Critique away. The poetry is done to "What if God was one of us?"
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What If God Had Lots of Guns?
What if God had lots of guns?
Just a hacker packing heat
With a laptop in his bag
Try’n to phreak his message home
Whenever Hollywood tries to do a movie about Christianity it’s usually very painful to watch or offensive. With the notable exceptions of “The 10 Commandments” and “Prince of Egypt” which managed to get the general idea right without taking too much literary license. “Jesus Christ Superstar,” when put to film, gave the hippy Roman guards AK47’s. I’m not sure if they were trying to modernize it or just be funny. The Matrix takes this idea and runs with it. They were so busy handing out guns they accidentally gave “Jesus Christ” one. Actually, they gave him lots of guns. And I’m pretty sure it was intentional.
In the beginning was the word and the word was Neo. Neo, AKA Thomas Anderson, is a hacker with a legitimate job on the side working for a major corporation. Apparently he’s got a very large file of “sins” he’s committed. And all he has to do to make them go away is sell his soul to the Devil, Agent Smith. There’s a plot that hasn’t been seen since “The Last Temptation.” In the latter Jesus goes against his Father’s will to be with a woman. But wait, it was just a thought he had while dying. But wait, whoever lusts after a woman has already committed adultery with her which breaks one of the Top 10 commandments of God. The Old Testament rules for sacrifice require a lamb without blemish. Society has since decided that a blot here and there is no big deal. You’re still “good enough.” So really, you don’t need Jesus Christ anyway. It’s okay if he’s flawed just like everyone else. In conclusion, Neo is not Jesus Christ. But let’s overlook this roadblock and continue.
And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, Morpheus bore witness of him, and cried, saying, “This was he of whom I speak.” Morpheus is a prophet who speaks of “The One” and has devoted his whole life to finding him. He believes his has found “The One” in Neo and contacts him. Upon taking him to his place, he begins to talk about the “Matrix.” He explains that everywhere you look, everything you touch, feel, taste and smell is the Matrix. All Neo has to do to see the whole truth is to pop a little red pill.
If Neo is his name
Will you believe
He can remove you from this place
And set your mind at ease
Welcome to the real world
Is he really Christ
Or a figment of your mind
There is a painting. And on this painting there is Jesus Christ standing at a door. And depending on who painted it, the door is either open or shut. Because the question is, would you have knocked over the vase even if it hadn’t been mentioned? We like to believe we have free will and that we make our own decisions. But that’s not the question. The question is what choices do we have? In the one painting indicates we must choose to open the door to let Christ in. The latter indicates we must choose to close the door to Christ. The Matrix takes the notion that we are born slaves and the Bible doesn’t disagree. “Behold, I was molded in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). The question is a matter of whether or not the door is shut. The Matrix takes the notion that the door is shut and that we choose Him by choosing to take the red pill. However, “he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). The door is open. One can either recognize they are saved or reject they are saved and close the door. So really, there is only one pill: the blue one. Christ says to us “I’m taking you to heaven. You can choose to stay behind.” Christ never asks you if you want to go because that is not your choice to make. He only asks if you want to stay.
Upon eating the red pill, Neo is baptized in a silver fluid inside and out and suddenly awakes in a pod. This is the real world. You are born a slave and your own being feeds that which enslaves you. By being baptized he has been freed from his prison. And now that he has been freed it is his duty to go forth and spread the good news and save others. But what is the Matrix that one needs saving from it? The Matrix of “The Matrix” is a computer that generates a world in which we live oblivious to our true state. It’s such a wonderful dream. One in which we believe we live free and choose freely. The Matrix a Christian sees is the one which tells us that children are born innocent and that we are inherently good and to be content (and even relish) in sin as it’s really not that bad. Certainly nothing God would send you to hell over; at least, not a “loving” God. Unlike the movie, the “matrix” and the real world coexist on the same plane. We just see the world we share differently. And unlike “The Matrix” this world is real. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52). In Christianity there are two real planes of existence; this world and the next. Getting to the next simply requires either dying or living to see the last day. Taking the blue pill just decides where we end up in the next world.
