpheus' head and extract the information and codes to the Zion Mainframe. This is similar to the fact that all those who belong to God are children of Zion, and Jesus has put the Kingdom of God within us. The Bible says that Jesus has also given us the Keys to the Kingdom. The secrets to the Kingdom of God are inside every child of God.
Also in the movie, Morpheus states that "when the Matrix was first built, there was a man born inside that could change and shape the Matrix at will, it was he who freed the first of us, the Oracle prophesied his return and when he returns he will hail the destruction of the Matrix".
This represents Jesus’ mission because he was born in the world and he went around doing miracles (shaping this reality), he freed the first people, his disciples and then he died and rose again from the dead, so that he could free all of humanity. It is prophesied that he will return as King and bring to an end this present world system and bring the world under his rule.
We also see in the 'The Matrix', that Neo overcomes the Agents and starts the destruction of The Matrix after he dies and comes back from the dead. This is similar to what Jesus did when he died, because he went to hell and destroyed the power of the one who had the keys of death, that is, the Devil. Jesus took the Keys of Death and Hell from him and overcame this world and death itself. Jesus died on the cross, but returned three days later, proving he is indeed "the One" and declaring the end of this world and bringing in the reign of the Kingdom of God. It was Trinity's love that brought him back from the dead and of course it was God that raised Jesus from the dead and we also know that God is love.
In the movie, Neo meets the Oracle, but just before he meets her, he sees other potential messiahs. These potentials perhaps represent the many religions such as Buddhism (there is no spoon) and New Age. Of course Neo turns out to be the one, the true Messiah, and this is also reflected in the beginning of the movie when 'Choi' tells Neo "Hallelujah. You're my saviour, man. My own personal Jesus Christ".
When Neo finally meets the Oracle, she asks Neo if he is "The One" and she eventually tells him that he "looks like he is waiting for something" and prophetically says "your next life". This also demonstrates that we all need to accept the new life in God that he offers all of us. In the end Neo dies, but comes back, and is able to defeat the Matrix in his new life. Likewise we too can overcome this world when we die to sin and live to Christ, who is our new life. In our own strength, we cannot defeat the World and the Evil One only when we receive new birth in God through faith. The scriptures say that we must die to ourselves and live to Christ. Even Christ died to give us life and victory. And so it is in the Matrix, Neo dies and from this point on, he hails the destruction of the Matrix.
Notice that Neo had a choice of the red pill or the blue pill. We too have this choice. Do we want to know the Truth (the red pill) or do we just want to forget about it and wake up and believe whatever we want to believe (the blue pill). The colour red is also significant, as it represents suffering or blood.
Now we must realize that the truth is not the easy way, and there is a measure of persecution for all those who want the truth, (including death for some), just as the agents in the Matrix relentlessly pursued and tried to kill those who were free from the Matrix. But the truth sets us free from our bondage to sin and slavery to this world and wakes us up to the deception and lies that are all around us. Remember that the truth is not the easy way to start with, but it is better than living a lie and in the long term it leads to total freedom and eternal life with God, who is love.
The software training programs in the movie represent the Word of God and the Scriptures that teach and train us, for the battle between Light and Darkness. The jumping program where Morpheus teaches Neo to jump from one building to another, mirrors the experience where Peter walks on water, but because of fear, Peter falls into the water and Jesus reaches out his hand to save him. In the movie Neo also falls when he attempts his first jump from one building to the next. It’s all about faith.
In the movie, The Matrix is the world that is pulled over people’s eyes, so they cannot see the truth. The world we live in is the deception that Satan pulls over our eyes, that blinds us from the truth, that there is a Kingdom far greater than this present world and that kingdom belongs to God who created us. That is why we must have faith and see with our spirits rather than our physical eyes. The Bible says that this world is our enemy and it caters for the sinful desires of human beings. We must overcome it. The bible also says that the world and all visible things are temporary but the truth is eternal. This world is trying to hide the truth from us. In other words, any philosophy is ok, except the truth.
The scriptures also tell us that we do not fight against flesh and blood, rather spiritual powers. It would have been pointless fighting those bound in the Matrix to destroy the Matrix. In the same way the Agents in the Matrix, who hold the keys, needed to be defeated to set the people free from the Matrix. The scriptures tell us that we need to fight the spiritual powers that bind people and not the people themselves, so they can be set free. Also in the movie, Morpheus and Neo are inside a training program that was very similar to the Matrix itself, (The one where the woman in the red dress appears). Morpheus says to Neo, "If you are not one of us, then you are one of them (an agent)". This also resembles the words of Jesus, "if you not against us, you are for us". Further, those that were imprisoned in the Matrix are like those who cannot let go of this world. We are trying to set their minds (soul) free, but they are part of that system and until they are free of the system, the Agents "Demons" can use them.
