Osler's Razor

Yesterday, I went to see the stoner comedy "This is the End."  It featured many alums from my favorite TV show, Freaks and Geeks, all of whom were playing themselves.  It also included a lot of swearing, gore, bad sexual jokes, and Bible study.  Seriously, they spent more time talking about and reading the Bible in this movie than in any other I have seen in a while.  But, since it is a movie about the apocalypse, that kind of makes sense.

What struck me, too, was how much of the movie's plot traced youth-group theology, including the following tenets:

-- That one can be saved through faith at the last possible moment before death

-- That Satan is a real, corporeal being that interacts with the Earth and its people

-- That heaven is kind of wish-answering amusement park where you get whatever you want

-- That the best thing you can do as a moral being is sacrifice your own interests for others.

I would say that at least two of these are still part of my belief system (and important, challenging parts).  But... nothing in our culture has made me think about them until this movie.    I got some theological meaning from a stoner comedy, and I'm not ashamed to say so!

Which is weird, since the day before that I was opining as some kind of expert for a forthcoming National Geographic (in the US) special called "Decoding Jesus."  You can look for that in December.  I just hope it is as good as the stoner movie!  Then again, the last time I was on BBC/National Geographic (being replayed a week from today), it was to talk about crack cocaine, so maybe it is not so much of a stretch...