Post by cervyy on May 27, 2006 13:33:37 GMT -5
After seeing X-Men 3 yesterday, I went digging, and found a comic book of mine from which the second X-Men movie was very much based on. It seems odd that I'm going to even say this, but the one-shot comic X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills should DEF be one everyone's summer reading list. This one is DEF more then just pretty pictures and a storyline. Only I won't be putting it in any of those books and whatever sections, because I wanted to post something here ...
The copy I have of course is a reprint from the original comic from the early 80's and with it is a couple of pages of comment by the one-shot's writer, Chris Claremont. He says a lot of interesting things, and after re-reading it, I thought I'd post some of his message here, for everyone's benefit.
"Now, we're talking primal structures here. We're talking about faith, not only in a supreme deity but also, by extension, in the ministers who represent those beliefs to their congregations. Here we have ministers asking-some might say, requiring-absolute trust from their congregations, absolute belief that what was asked of them was true, that the cause they are being asked to follow is just and righteous. This weapon of extraordinary power, as was demonstrated not only by the actions of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King but most absolutely by the actions of Christ himself.
And yet, these ministers are only human, and to be human is to be fallible. In every war that's ever been fought, ministers on both sides have called for victory in the name of God, have stated that God is on their side. But if both sides believe in the same God, which one is correct?"
"Ours is celebrated as a secular society. We are a nation "under God," but the definition of what "God" represents is left open. It is, I have always believed, meant to embrace a broad spectrum of faiths, wether held by a single individual or by tens of millions. How then do we reconcile the beliefs of one group of citizens from those of another? How do we subordinate-or can we, or should we-the commitments required by those faiths to the necessities or living in a pluralistic hegemony?"
"When I wrote the story, I read my Bible cover to cover, more then once-which I hadn't done since college-and I still have the dog-eared and heavily annoted copy on my bookshelf. In traveling the country, I spend Sunday after Sunday listening to media ministers both local and national. The novel as it evolved and grew into a plea that, no matter what the dictates of faith, we must be bound by our consience as individuals. That to me is the nature of free will. We come to a point of choice, both in terms of our faith as moral beings and our lives as good citizens. For some, actions in a civil arena grow from their faith, like a tree from a sapling: for others, the reverse-their actions in a societal sense must stand in opposition to tenets of their faith."
"Are we all in some manner or shape or form children of God? Or are some of us perhaps more beloved then others? Therein, for me, lay the crux of the conflict in the novel, one that lasts to this day and that factors into the sequel. Faith lies at the most fundamental core of our being as sentient creatures, this need to believe in something greater then ourselves, this almost inherent acknowledgment of the miracle of creation. But as faith is personal and unique to us as individuals, so then must also be our acceptance of responsibility for those actions that derive from it. Because in the end, while we remain individuals, we reside in a community. For the community to thrive, we need to find ways to get along, to play nice with each another. We need to cherish that which binds usm and accept with a measure of tolerance some of the things that make us different.
Why was this story written? What makes it special? Ultimately, I think, it grew out of two quotes that pretty much defined my own adolesence.
One was from Martin Luther King, one of his most celebrated lines, which I've used myself in describing my approach to the X-Men: I dream of a world where my children and their grandchildren will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
The other, from Ted Kennedy, eulogizing his murdered brother, Robert: Some dream of things that never were and say, why? I dream of things that are yet to be and say, why not?"
Hope that wasn't too much for y'all to get through.
The copy I have of course is a reprint from the original comic from the early 80's and with it is a couple of pages of comment by the one-shot's writer, Chris Claremont. He says a lot of interesting things, and after re-reading it, I thought I'd post some of his message here, for everyone's benefit.
"Now, we're talking primal structures here. We're talking about faith, not only in a supreme deity but also, by extension, in the ministers who represent those beliefs to their congregations. Here we have ministers asking-some might say, requiring-absolute trust from their congregations, absolute belief that what was asked of them was true, that the cause they are being asked to follow is just and righteous. This weapon of extraordinary power, as was demonstrated not only by the actions of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King but most absolutely by the actions of Christ himself.
And yet, these ministers are only human, and to be human is to be fallible. In every war that's ever been fought, ministers on both sides have called for victory in the name of God, have stated that God is on their side. But if both sides believe in the same God, which one is correct?"
"Ours is celebrated as a secular society. We are a nation "under God," but the definition of what "God" represents is left open. It is, I have always believed, meant to embrace a broad spectrum of faiths, wether held by a single individual or by tens of millions. How then do we reconcile the beliefs of one group of citizens from those of another? How do we subordinate-or can we, or should we-the commitments required by those faiths to the necessities or living in a pluralistic hegemony?"
"When I wrote the story, I read my Bible cover to cover, more then once-which I hadn't done since college-and I still have the dog-eared and heavily annoted copy on my bookshelf. In traveling the country, I spend Sunday after Sunday listening to media ministers both local and national. The novel as it evolved and grew into a plea that, no matter what the dictates of faith, we must be bound by our consience as individuals. That to me is the nature of free will. We come to a point of choice, both in terms of our faith as moral beings and our lives as good citizens. For some, actions in a civil arena grow from their faith, like a tree from a sapling: for others, the reverse-their actions in a societal sense must stand in opposition to tenets of their faith."
"Are we all in some manner or shape or form children of God? Or are some of us perhaps more beloved then others? Therein, for me, lay the crux of the conflict in the novel, one that lasts to this day and that factors into the sequel. Faith lies at the most fundamental core of our being as sentient creatures, this need to believe in something greater then ourselves, this almost inherent acknowledgment of the miracle of creation. But as faith is personal and unique to us as individuals, so then must also be our acceptance of responsibility for those actions that derive from it. Because in the end, while we remain individuals, we reside in a community. For the community to thrive, we need to find ways to get along, to play nice with each another. We need to cherish that which binds usm and accept with a measure of tolerance some of the things that make us different.
Why was this story written? What makes it special? Ultimately, I think, it grew out of two quotes that pretty much defined my own adolesence.
One was from Martin Luther King, one of his most celebrated lines, which I've used myself in describing my approach to the X-Men: I dream of a world where my children and their grandchildren will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
The other, from Ted Kennedy, eulogizing his murdered brother, Robert: Some dream of things that never were and say, why? I dream of things that are yet to be and say, why not?"
Hope that wasn't too much for y'all to get through.