Posted by flicman at scanner21.wte.net on May 16, 2000 at 14:53:39:
In Reply to: Some interesting (?) stuff...Plenary Indulgences. posted by Isis on May 16, 2000 at 13:25:28:
If I don't believe that the Universe is in immediate danger, Dogma doesn't work for me. I don't want Dogma to be an allegory of how omnipotent God is, nor do I want it pointed out to me that no matter how important things SEEM to me, they're insignificant in the grand scheme and, besides, God has already determined everything, anyway.
It doesn't matter whether I believe in God; I can enjoy Dogma as a story that brings the earth to near destruction. I enjoy the setup, the action, and the culmination. If you preface that with 'it's all relative, because God has the whole thing under control the whole time' then i feel unfulfilled by the experience, somehow.
With that in mind, Plenary indulgences are defined by Cardinal Glick, and Heaven must obey. If he says that normal people have but to walk through that arch and their sins are forgiven, I'm saying that's it. Especially since the 'papal sanction' thing was thrown in there. If PJP:2 said it's okay, then everyone involved gets to go straight to heaven, right?
God trapped in human form is vulnerable to the same rules as I am, too, by the way. What would His fun be in taking a body only to bowl 500 every time? I mean, really. For my interpretation, the Man becomes a man and has only the will to shed the body when he's done. Call it an extention of human free will: like losing the will to live. (Have you seen my will to live because i seem to have lost it)
So... the universe WAS on the brink of destruction, God WAS trapped and out of the game, and everything was face value. Indulgences, my ass, indulge this. okay, that was over the top. i get onery (sp?) when i have nothing to do at work. I even switched the res on my screen to get more of your rant on it at once, Isis. I *wish* i was avoiding work. I'm merely waiting for some.
maybe i'm not discerning enough.
...flicman
'hurts, don't it? Now let go of that stud and go on about your business.'