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Show The Salt Lake Tribune RELIGION Saturday, March 24, 2001 SUE BENDER Goose Bumps Lead Ustothe Art ofOurLives wrote Plain and Simple arid EverydaySacred. In her new book, Bender explores taking risks to grow spiritually. BY SUE BENDER Something happens. Nothing extremeor dramatic. A chance meeting. Something we could not have predicted or planned, ashift, ever so slight — and our life takes a turn. The Jungian analyst Robert Johnsoncalls these seemingly random occurrences slender threads. They appear in manyform andlead us Anne Navarro, a mediacritic forthefilm office of the U.S. Catholic Conference,says the character's faith takes a backseatto the revenge tale in the film ‘Gladiator.’ ny,” a friend once told me. Whata splendid thought — thelife of our destiny — and the image ofslender threads guiding us. Thenight before I was to give a talk in Salt Lake City, I attended a small dinner party to celebrate the event. Pamela, a womanin herfifties whom I had never met, turned to me, hervoice quiet and reserved, as Oscar Turns a Gold Shoulder To Filmsof Faith character’s faith takes a backseat to the revenge tale, said Navarro. “There is some elementof religion because you do havesort ofa suggestion of some sort andartists. “Tm notan artist,” Pamela said. “I havenotalent.” Herwords, spoken in a matter-of-fact way, made an imprint on mysoul. Again,I felt goose bumps. I wanted to cry. ‘There was a long pause in the conversation. No one knew whatto say. After a while, one guestafter another spokeup, eachrelating the good deeds Pamela had done. “Pamela carries food and clothing for the homeless in the trunk ofhercar,” one guestbegan. “And food for the dogs of her homeless friends,” added another. “Pamela believes dogs love unconditionally,”still another chinied in. “She knows dogs don’t judge people, and for manyhomeless thatis the only love theyget.” In a quiet, steady, unrehearsed rhythm, each person added a new piece of the story. I heard myself blurt out, “Pamela, you are an artist!” Pamela paused. And then, with a great dealoffeeling, said, “No onehas evercalled mean artist!” Ilooked at Pamela; herface was shining. In that moment, I saw a deeper-rooted truth,beyond my usual knowing: Each of us has our own way of expressing ourselves. Each of us RELIGION NEWS SERVICE With contenders suchas “Sixth Sense” and “The Green Mile” in the Best Picture category of last year’s Academy Awards, the Oscars showcased films unafraid to wade into spiritual territory. But amongBest Picture nominees this year, matters of faith have hada devil of a time, somecritics claim. Oscars will be handed out Sundaynight. “Last year was a big year for things that were more overtly spiritual,” said Dick Staub, presidentof the Seattlebased Centerfor Faith and Culture.“Ifyou look at this year’s nominees, I'd say traditional religion is in trouble. The church is loveless, lifeless, legalistic — it’s a negative force in the community.” Case in point: the Miramax film “Chocolat,” according to Anne Navarro, a mediacritic for the film office of the U.S. Catholic Conference. The movie — thestory ofa tug-of-war between a woman who opens a chocolate store in a French village and the Catholic mayor who wants to shut her down — is “antiCatholicatits core,” Navarro said. Far from sending a message ofreligious tolerance, as some have suggested, “Chocolat” tells audiences that “you shouldreally just not be Catholic because if you're Catholic, you're uptight and self-righteous and repressed,” Navarro tor Ang Lee. een the Man people Roman gods,” Navarro said. “Buteven Reee eae and Maximus does pray to ancient Whatcould havereceived more focus was the plight of Christians in ancient Rome, said Monsignor James Lisante, because of language film is “set against the back- director ofthe Christopher Awards. their Christian ieeaterae its characters rebel against traditions. of afterlife with the Elysan Fields, suffered in Roman society pei ae wan-born ne BY SHELVIA D, wewere talking abouttalent “A lot of “A lot of people suffered in Roman society because of their Christian faith.5 That's its faith,” said Lisante, whose group honors moviesthataffirm the hu- an angle that would “Ang Lee said that the strength of Buddhism ip:alo its weakness — the man spirit. “That’s an angle that would have been interesting to Ue been traditions builtinto it are also the tradi ""leresting to tions that people react against,” Staub bring out. said. “In this movie, the key characteris a woman whois fighting againsta tradi- Monsignor tion that says she should