Like the Matrix, the physical world was made. Everything in the physical realm was created (programmed) by God. Galileo once said that God created the world with mathematics. Everything in the physical realm has mathematical code including DNA that makes up your body. In the Matrix the code is digital and the DNA code of a human body in this world is the digital projection of you in the Matrix.
In Luke 19:40-41 we read the following: 'Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" "I tell you," he replied, "If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." In other words, nothing can stop God being praised and nothing can stop his message, even if the Church were silent, God could make the stones sing his praises.
So does the Matrix preach the gospel? Is it the Gospel on steroids? Well that's a matter of opinion, but remember this: The rules or laws of The Matrix can be broken in the same way that laws of the physical realm can be broken if we live in the Spiritual Realm. - skartel, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2The Matrix
Basically this movie is about a world that has been created to hide the truth from humans in which people are kept in bondage and slavery without them knowing it. That world is called The Matrix, which is a computer generated world designed to simulate the peak of human civilization which has now been destroyed in a nuclear war. The majority of the world's population is oblivious to that fact that their world is not real, but digital and they continue living out their daily lives, without even questioning their reality. The main character Neo, knows that something is not right with the world he lives in, and he is eager to learn the truth. He is offered the truth from a character called Morpheus. Morpheus proclaims that Neo is the One (chosen one) who will eventually destroy the Matrix. For this to happen, Neo must first overcome the Sentient Programs who are the Agents that can jump into anyone's digital body. They are the Gate Keepers and they hold all the keys to The Matrix. This movie reveals the truth gradually and it is this unravelling of the truth that keeps the audience captured.
The Gospel
Basically the gospel message is truth about this world we live in, that is controlled by evil powers in high (spiritual) places. However, the earth and the universe were created/programmed by God; but the world system was created by man, but inspired by Satan. Satan is called the god of this world/age in scripture. This world is full of deception and contains just about every lie in the form of philosophies and religions, but persecutes the truth. All people who trust in the world are not willing to be unplugged in order to see the truth and the truth can only be revealed to those who are searching for it. So many people live out their daily lives oblivious to the fact that there is a God who created a perfect world/state called Heaven. The bible tells us that we cannot love the world and love God at the same time, so we all have a choice. Do we want the truth or do we want to continue living a lie? In the gospel and scriptures, we find that the main character is God and Jesus (Yashua) is the son of God, who came into this world and altered this reality with countless miracles. He is the chosen one of God who came to free man from bondage to sin and slavery to this world and ultimately to deliver us out of this present darkness and into the glorious light.
Now for the similarities between this movie and the Gospel Message.
• The Matrix is the world, (not the earth) it is deception.
• Morpheus represents John the Baptist whose mission was to proclaim the "Chosen One".
• Neo represents the Messiah or any believer who has been born from above by the Spirit of God.
• The Oracle represents a Prophet.
• The Agents or Sentient Programs "Gatekeepers" represent the demons that hold the keys to this world. They have the ability to jump into people and use them at their will, just like Demons who can enter into people if they are open to them.
• Cypher represents Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ disciples. In the Matrix, Cypher was one of the group, but chose to go back into the Matrix and betray his friends. He was promised wealth and a measure of fame, instead he was killed. Judas in the Bible did the same thing. He betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, but later committed suicide. - Nesh, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1On behalf of Indianapolis, I sincerely apologize.
- besouza, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1And it's rated R...
- sunsetN!nja, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I find some of this Catholic bashing to be frighteningly similar to anti-jewish/communist/gypsy/insert your scapegoat here propoganda of Nazi Germany. The Christians aren't the enemy. Ignorant and evil people are. Regardless of what group they belong to.
- bontux, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0wow, just wow! I can't believe some people's attitudes on Digg. I guess you don't need to be a religious zealot of some kind to be a bigot.
