The films Agora (2009) and
Fatima (2020) contain very different depictions of Christianity. By depictions,
I mean ways in which Christianity can be interpreted and lived. This is not to
say that all of the interpretations are equally valid, for only those that
contain internal contradictions evince hypocrisy. The sheer extent of the
distance between the depictions shown in the two films demonstrates not only the
huge extent of latitude that religious interpretation can have, but also just
how easy it is even for self-identifying Christians, whether of the clergy or
the laity, not only to fail to grasp Jesus’ teachings in the Gospels, but also
to violate the two commandments even while believing that Jesus Christ is
divine (i.e., the Son of God). The human mind, or brain, can have such stunning
blind spots (or cognitive dissidence) when it comes to religion that even awareness
of this systemic vulnerability and efforts to counter it are typically
conveniently ignored or dismissed outright. This is nearly universal, in spite
of claims of humility and fallibility more generally, so I contend that the
human mind is blind to its own weakness or vulnerability in the religious sphere
of thought, sentiment, and action. Augustine’s contention that revelation must
pass through a smoky stained window before reaching us is lost on the religious
among us who insist that their religious beliefs constitute knowledge.
I contend that this fallacy as well as the larger vulnerability to hypocrisy
should be a salient part both of Sunday School and adult religious education.
For the vulnerability is correctable, but this probably requires ongoing
vigilance. That is, the problem is not that the divine goes beyond the limits
of human cognition (as well as perception and emotion) as Pseudodionysus pointed
out to deaf ears in the 6th century; the human brain is fully capable
of spotting and countering its own lapses in the religious domain. In other
words, the problem here is not that of the human mind being able to understand
the contents of revelation because must travel through a darkened window before
reaching us; rather, the problem lies in grasping what Jesus preaches in the
Gospels and putting the spiritual principles into practice, rather than doing
the opposite and being completely oblivious to the contradiction, which is
otherwise known as cognitive dissidence. The two films provide us with the
means both to grasp this problem and realize how much it differs from a healthy
faith that has the innocence of a child’s wonder.
The full essay is at "Agora vs. Fatima."
