No, Virginia; I am not a Star Wars fan and I will not be seeing the latest (and, hopefully, last) in the series. From the reviews I have read, it doesn't seem like I'll be missing anything very good. However, one of the most interesting reviews I've come across looks at Revenge of the Sith as a cautionary tale. And, since plenty of folks are going to go see the film, this review will give you some important "talking points." It comes from the AFA website and is written by Dr. Marc Newman, the president of something called MovieMinistry.
...For Christians willing to use a fictional movie as a mirror to examine their own behaviors, Revenge of the Sith can serve as a cautionary tale, particularly about how some churches treat their young members. When the Church feels like a hostile place, acts hypocritically, is insensitive, and avoids dogma, it, like the Jedi, can contribute toward pushing people to an embracing, waiting Dark Side...
From Obi-Wan's brief hesitation in explaining the death of Luke's father in the original Star Wars, to his denunciation of absolutes (while, I might add, making an absolute statement himself) in Revenge of the Sith, I have been bothered by the loose sense of the truth exhibited by the Jedi. Considered to be teachers, custodians of the Jedi way and the Jedi temple, whenever they are caught in a lie, or in a compromise of their principles, they are quick to say that their explanations or actions are true "from a certain point of view." Anakin is a quick study. He comes to believe that whatever is convenient to move your agenda forward can be justified by identifying it as your point of view. And yet, when there is a final clash between Anakin's point of view and Obi-Wan's, Obi-Wan wastes no time in judgmentally accusing Anakin of being "lost" -- as if there actually is a way. When assertions of truth serve convenience, we cannot complain when others find them inconvenient.
Being dogmatic no longer is a descriptor of fidelity to truth, but a pejorative indicating intolerance. Harry Blamires, in his book In Defense of Dogma, claims that in a misguided attempt to court friends, the Church has lost its willingness, and prerogative, to speak truth. Instead, we are told to act in false humility, "as if we don't have all the answers." In fact, the Scriptures are full of principles for living that cover the range of human experience. If we did not have answers to the pressing issues of life, why would anyone ever want to join with us? People are not looking for subjective points of view; they want to know how to live life fully and rightly. As C.S. Lewis points out in The Abolition of Man, humans need to know The Way. People may reject the Church because they do not like the answers they receive when they pose questions, but they are at least equally inclined to leave when they conclude that the Church's answers are not authoritatively different from ones they simply come up with on their own. Christians are commanded to speak the truth in love, but that still requires that we speak the truth. If the Church has nothing true to offer, the young drift away...