I think some of you should get your heads out of the sand and find out what Catholics, other Christians, Jews, and Muslims actually believe before you go bashing them. - rundun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0That was the last campaign
http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:vgK6EGK6WdUJ:www.catholicvocation.org.au/cv_priesthoodposter.htm+the+priesthood+poster&hl=en - jbsheblak, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If you look close (and I mean really close, bad eyes need not apply) you can see that it says:
R - Restricted for those [something] in love with Jesus Christ. - digitalunit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Umm.... Who's offending Christians, Jews, or Muslims? The poster sucks, that's all.
- rompom7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0skartel i was going to post the same thing.
a lot of people don't relise that The Matrix is indeed a very religious movie. - digitalunit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Sorry shawgo, but.. Your god doesn't exist. =D You are a sheep.
- mantric, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Somehow, "his noodly appendage" has now taken on a rather unpleasant meaning.
If the catholic priesthood had rectified the values it has both long espoused and long eschewed...simultaneously,
...and if the church had spent more of its energy actually making people's lives better (instead of spending millions campaigning for Republicans and against gays)...,
...and if, perhaps, the they had learned enough of the lessons of the Reformation to respond responsibly to the sex scandal (or to deal with sex period)...
...then perhaps I would have taken them up on their flood of offers to join when I came out.
I certainly would have gotten more play.
RAmen. - focitrixilousP, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Too long, skartel, too long. You didn't get past my one paragraph filter.
- Vill4no, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I guess they are trying to win back some of the boys the scared off from all the "fondling"...
All hail the Flying Spaghetti Monster
rAAAAAAMMMMMEEEEENNN... - shawgo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This is the first time I have ever said this...Why is this on digg? All this is is more proof that catholics can't rely on their bible, they have to use movies that any REAL catholic would think of as undesirable at best. I am always defending my faith here, but I just decided it's not worth defending when everyone who claims to believe in God and Jesus are just stupid ignorant social clubbers who don't care about anything they are supposed to. Skartel, you are sick for comparing that disgusting movie to my God.
- caspermilktoast, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0LOL!! OH man, whoever says being atheist is no fun is missing out.
- addisonj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0haha, oh that is so funny... that more looks like a spray you would see in counterstrike than a poster you would see on your local church. but i must admit... after seeing that i am thinking about taking on the cloth, especially if it is anything like the matrix movies
- spartan777, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0neo fighting the 'establishment' was not the aim of the matrix. the catholics may be trying to be a little too 'hip.' they're catholics for cripe's sakes. i'm a Christian, but that just is a little odd, to try and connect priests to neo.
- 5had0w, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Holy Crap ;) besouza your right, it is R rated. LOL
- h0dge, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0L. O. L.
- robche, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0haha thats awesome
- Dingc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Wow, I kept thinking of this Photoshop Phriday pic from somethingawful.com : http://i.somethingawful.com/inserts/articlepics/photoshop/07-02-04-faceoffs/Judas.jpg
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0lol people are actually BUYING this?!?!?!
- BugMeNot2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0What the... this took a week to make?
I bet I could make one of the same quality in one day. Just give me a good stock photo to work with. - addisonj, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0new challenge: someone find a high res photo of the poster... i want it....
- caliberof22, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Hahahaha! Jesus christ that's funny...
- rundun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0That a question of perception. I'm sure if what you say is true skartel is it just take for make movie really easy to understand to no-happy-camper-of-sc-fi-movie. And of course if this happen in future we will not believe in god like we believe right now. Like that, well maybe, maybe not.
- jrstro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I, like the above poster, know this priest. Ia m not Catholic (Eastern Orthodox) but I found him to be an amazing person. This was not some over arching "the Catholic Church" issue. This is one dedicated priest and a photographer from his parish (also very nice) who put this together in the shadow of a vocations crisis. He is a good man who has likely done more for his community than MOST here have doen for their own. Let he who casts the first stone......
- gopchristian, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Exodus 13:15(KJV) "I sacrifice to the LORD all that openeth the matrix, being males; but all the firstborn of my children I redeem."
Exodus 34:19 "All that openeth the matrix is mine".
Numbers 18:15 "Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the LORD, whether it be of men or beasts, shall be thine". - rundun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0If we are so unreal all we say and do is crap yahoo
- rundun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Wow. Hold on :-)
- rundun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I just see it like a big thing that always control us, a conspiracy. Bible is a conspiracy you mean now?
- godmode, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0well the Matrix had a lot of Christian themes anyway
- HecknJive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0many movies and stories can be compared and related to religious parables. stories by people for people about people and their struggles, failures and achievements in life. omg, i just put those into 3 categories. i bet if i thought real hard to could come up with some more "trinities" and relational bs in a pseudo-religious babble..
