Looking for God: an Ongoing Tale - The Manchurian Christmas
“No friends with you today?” Mitch asks Tamara as they sit down for what's become a weekly lunch.
“Next semester maybe you'd like me to bring some more,” Tamara replied. “I have a lot of interesting friends.”
“Great. So, you want to continue this after Christmas?”
“Absolutely. Speaking of Christmas, I was brought up with Christmas as more of a holiday than a holy day; no religious stuff. Besides, my family is Jewish though we don't really get involved with Jewish religious life like some of our friends do.”
“I sense a question coming up.”
“Well, I was thinking about the scenes with Mary, Jonathan and the baby Jesus. I vaguely know a little about the story in which they play a part. But not much, really.”
“It's Joseph.”
“What? Oh, the baby Joseph. Sorry.”
“No, no. It's Mary and Joseph. There's no Jonathan.”
“See what I mean? I need a refresher course on Christmas.”
Mitch thinks. “I like to think of it like the Manchurian Candidate.”
“You mean the movie with Denzel Washington?”
“That's the one. Washington plays a military guy, Ben Marco, who has been brainwashed in Iraq during the first Gulf War.”
“Right. And Marco and his whole unit were brainwashed to think that one of the men in the unit saved their lives in a battle.”
“Exactly. But there a few things that draw Marco back to reality. He meets another unit member who complains about having dreams that contradict the story they have been brainwashed to believe. It turns out that Marco is practically addicted to sleep suppressants to avoid his own dreams. And, then, he meets an FBI agent who believes him and helps him get in touch with reality.”
“I have no idea how you are going to connect this with Christmas.”
“Think of it this way. The world is full of bad things. We can get so that we think that living to make money, war, college bullying, environmental degradation, family dysfunction, depression, failed political policies and semi-corrupt business is just the way the world is. We long for something better, but it eludes us. And in the end, we give up, and settle for what we get from life. You could say we are brainwashed to think this way.
“If God sent part of him into the world as a baby to live with us and provide a remedy for what's wrong with the world, that would tell us that our longings are not out of whack. God's way of leading people back to reality.”
“Do you mean that the infant Jesus is God? Now, that sounds out of touch with reality. How can anyone justify believing something like that?”
“Well — and I hope this doesn't sound rude — but it helps if you know something about Jewish life before Jesus.”
“Ok, but let me think about what you've said so far during Christmas and we can talk some more in January. In the meantime, I wonder if it would be okay for me stop in and visit a church. They have special stuff happening at Christmas, right?”
“Let me know what you think after you go.”
To be continued.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
“Next semester maybe you'd like me to bring some more,” Tamara replied. “I have a lot of interesting friends.”
“Great. So, you want to continue this after Christmas?”
“Absolutely. Speaking of Christmas, I was brought up with Christmas as more of a holiday than a holy day; no religious stuff. Besides, my family is Jewish though we don't really get involved with Jewish religious life like some of our friends do.”
“I sense a question coming up.”
“Well, I was thinking about the scenes with Mary, Jonathan and the baby Jesus. I vaguely know a little about the story in which they play a part. But not much, really.”
“It's Joseph.”
“What? Oh, the baby Joseph. Sorry.”
“No, no. It's Mary and Joseph. There's no Jonathan.”
“See what I mean? I need a refresher course on Christmas.”
Mitch thinks. “I like to think of it like the Manchurian Candidate.”
“You mean the movie with Denzel Washington?”
“That's the one. Washington plays a military guy, Ben Marco, who has been brainwashed in Iraq during the first Gulf War.”
“Right. And Marco and his whole unit were brainwashed to think that one of the men in the unit saved their lives in a battle.”
“Exactly. But there a few things that draw Marco back to reality. He meets another unit member who complains about having dreams that contradict the story they have been brainwashed to believe. It turns out that Marco is practically addicted to sleep suppressants to avoid his own dreams. And, then, he meets an FBI agent who believes him and helps him get in touch with reality.”
“I have no idea how you are going to connect this with Christmas.”
“Think of it this way. The world is full of bad things. We can get so that we think that living to make money, war, college bullying, environmental degradation, family dysfunction, depression, failed political policies and semi-corrupt business is just the way the world is. We long for something better, but it eludes us. And in the end, we give up, and settle for what we get from life. You could say we are brainwashed to think this way.
“If God sent part of him into the world as a baby to live with us and provide a remedy for what's wrong with the world, that would tell us that our longings are not out of whack. God's way of leading people back to reality.”
“Do you mean that the infant Jesus is God? Now, that sounds out of touch with reality. How can anyone justify believing something like that?”
“Well — and I hope this doesn't sound rude — but it helps if you know something about Jewish life before Jesus.”
“Ok, but let me think about what you've said so far during Christmas and we can talk some more in January. In the meantime, I wonder if it would be okay for me stop in and visit a church. They have special stuff happening at Christmas, right?”
“Let me know what you think after you go.”
To be continued.
Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.