honorherfa- F movie “Traffic,” said Navarro,pointing film ‘Gladiator’ out that filmmakers bypassed raising theissue in a storyline involvinga teen- =—S— Of “Chocolat, ’ Navarro said, “There is not one Catholic that is represented in a fair mannerin this movie, whichis set during Lent oneoftheholiest times for Christians. The handing the problem over to a higher power.” “Whetherfilmmakers want to or not, they’re presenting concepts that we as Christians wantto teach,” Todt said. “I don’t think Hollywood goes out ofits way to presentreligion orspirituality,butit’sthere.” Take “Gladiator,” for example. “T don’t know that the filmmakers set out to makea film, about a man’s faith, but that movie was justa great exampl “The daughter goes into drug rehabilitation but there’s no mention of God, which there usually is in rehab programs,” Navarro said.“In a 12-step program,thefirst step is usually liciously ridicules yourself at some point the thought of God has got to cross abstinence, penitence and any kind of occasionally Church of America. pletely stupid. It trivializes our religious practices and mamorality.” Thefilm’s Oscarrivals, said Staub, seemed equally skittish about faith even the Buddhist/Confucian/Taoisttinged martial arts romance “Crouching Tiger, Hidden insists Ryan website of the Presbyterian “Cast Away” — not nominated for Best Picture was notable for the same misstep, shesaid. n if you are completely not spiritual or versed in religion in anyway, if you spend four years on anisland by movie makestheself-sacrifice done during Lent seem com- who writes movie reviewsfor the ager who enters a drug rehabilitation said. Her organization’s own list of the top 10 movies of 2000 ignored “Chocolat,” “Gladiator” and “Erin Brockovich” but included the other two Best Picture nominees — “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and“Traffic.” do give a tacit nod to some of the same values espoused by Christianity, Todt, milial responsibility to be a princess. James Lisante But she wants to follow her own sense of 2 destiny to become a warrior. She's Director of the pushing against those traditional Christopher constraints.” Awards on the Faith is also pushed offstage in the Oscar-nominated program. bring out.” Even so, the nominated films your mind,” Navarro said. And though “Gladiator” sandwichesthe tale of a Roman general's quest for revenge between shots of the Elysan Fields (an afterlife utopia in Greek mythology), the of how wereally are creatures offaith,” said Todt. “The image of faith there is a shattered one because Maximus has faith in something I don’t think is true. But the movie just shows that humansare going to have faith in something,it’s: just a matter of what.” Though shying away from overt references to relighoai the Best Picture nominees do reflect moral andspiritual: themes that resonate with the public, Staub said. “Themes of justice, honor and morality are all a part of. mostof the nominated movies,” he said. “And when youlook, at ‘Erin Brockovich’ and the rest of them, they all have.a, strong, idealistic individual whois upagainst some institu: tional evil. Each has the belief that one person can serve se ciety and makea difference for people andthat’s what a lot of religion is about.” has something specialto give. Andit is important to value our own way of expressing our- selves whatever it is. Like Pamela, manyof us do notbelieve thereis anything special about ourselves. Thad seen something in Pamelashe had notseen in herself Pastor’s Bind: knew I was ethically responsible Religious Liberty to report this. “Evenifa societyfeels[religious counseling]is not 800d advice, church lead- bishoplast year accusedoffailing Or Hiding a Crime? And if the information had comeas a confession? Dolloff-Holt would have, reluctantly, abided by herdutytokeeptheconfidence ers still have therightto sexual abuse, said the Utah Su- @ Continued from C-1 everything she could to “help the perpetrator¢ » to the appropriate a bigger vision of who she was, Eachof us at that table experienced Pamela's pleasure authoritie at that recognition pleasure was contagiot haps wehad gottena glimpse of a more inclusive sense of what art is: the art of our lives. Perhaps wehad alsoseen ourselves whowe are, our own worth I smiled, describing my goose bumps theory of intutition to Rachel Naomi Remen,arare teacher, writer, healer and friend. “Do you know anything about goose bumps?” asked. “Yes,” she answered. “Goose bumps happen when your soul comes closeto you, breathes lightly on the back of your neck, and wakes you up.” Editor's note: “Between