A Few Thoughts On "Paul"

Last night I watched the sci-fi comedy "Paul", which had a handful of funny moments but a lot of missed opportunities. Unfortunately it never quite took off as the celebration of geek culture it was likely meant to be, but I still enjoyed much of it and thought the performances were great.

It also had an odd subplot the writers (who also starred in the flick) used to knock theism in favor of naturalistic evolution. In the commentary there was a brief reference to a scene that, had it been included, would have brought a little more balance to the topic, but as it was handled in the movie it made the writers come across to me, ironically, the same way they apparently aimed to portray Christianity: Emotionally driven, intolerant and ignorant of the facts.

It reminded me of something C.S. Lewis (brilliant thinker and a fan/writer of sci-fi) once wrote in "Mere Christianity", and made me think he may have invented a time machine, traveled to 2011, watched this movie and then traveled back before writing it. He made the observation that some people "put up a version of Christianity suitable for a child of six and make that the object of their attack". Seems to me that's what the writers of "Paul" ended up doing, unintentional though it may have been.

It wouldn't be anything worth mentioning if we lived in a world in which people normally sat down and discussed opposing ideas in a reasonable, even-tempered manner. But instead, we tend to simply absorb our life philosophies through entertainment, an emotionally charged medium not equipped to properly examine ideas logically.

I'd guess "Paul" will mostly "preach to the choir" (an ironic metaphor), but hopefully those interested in seeking the truth about the existence or non-existence of God will put in some time to try and understand the best arguments put forth on both sides of the discussion.

On a side note regarding the topic of "tolerance", I can't help but wonder if this movie would have been a LOT more controversial if the subject of theism-bashing were Islam or Hinduism, instead of the far more common target of Christianity.