Inside the Vatican

Yesterday I watched a documentary about the Vatican. The narrator started off with a few introductory sentences and then said, "The Vatican is a place well known, but not hardly understood" and I thought that was the perfect way to describe it. Everyone has heard of the Vatican or knows of it and what it is, but no one really knows what goes on behind closed doors. The population of the Vatican (because it is it's own country inside the city of Rome Italy) is a mere 900 people. It's perfectly functional and thriving. From this place known as the Vatican a religious faith grew to rule the western world in events such as crusades launched, great inquisitions convened and governments made and torn down. Its leader, The Pope is Europe's last absolute monarch, but also someone who is elected by his people and who carries one of the most crucial burdens greater than any leader. He must take spiritual care of more than one billion people. The Vatican is a collection of remarkable buildings and art; it is the smallest sovereign nation, and yet one of the most powerful. The worth of the Vatican should in souls, not money. It is where saints are proclaimed, where popes reign, where much of Western religious history can find its source.

CLICK HERE to watch the full length documentary

For the Bible Tells Me So...

There is a film that came out in 2007 called "For the Bible Tells Me So" which is an exploratory documentary filming the lives of five Christian families who all have a son or daughter who identifies as gay or lesbian. I watched it a couple of months ago and thought that it was one of the many stimulating point of views on the recent debated issue the church is having. It takes you into topics such as bible translation and ethical dilemmas when dealing with the issues of homosexuality and religion.  There are even interviews with the first openly gay bishop, Gene Robinson. It especially goes along with the article we recently read about the bible and homosexuality.

CLICK HERE to watch the full documentary.

"Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus" - A Poem by Jefferson Bethke

I thought that this was an interesting video about the differences in what people believe in. We've been talking about how religion has developed and grown into different sects and different religions altogether, and this got me thinking. Is this another "fad" that's going to turn into a new sect of Christianity? Usually when people break away from the church and develop a new one is when they don't like what the original church was doing. In this case he is saying he doesn't like the corruptness of Christianity now, so this may well precede some kind of religious revolution to come.