Cipher certainly appears on the surface to be a Judas. But he’s not. Judas was not seeking earthly pleasures. He only asked for the amount one would get for a common slave. He also wasn’t seeking to know the truth about Christ. It wasn’t a matter of doubt. He wasn’t testing Jesus. These are the things Cipher sought. Not Judas. “Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve” (Luke 22:3). Judas shows up in the second film. Cipher is just another person who doubted that Neo was the “One” but went about getting his proof in a poorly conceived manner. Neo’s real name “Thomas” is a reference to Doubting Thomas. And “Anderson” literally means “Son of Man.” Actually it means “son of man.” There’s a significant difference. “Son” with a capital “s” is Jesus’ title. “Son” with a lower can “s” is a typical reference to a human son. “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that you visit him” (Psalm 8:4)? Neo certainly was a doubter but, certainly not a capital “s” son of man. He’s too flawed for that. He may be a hero but not a savior.
Hollywood has a consistent problem discerning between a hero and a savior. It’s actually a very simple thing. The Bible makes it clear there is only one savior. So if Hollywood is making a movie about a savior and his name isn’t Jesus Christ and if he didn’t die on the cross and rise from the dead on the third day, he’s a hero. Not a savior. “The Matrix” liked to play up the “Jesus Christ” angle quite heavily. Neo is called “my own personal savior” by Cipher who also muses what it must be like to be told one day you’re Jesus Christ. Neo is actually more of a Braveheart; a hero who rises up to save his people from tyranny. But the line “to wake up one day and realize you’re Braveheart, what a mind job” doesn’t have quite the ring to it. “The Matrix” also strains the point by offering a character named “Trinity” which is obviously taken from the Protestant notion of the Trinity. She actually is a Mary Magdalene type. “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” is her song from “Jesus Christ Superstar.” That relationship is never explored in the Bible however. She is just always where Jesus is.
It’s said that many religions can be found in “The Matrix.” On the surface, it looks to contain Christianity. Digging deeper you find only a few lines support that notion and they have no foundation in what’s going on. The rest of the movie contradicts everything Christ was about. One of the students was excited about finding a bit of her religion in the movie. If she wants it, she can have it. What the writer’s of “The Matrix” attempted to do was blend the most appealing and recognizable parts of a mess of religions and put them in a fun to watch package. What they ended up doing was bastardizing all of the religions while making it fun to watch so nobody really cared. They asked a lot of interesting questions to try to get you to think while wowing you with kung-fu and wire-fu. It may be a movie with a “deeper meaning” but in the end, it’s just a movie.
------------------------------------------------------------------
What If God Had Lots of Guns?
What if God had lots of guns?
Just a hacker packing heat
With a laptop in his bag
Try’n to phreak his message home
Whenever Hollywood tries to do a movie about Christianity it’s usually very painful to watch or offensive. With the notable exceptions of “The 10 Commandments” and “Prince of Egypt” which managed to get the general idea right without taking too much literary license. “Jesus Christ Superstar,” when put to film, gave the hippy Roman guards AK47’s. I’m not sure if they were trying to modernize it or just be funny. The Matrix takes this idea and runs with it. They were so busy handing out guns they accidentally gave “Jesus Christ” one. Actually, they gave him lots of guns. And I’m pretty sure it was intentional.
In the beginning was the word and the word was Neo. Neo, AKA Thomas Anderson, is a hacker with a legitimate job on the side working for a major corporation. Apparently he’s got a very large file of “sins” he’s committed. And all he has to do to make them go away is sell his soul to the Devil, Agent Smith. There’s a plot that hasn’t been seen since “The Last Temptation.” In the latter Jesus goes against his Father’s will to be with a woman. But wait, it was just a thought he had while dying. But wait, whoever lusts after a woman has already committed adultery with her which breaks one of the Top 10 commandments of God. The Old Testament rules for sacrifice require a lamb without blemish. Society has since decided that a blot here and there is no big deal. You’re still “good enough.” So really, you don’t need Jesus Christ anyway. It’s okay if he’s flawed just like everyone else. In conclusion, Neo is not Jesus Christ. But let’s overlook this roadblock and continue.
And the word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, Morpheus bore witness of him, and cried, saying, “This was he of whom I speak.” Morpheus is a prophet who speaks of “The One” and has devoted his whole life to finding him. He believes his has found “The One” in Neo and contacts him. Upon taking him to his place, he begins to talk about the “Matrix.” He explains that everywhere you look, everything you touch, feel, taste and smell is the Matrix. All Neo has to do to see the whole truth is to pop a little red pill.
