Posted by Isis at d4129.dialup.cornell.edu on May 16, 2000 at 15:48:50:
In Reply to: simplified licenses posted by flicman on May 16, 2000 at 14:53:39:
Only to point out something I thought was rather interesting. Personally, I enjoy the whole set-up and knockdown whether the universe was in danger or not. Point is, the characters believed it was in danger and they acted accordingly. The end result is the same.
As for plenary indulgences, I'm pretty sure that the Pope and higher ranks of Catholic hierarchy determine their nature rather than Cardinals; and I'm also fairly certain that the requirements hold true for any circumstances except that of the moment of death when there's no priest around. But it makes sense for the archway to be blessed so that people who come in and confess will receive a plenary indulgence on their way out. That part still fits; it just means Bartleby & Loki's plan wouldn't work by the dogmatic laws. Them boys just didn't read the fine print.
Anyway, it is a movie (gee, how did I guess people were going to throw THAT one in my face? And I thought it was a divinely ordered treatise on universal truth!) and whatever interpretation you put on it is as good as mine. Sorry you're feeling ornery though. Now back to work, slave! *whippppsssh!*
: 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.'