Which book includes "A time to weep and a time to laugh"?

Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

The Dude Abides

Home
Progressive Christian

Last updated on: May 21, 2007 at 4:00 am by Cathleen Falsani

2007-05-21T04:00:00-07:00 Cathleen Falsani

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Dogma on my mind …

Kevin Smith’s 1999 film “Dogma” has long been one of my favorites.
And one scene in particular has been on my mind the last few days.
It takes place between Rufus (one of Christ’s disciples) and Bethany (the last scion.)

I’ll post the dialogue below without comment, as it speaks quite eloquently for itself.

BETHANY
It’s weird. just when I think I’ve got a handle on
Things, something wholly unbelievable presents
itself. Sometimes I wish I had just stayed home.

RUFUS
You sound like the Man.

BETHANY
(beat)
What was He like?

RUFUS
Jesus? Black.

BETHANY
Besides that.

RUFUS
The brother was centered. I mean, He was God,
right? But I think He felt left out because He was
more than human, you know? We used to sit around
the fire – me and the other guys – and we’d be
talking about what ass-holes the Romans were or
getting laid…

BETHANY
Some things never change.

RUFUS
…and He’d just sit there listening and smiling.
We’d ask Him why He never joined in the convo, but
He said He just liked to hear us talk; about
anything. Said it was like music. I think He just
wished He had unimportant shit to talk about
himself.

BETHANY
How does He feel now?

RUFUS
He still digs humanity, but it bothers Him to see
the shit that gets carried out in His name – wars,
bigotry, but especially the factioning of all the
religions. He said humanity took a good idea and,
like always, built a belief structure on it.

BETHANY
Having beliefs isn’t good?

RUFUS
I think it’s better to have ideas. You can change
an idea. Changing a belief is trickier. Life
should malleable and progressive; working from
idea to idea permits that. Beliefs anchor you to
certain points and limit growth; new ideas can’t
generate. Life becomes stagnant. That was one
thing the Man hated – still life. He wanted
everyone to be as enthralled with living as He
was. Maybe it had something to do with knowing
when He was going to die. but Christ had this
vitality that I’ve never encountered in another
person since. You know what I’m saving?

BETHANY
He was big on life?

RUFUS
It was more than that. He was the only person I
ever knew who never engaged in that most ancient
of life-affirming activities.

BETHANY
Sex.

RUFUS
Debate. That’s the only way people know how to
reaffirm that they’re alive – by debating. In all
it’s forms. People spend their whole lives
debating: we fight about who’s right and who’s
wrong, we fight ourselves, we fight each other, we
fight death, we fight over beliefs, we fight over
fights. We believe that to stop debating – in any
fashion -is to stop living and give up. People say
that life’s a struggle, but it’s not. Life is
living. I’m even guilty of it myself, the way I go
on about Christ’s ethnicity, fighting for the
truth to come out. And I’m dead. Even in death,
the only way I know how to live is through debate.
That’s sad, isn’t it?

BETHANY
Not if you believe it’s important for people to
know.

RUFUS
A belief’s a dangerous thing, Bethany. People die
for it. People kill for it. The whole of existence
is in jeopardy right now because of the Catholic
Belief structure regarding this plenary indulgence
bullshit. And whether they know it or not,
Bartleby and Loki are exploiting that belief, and
if they’re successful, you, me. all of this…
ends in a heartbeat.
(beat)
All over a belief.

Uncategorized

Previous Post

May 19, 2007

Next Post

May 21, 2007

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A little happy ARCHIVED COLUMNS BECOMING FAMILY BelieberNess BREAKING NEWS! Disquiet Time DJ JEFF'S SPINTASMS falsani FILM from OCRegister From Sojo.net God Nods GODSTUFF I Take Requests incubatespirit LURKING IN THE NARTHEX On My Nightstand ONEMOMS Polling the Room PONTIFEXCELLENT Thru My Eyes TWO CENTS Uncategorized Upcoming Events VASCO VASCO'S HEART

Select a Month January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 July 2014 May 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 April 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 October 2003 March 2003 December 2002 October 2002 January 2001

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which book includes "A time to weep and a time to laugh"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Genesis Ecclesiastes Judges Malachi