If Neo is his name
Will you believe
He can remove you from this place
And set your mind at ease
Welcome to the real world
Is he really Christ
Or a figment of your mind
There is a painting. And on this painting there is Jesus Christ standing at a door. And depending on who painted it, the door is either open or shut. Because the question is, would you have knocked over the vase even if it hadn’t been mentioned? We like to believe we have free will and that we make our own decisions. But that’s not the question. The question is what choices do we have? In the one painting indicates we must choose to open the door to let Christ in. The latter indicates we must choose to close the door to Christ. The Matrix takes the notion that we are born slaves and the Bible doesn’t disagree. “Behold, I was molded in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:5). The question is a matter of whether or not the door is shut. The Matrix takes the notion that the door is shut and that we choose Him by choosing to take the red pill. However, “he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4). The door is open. One can either recognize they are saved or reject they are saved and close the door. So really, there is only one pill: the blue one. Christ says to us “I’m taking you to heaven. You can choose to stay behind.” Christ never asks you if you want to go because that is not your choice to make. He only asks if you want to stay.
Upon eating the red pill, Neo is baptized in a silver fluid inside and out and suddenly awakes in a pod. This is the real world. You are born a slave and your own being feeds that which enslaves you. By being baptized he has been freed from his prison. And now that he has been freed it is his duty to go forth and spread the good news and save others. But what is the Matrix that one needs saving from it? The Matrix of “The Matrix” is a computer that generates a world in which we live oblivious to our true state. It’s such a wonderful dream. One in which we believe we live free and choose freely. The Matrix a Christian sees is the one which tells us that children are born innocent and that we are inherently good and to be content (and even relish) in sin as it’s really not that bad. Certainly nothing God would send you to hell over; at least, not a “loving” God. Unlike the movie, the “matrix” and the real world coexist on the same plane. We just see the world we share differently. And unlike “The Matrix” this world is real. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (1 Corinthians 15:52). In Christianity there are two real planes of existence; this world and the next. Getting to the next simply requires either dying or living to see the last day. Taking the blue pill just decides where we end up in the next world.
Cipher certainly appears on the surface to be a Judas. But he’s not. Judas was not seeking earthly pleasures. He only asked for the amount one would get for a common slave. He also wasn’t seeking to know the truth about Christ. It wasn’t a matter of doubt. He wasn’t testing Jesus. These are the things Cipher sought. Not Judas. “Then entered Satan into Judas surnamed Iscariot, being of the number of the twelve” (Luke 22:3). Judas shows up in the second film. Cipher is just another person who doubted that Neo was the “One” but went about getting his proof in a poorly conceived manner. Neo’s real name “Thomas” is a reference to Doubting Thomas. And “Anderson” literally means “Son of Man.” Actually it means “son of man.” There’s a significant difference. “Son” with a capital “s” is Jesus’ title. “Son” with a lower can “s” is a typical reference to a human son. “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that you visit him” (Psalm 8:4)? Neo certainly was a doubter but, certainly not a capital “s” son of man. He’s too flawed for that. He may be a hero but not a savior.
Hollywood has a consistent problem discerning between a hero and a savior. It’s actually a very simple thing. The Bible makes it clear there is only one savior. So if Hollywood is making a movie about a savior and his name isn’t Jesus Christ and if he didn’t die on the cross and rise from the dead on the third day, he’s a hero. Not a savior. “The Matrix” liked to play up the “Jesus Christ” angle quite heavily. Neo is called “my own personal savior” by Cipher who also muses what it must be like to be told one day you’re Jesus Christ. Neo is actually more of a Braveheart; a hero who rises up to save his people from tyranny. But the line “to wake up one day and realize you’re Braveheart, what a mind job” doesn’t have quite the ring to it. “The Matrix” also strains the point by offering a character named “Trinity” which is obviously taken from the Protestant notion of the Trinity. She actually is a Mary Magdalene type. “I Don’t Know How to Love Him” is her song from “Jesus Christ Superstar.” That relationship is never explored in the Bible however. She is just always where Jesus is.
It’s said that many religions can be found in “The Matrix.” On the surface, it looks to contain Christianity. Digging deeper you find only a few lines support that notion and they have no foundation in what’s going on. The rest of the movie contradicts everything Christ was about. One of the students was excited about finding a bit of her religion in the movie. If she wants it, she can have it. What the writer’s of “The Matrix” attempted to do was blend the most appealing and recognizable parts of a mess of religions and put them in a fun to watch package. What they ended up doing was bastardizing all of the religions while making it fun to watch so nobody really cared. They asked a lot of interesting questions to try to get you to think while wowing you with kung-fu and wire-fu. It may be a movie with a “deeper meaning” but in the end, it’s just a movie.