..rational thinking, mmm mmm mmm.
on topic: i bet that movie would be really neat dubbed in spanish!
"ai! hey-zeus mi amor!@#" - rundun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Ok. You understand now the glitch if everybody take it like oh is something religious.
- digitalunit, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1It'd be funny if they had a little boy standing next to the priest.
- Mongoose, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0EWWWWWWWWWWWWWW.
- DrunkenDevil, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0This cant be real...
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Haha that is great. Not a bad poster design. Looks like constantine and the matrix together. Now where is that damn phone booth and rufus.
- Augustine27, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Oh yeah, one last thing, the poster is great. Nothing personal against you who find it to be a joke, because I certainly respect your opinions, but I don't think you were the target audience. Amond the people they are trying to reach, young men who already have strong Catholic faith, but are very unsure about the priesthood as a calling and vocation, it can be very effective.
And from someone who has gone through, or rather is still going through the process, it is a way of getting people to look at the priesthood different. However, as bad as the shortage of priests is (although it's blown out of proportion), this poster is far from an act of desparation. The Church does not just look for anyone who wants to be a priest. The process of acceptance is extremely rigorous, now more than ever in light of the scandals. The Church has made mistakes, big ones, but now is the time to move on. A healing process will take years, but it will begin with great, holy priests, priests who can help restore the faith in the vocation. If anyone out there has faith, I ask you pray for me that hopefully when my time comes I can help to serve God in this beautiful capacity. - Augustine27, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0Well, this would not be the place to respond to all the Catholic bashing, because obviously the ill-will towards the Church in those who so freely and vociferously have expressed their hatred is quite deep-seated, and a sound bite comment trying to put someone in their place would do nothing but further fuel your hatred. I myself questioned the Church for a long time, but was able to spend some time really reflecting about everything and finding the inherent beauty in the Church, the beauty that shines through the light of Jesus Christ. The Church is a gift from God, and all I will say about the abuses and scandals is that even Catholics are human, and even a God-given gift run by humans will unfortunately at times be corrupted by evil. And it is no surprise that the greatest atrocitites against the Church have been committed by priests themselves, because the devil hates a priest more than anyone in the world. They are sworn enemies, and unfortunately many battles he has won.
A few months ago, after a long period of reflection, I finally accepted my calling and will be entering the seminary. I am very proud of my faith, and very thankful for it. And mostly I am very thankful for the gift of Jesus Christ, and the opportunity to rest eternally after my exile is complete in the sublime presence of my God.
Should anyone care to find out what a 28 year old regular guy, a man who has been to hell and back, and is now journeying through the priesthood, thinks like, feel free to visit my livejournal: www.livejournal.com/users/arjuna27 - dctrle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0thanks for all of the catholic bashing... when i hear all of the negativity, it really gets me fired up in defense of the faith i believe so strongly in. kind of makes me feel like a martyr, so i appreciate all of you people who do your part to strengthen the catholic church.
the priest in the poster happens to be my priest. never have i met a person so enthusiastic about dedicating ones life to god...and not be one of those crazies screaming at you when you stop at a red light. and even better, he's basically my age, so i know he can relate to me and the challenges i face. to the people who know him, he really is an inspiration of how you can let god play a bigger part in your life. and it's not at all surprising that he would open himself up to the kind of insults and criticism he's receiving from you oh so misguided people. as he said just today in mass, if this poster makes one person think, wow, maybe this path really could be for me, then it will have been worth it to him. as i said before, thanks for the persecution...you are making us that much stronger. - shawgo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0what are you talking about? The matrix sucked. I iked the forst one ok, but the rest were dumb.
- rundun, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0That could be funny but Lucas Arts will not appreciate.
- digitalunit, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The funny thing is the brothers who created The Matrix.. One of them had a sex change operation.
- binarystar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0yeah, i agree that it's all about how you want to interpret the movie.
http://whatisthematrix.warnerbros.com/rl_cmp/new_phil_wakeup.html - DannoHung, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0To summarize skartel's post: The irony present in this digg is that the Matrix itself has deep (and hamfisted in execution) references to Christianity in the story, character names, and situations.
Ultimately, Neo, like Jesus, is a Martyr who realizes he needs to die to free his people. - ppflea, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0^^desperate,....for what?
- yaos, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0"you are sick for comparing that disgusting movie to my God"
Why is the movie digusting? It wasn't that bad of a movie. -
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