Life Meets Faith: Saint Michael Moore
He's from a town not very far from the
Ontario border: Flint, Michigan. So
Canadians can be forgiven for liking him.
Back in the late 1900s, Flint melted down. General Motors, which had been the mainstay of the Flint economy, shut down its plants. Families fled the city in search of jobs. Residential communities lost many of the people who had been the backbone of the city.
Bankers foreclosed on many homes. The Catholic clergy condemned the forces of capitalism and those who profited from it, forces and individuals that cut the legs out from under many of Flint's citizens. Moore's first film, Roger and Me, documented the loss of those 30,000 jobs (that number rose to 80,000 in the following years) and the effects on the people.
Moore saw this first-hand. This helps explain his movie-making career. He has consistently displayed a passion for protecting the ordinary workers and citizens of his country. And he has consistently encouraged participatory democracy to combat the forces of big business and political elitism.
In Bowling for Columbine, he took aim at the culture of violence that consumes so many in America. The people of Columbine manufacture military rockets. In one scene — with a rocket rolling by in the background - Moore asks one of the city's people if he sees a link between the manufacture of deadly weapons of mass destruction and the high school shooting spree that took place there on April 20, 1999.
In Sicko he examined the American health care system that leaves many out in the cold. His latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story, looks at the rise of the economic system that has made us richer than any other generation of humans. But Moore questions how much longer we can justify a system that gives way to greed, destroys many communities, and robs so many people of their well-being.
One of the special features of Capitalism helps us understand what motivates Moore. It's called The Rich Don't Go To Heaven (There's A Special Place Reserved For Them), (I know; it isn't very subtle). In the feature Moore reinforces what is already apparent from the movie itself. What motivates him is more than his youthful observations of the blows that fell on Flint. It's also how the Catholic leaders of his city helped him understand what was going on.
The Rich consists of a conversation between Moore and Father Dick Preston of Flint. They reminisce a little. Moore himself talks about his early respect for those Catholic leaders who fought for civil rights and how he has tried to live out the values of social justice and to follow the teachings of Jesus. Preston and Moore talk about their understanding that Jesus taught that all people, no matter their poverty or their wealth, have a right to justice, mercy and compassion. Everyone has a place "at the table."
Apparently even army deserters who leave for reasons of conscience. In September of this year Moore spoke at the Toronto International Film Festival. According to the Toronto Star, he called Canada's attitude towards current U. S. war dodgers "shameful."
During the 1970s Canada gave asylum to young Americans fearful of going to Vietnam. Not so today. No war-resisting American soldier looking for asylum in Canada has yet been able to get it. The Star reports that any such cases are caught up in a near-hopeless legal labyrinth. Moore is hoping for something different from us.
Hopefully we will deliver. Hopefully we will see the government and the immigration services open the doors to those who are begging for a hearing that will give them opportunity to tell their stories and to build a life here. Many who were permitted to stay in the '70s are still here, and have done a lot of good in this country.
And if you rent Capitalism, don't turn off your audio when the last credits go by. You will be rewarded by Merle Haggard singing a Woody Guthrie song about the rich and how they would "lay Jesus Christ in the grave."
Michael Veenema was a chaplain at the college till 2004. Currently he works in Kentville, Nova Scotia where he is helping to establish a church-based shelter for homeless adults and at-risk youth.
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.
Back in the late 1900s, Flint melted down. General Motors, which had been the mainstay of the Flint economy, shut down its plants. Families fled the city in search of jobs. Residential communities lost many of the people who had been the backbone of the city.
Bankers foreclosed on many homes. The Catholic clergy condemned the forces of capitalism and those who profited from it, forces and individuals that cut the legs out from under many of Flint's citizens. Moore's first film, Roger and Me, documented the loss of those 30,000 jobs (that number rose to 80,000 in the following years) and the effects on the people.
Moore saw this first-hand. This helps explain his movie-making career. He has consistently displayed a passion for protecting the ordinary workers and citizens of his country. And he has consistently encouraged participatory democracy to combat the forces of big business and political elitism.
In Bowling for Columbine, he took aim at the culture of violence that consumes so many in America. The people of Columbine manufacture military rockets. In one scene — with a rocket rolling by in the background - Moore asks one of the city's people if he sees a link between the manufacture of deadly weapons of mass destruction and the high school shooting spree that took place there on April 20, 1999.
In Sicko he examined the American health care system that leaves many out in the cold. His latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story, looks at the rise of the economic system that has made us richer than any other generation of humans. But Moore questions how much longer we can justify a system that gives way to greed, destroys many communities, and robs so many people of their well-being.
One of the special features of Capitalism helps us understand what motivates Moore. It's called The Rich Don't Go To Heaven (There's A Special Place Reserved For Them), (I know; it isn't very subtle). In the feature Moore reinforces what is already apparent from the movie itself. What motivates him is more than his youthful observations of the blows that fell on Flint. It's also how the Catholic leaders of his city helped him understand what was going on.
The Rich consists of a conversation between Moore and Father Dick Preston of Flint. They reminisce a little. Moore himself talks about his early respect for those Catholic leaders who fought for civil rights and how he has tried to live out the values of social justice and to follow the teachings of Jesus. Preston and Moore talk about their understanding that Jesus taught that all people, no matter their poverty or their wealth, have a right to justice, mercy and compassion. Everyone has a place "at the table."
Apparently even army deserters who leave for reasons of conscience. In September of this year Moore spoke at the Toronto International Film Festival. According to the Toronto Star, he called Canada's attitude towards current U. S. war dodgers "shameful."
During the 1970s Canada gave asylum to young Americans fearful of going to Vietnam. Not so today. No war-resisting American soldier looking for asylum in Canada has yet been able to get it. The Star reports that any such cases are caught up in a near-hopeless legal labyrinth. Moore is hoping for something different from us.
Hopefully we will deliver. Hopefully we will see the government and the immigration services open the doors to those who are begging for a hearing that will give them opportunity to tell their stories and to build a life here. Many who were permitted to stay in the '70s are still here, and have done a lot of good in this country.
And if you rent Capitalism, don't turn off your audio when the last credits go by. You will be rewarded by Merle Haggard singing a Woody Guthrie song about the rich and how they would "lay Jesus Christ in the grave."
Michael Veenema was a chaplain at the college till 2004. Currently he works in Kentville, Nova Scotia where he is helping to establish a church-based shelter for homeless adults and at-risk youth.
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.
