Bat Stats:
released: 7/24/2008
5th highest grossing film of all time
1 of only 5 films to earn over $5 billion dollars worldwide
winner of 2 academy awards for Best Sound Editing ; Best Supporting Actor
3 Points to Ponder:
Although there are many ethical & moral dilemmas to wonder over in this one, we've chosen the following points to consider for our upcoming discussion...
1. In the chapter Dishonor Guard, Gordon seemingly makes the ultimate sacrifice in the line of duty that he's sworn to uphold. When informed of the news, his wife loses it & lashes out @ the Batman w/whom Gordon is complected in their desire to rid Gotham of the evil that is Joker. She like most Christians, forgets that when we align ourselves w/Truth, it may require that to find our lives we are to lose them.
Mark 8:
34-37Calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, "Anyone who intends to come with me has to let me lead. You're not in the driver's seat; I am. Don't run from suffering; embrace it. Follow me and I'll show you how. Self-help is no help at all. Self-sacrifice is the way, my way, to saving yourself, your true self. What good would it do to get everything you want and lose you, the real you? What could you ever trade your soul for?
2. In the chapter Good Cop, bad cop, Joker challenges the Batman & his strong adherence to his own moral code as well as the dead religion of self-moralizing & the idolatry of the very people that he's sworn to protect. The temptation is strong for the Batman to become like the Joker in the deliverance of his own sense of justice through convoluted justification.
2 Timothy 3
Difficult Times Ahead
1-5Don't be naive. There are difficult times ahead. As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. They'll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they're animals. Stay clear of these people.3. Finally in the last chapter the Dark Knight, the Batman becomes the hero that Gotham deserves but doesn't need. Contrary to Christ in this regard, who became the savior that we could never deserve, but so desperately need, they still both become a curse for our sake.
Galatians 3:12-14 (The Message)
11-12The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: "The person who believes God, is set right by God—and that's the real life." Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: "The one who does these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them."
13-14Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse. And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham's blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to receive God's life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way Abraham received it.