Heaven and Earth”features I would, especially with anything involving children, id the Rev. Roger Anderson, pastor of Salt ity’s Our Savior’s LutheI'd let them knowup front it was something I would have to shai “That's just it gut stuff. You just haveto do wha right, so I would report it,”hesaid. The Rev. Eric Frye, pastor of Salt Lake City’s First Southern Baptist Church, would be reluc tant to divulg confession, but allowedtherule cannot be immu- table, “There can't be any ironclad policies on these things,” he said. For Dolloff-Holt, the question is not just one for studied debate; she gave her. Indeed, in subsequent comments to The Salt Lake Tri bune, spokesmanDale Bills emphasized church leaders are rou- tinely urged to seek professional aidin suchcases. For more than a decade, Mormonbishops havereceivedformal training from LDS Family Ser. vices professions a variety of counseling issue 4-hourtele. phonehotlinealso has available for consultation, Bills said. “Church leaders who become awareof abuse involving church will likely withstandanyappeals, givenits solid First Amendment arguments. “Almost every state has: fol lowed that rule. As far as I know, every state now bans clergy mal practice suits for negligence in counseling. It would require a constitutional amendment to change this,” said Britton Weimer, a Minneapolis-based mal practice litigator and co-author of anauthoritative 1997 paper onthe selors, legal and other specialists” sity of Utah constitutional law scholar, agreed. Bottom line: “Evenif a societyfeels [religious Being a conscientious Christian first, and pastor second, I Meantime, legal experts agree the Utah Supreme Court ruling experience of having to report mail to badams@sltrib.com. Michael WeeConnen University of Utah constitutional law scholar = members areinstructedto call the Help Line to consult with profes. sional LDS Family Services coun: mons. Submissions maybe sent Lake City, Utah, 04111 or by & suit, the LDS Church did not defend the advice church leaders : suspected child sexual abuse as a pastor,” she said. “The informa: tion cameto me fromthevictim. book excerpts, personalessays on faith andspirituality and ser and Learning Editor, Salt Lake Tribune, 143 8. Main St, Salt While initially expressing gratitudefor dismissal ofFranco's give it.” issue for the Professional Liabil ity Underwriting Society. Michael McConnell, Univer: has experiencedit firsthand. “T have had the unfortunate bymail to Brooke Adams, Faith but only, she said, after doing a about what steps to take, Bills said. counseling} is not good advice, churchleaders still have the right to giveit,” hesaid. Salt Lake Cityattorney Bradley Rich, who defended an LDS to notify authorities about child Yale Has Its First ” Female Divinity School Dean preme Court's ruling gives de fense lawyers more ammunition to challenge the state's “failure to report”statute. Although charges against the bishop werelater dropped, Rich said the state justices’ decision could affect future criminal prosecutions Salt Lake CountyDis torney David Yocomhas year’s LDS spate of charge: i bishops has convincedhimto onally screen any future referredtohisoffice. “Tt involves people wedon't ordinarily see in the criminal jus tice system,” Yocom explained. “Theyare goodpeopletrying todo a job upstanding members of the community, We want to make surethat the evidenceis therebefore we chargethem. “We are more interested in compliance [with the reporting law] than with charging people with criminal offenses. The im: portant thing is the protection of thevictims,” he added. e-mail: bmims@sitrib.com and mvigh@sitrib.com NEW HAVEN, Conn. Yale University President Richard C. Levin hasselected Rebecca Chopp to be thenext deanof the universi. ty's Divinity School, choosing’ if scholar known both for her work in theology and women’s studies and as an eloquent advocate for theological education in the uni versity setting. Choppwill be the first female dean in the history of the Divinity School a history that goes back toits founding in 1701 and will take her plate among a handful of female deans of university-affiliated divinity schools around the country. As dean, Choppwill be responsiblefor all operations of the Divinity School and will serve as an advo- » for the school within Yale’é university systemand beyond. Hér 5-year term begins July 1. Chofs comes to Yale from Emory Univer sity in Adlanta, whereshehadbeen: a professor of theology since 1966, ‘The past two years she served '#4 the university's provost, put her in chargeof all affairs at Emory Religion News Servite - |
