The Infinite Monkey and his cohort on vacation

Presumably from the filming of the original "Planet of the Apes", but priceless nonetheless.

The Incredibles' Edna Mode reads the Bible?

Sunday last week, we took the kids to church at St. George's Anglican Church in Berlin. While the services are in English, many members are German, and during the reading of the Epistle, my 8-year-old son whispered to me that the woman reading sounded exactly like "that woman who makes the costumes in The Incredibles".

I had a really hard time keeping a straight face, because it was true.

And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by...

This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

Today is the Feast of St. Crispin, 25 October, the anniversary of the battle of Agincourt almost 600 years ago. A good time as ever to trot out my favorite scene of my favorite adaptation of my favorite Shakespearean play.

Do we all holy rites;
Let there be sung 'Non nobis' and 'Te Deum;'
The dead with charity enclosed in clay:
And then to Calais; and to England then:
Where ne'er from France arrived more happy men.

Monty Python on religion

I somehow managed to be a Python fan for as long as I can remember and not have heard about this debate before. As a deeply religious person, I can't tell you how saddened I am by the way the two "offended" Christians, one of whom was Bishop of Southwark at the time, reacted to the movie and to the (quite sensible) arguments presented by Cleese and Palin. It is also amazing to see Palin in particular clearly frustrated and angry, and I can't blame him: In the same situation I'd have either gotten up and left or started to go for the jugular far more than Cleese and Palin did. It seems the good bishop and Mr. Muggeridge had nothing substantive to offer except cheap shots and feigned offense. The closing remark about thirty pieces of silver was blatant in just simply grandstanding and trying to play to the audience, which clearly had sided with the Pythons – and of course it didn't work because of how transparent and juvenile it was.

The truly most ironic moment was when Muggeridge claimed that Jesus had inspired the greatest art, while "Life of Brian" was the lowest form of art. I would actually agree with the first part of his statement – but also say that "Life of Brian" is some of the greatest art of its kind, a beautifully done satirical movie, one for the history books. Few if any remember Muggeridge, but "Life of Brian" is as popular and well-known as ever. And it carries Jesus' message in a way no other film or book has done, highlighting our flaws as human beings while encouraging us to think for ourselves and make an informed decision to follow Christ, rather than blind faith.

As many have said elsewhere, and as Palin said in the debate, if your faith is that easily offended and challenged by a movie, then it's not much of a faith. Not only that, I think "The Life of Brian" is actually a profoundly religious and insightful movie, in that it does not make fun of Christ one bit – it makes fun of the folly of some of His followers who think they have all the answers, something which Christ Himself criticized every time He ran into the Pharisees and Sadducees. In fact I would even suggest showing it as part of Confirmation class.