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...It's not a question of pro-or-anti Christianity (and I consider Christianity and religion to be two separate things) as it is the personal dilemma of just how much you owe to a high-control belief system when it begins to teach things that contradict what you consider the basic tenets of that system. This sort of thing could happen, and does happen, in any kind of belief system, whether religious or secular.....
Spot on, which is why I'm not a "group" or "joiner" person. I have my beliefs and I do adapt and, even, change them as facts and experience dictate, but based on my experiences and beliefs and not on some organization's. The more powerful the organization, the smaller each individual in it becomes.
...As far as the treatment of Christianity in films goes, what bugs me is the conflation of "Christianity" with hard-line evangelical fundamentalism, not just in films but in all popular culture. There are many, many Christians in the world who reject hard-line Bible-thumping fundamentalist beliefs, but you rarely see them anywhere in pop culture. Just once I'd like to see a movie featuring left-wing Social Creed-teaching grape-juice Methodists. At least the Catholics get represented once in a while.
Agreed again and I think the conflating is done to blur the image of Christianity in the publics mind in as unfavorable way as possible. Also, my guess, the only reason Catholics get represented is so that they can be specifically clubbed over the head. The Catholic Church has many sins to answer for - fine, show that in movies. But the Church has also done much good throughout the world and helped many people - where are those mainstream or "artsy" or "independent" movies?