Comments for Short-Timers at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 11 out of 11 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Thu, 23 May 2013 02:43:08 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/short-timers.html#comment-4612 Although we often associate Hollywood, especiallly these days, with the work of the Devil, that wasn't always so. Rod Serling's TWILIGHT ZONE often presented stories about the Father of Lies, including one episode in which he goes by the name of Mr. PIP! Then there's Walter Huston as "Mr. Scratch" in THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER. But you needn't go back that far -- see THE DARK KNIGHT. The Joker (another good name for Satan if you think about it) seductively and coherently persuades, a la Screwtape, the formerly good Gotham attorney general to take another path. Then of course, there is the temptation of the ferry passenger. Viewers and critics talk much about the terrorist subtext, but there is real evil portrayed in this film and evil the Church would recognize. Sometimes Hollywood can't help itself, or is there something else at work? - Graham Combs Tue, 03 Aug 2010 17:49:41 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/short-timers.html#comment-4606 Cranium - your tautology is complete and seamless - really a thing of wonder. Sooner or later you may find that breathing your own exhalations may leave you wanting. - Joe Tue, 03 Aug 2010 04:20:23 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/short-timers.html#comment-4604 Jason, it is the believer who has introduced the framework, the content and the 'poison'. Joe, you embark on the usual journey of theists using theism to attack atheists. It is a sham argument. The oldest scam is the raft of claims you have made in the core of your statement. Atheists do not supplant god. There is no god for us to supplant. If we acknowledge the non-reality of god, we remove 'original sin' and the first acts of evil. - cranium Mon, 02 Aug 2010 15:07:41 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/short-timers.html#comment-4603 Accuser, Adversary, Deceiver, Liar, Murderer, Tempter ....Beelzebub's litter! - L A Stich Mon, 02 Aug 2010 13:12:48 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/short-timers.html#comment-4602 The essence of rebellion against God is the raising of self to the top rung. From that viewpoint, everything looks manageable - see cranium. He has all the answers that matter or so he believes. He looks with gluttonous lust at the tree of knowledge. It's the oldest scam in the garden. The whisper is that he can be like God if he tastes of the knowledge of God. Some people never learn. The headlines and news crawls remind us hourly of the existence of evil. If evil exists, and the proof is all around us (and in us), then logically and reasonably, the antidote must exist because evil hasn't won yet. Satan's obvious motive is self regard. It blinds a being to truth and proportion. That attitude is all around us as well. The father of lies spins a great tale and the greatest of these is that (like the mafia) he doesn't exist. - Joe Mon, 02 Aug 2010 07:30:24 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/short-timers.html#comment-4601 At first I thought that cranium's first comment was meant to be ironic but I guess I was wrong. The worst thing in the world we can do is to deny the existence of evil. It may be an "absence of being," but to deny evil is naive, gullible. To deny the existence and power of evil is an evil act in itself. - Emina Melonic Mon, 02 Aug 2010 07:01:41 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/short-timers.html#comment-4600 Thank you for the illustration (among so much else of great value in your post.) It is remarkable how much it resembles the orcs and goblins from Lord of the Rings and the fiends from 300. I really do believe there is some kind of innate memory that alerts us to the presence of evil. We often instinctively recognize evil when we see it, do we not? The archetypes are there. If only we could re-learn to trust our gut feelings. - CatholicTide Sun, 01 Aug 2010 22:55:54 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/short-timers.html#comment-4599 On that theory cranium it can't be the fault of the faithful as if there is no such thing as evil there is no such thing as "fault". - jason taylor Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:59:43 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/short-timers.html#comment-4598 Bradford Miner (what a cool name!) - Because if you acknowledge the lie, the whole false edifice of religion will tumble and be replaced by logic, reason and rationality. Equality for all, no hypocrisy, the abatement of all the bad things in the world. - cranium Sun, 01 Aug 2010 20:05:45 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/short-timers.html#comment-4597 Dear Mr. Cranium: How would acknowledging a lie make things right? Regards, Mr. Miner - Bradford Miner Sun, 01 Aug 2010 19:47:37 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2010/short-timers.html#comment-4596 this is really easily fixed. If you acknowledge that god doesn't exist, then neither does satan - therefore evil no longer exists. You see, it's all the fault of the faithful. - cranium Sun, 01 Aug 2010 19:38:58 +0100