Too bloody right, I watched The Lion King again the other day. It truly is a great film. Did you know that it’s made 979 million dollars? They made it for 45 million dollars in 1994. That’s a blockbuster, folks. Oddly enough, it did the most business outside North America.
Different things struck me this time. Mufasa said, “Being brave doesn’t mean you go looking for trouble.” Indeed, bravery in the cause of wickedness or pride is a waste. Mufasa speaking to Simba from Heaven got me pretty good. I don’t think I’ve gotten emotional at that part before. I used to feel Simba’s ache as Mufasa receded; that longing I understand. However, this time it was, “You are my son, and the one true king” which landed a hard punch against me. Indeed, I spoke the line out loud, though I was alone. It was emotional.
Ancestor worship isn’t totally wrong; as it is written, “Honor your father and your mother.” On the other hand, there’s nothing inherently praiseworthy about merely having lived and died. It’s the Christian teaching that living heroic lives of virtue in Christ makes people saints. The cult of the saints relies on the ongoing ministry of Christ. Pick your translation, but Hebrews 12:1 begins, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses…” and goes on to tell us to throw off every encumbrance and sin that easily entangles us. If they can’t help us, I don’t know why that verse is there. I’ve heard the arguments against the Catholic teaching on this. They just don’t fully account for the text, or you know, over 1000 years of Christian practice. You only need to hear like five sermons from Pastor Jim before you naturally go, “You gotta ask what the ‘therefore’ is there for!”
Anyway, everything good seems Catholic anyway. Unless we’re being intentionally wicked publicly whilst loudly proclaiming our fealty to the Church, we the Borg should win this one.
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