The SBP Archives - Your less than frequent dose of SBP!

It's very easy to preach to the choir. But trying to influence change involves taking someone's views on a subject and turning on it's head, to try to convince them their way of thinking is wrong on an issue. I think Michael Moore's latest film, Capitalism - A Love Story, tries to do that, and time will tell if he's successful.

I've always felt that many liberals are too quick to criticize those who have strong religious beliefs and for this reason, the Republican party has used a faith-based approach in trying to convince the average American their way of thinking is correct and have won over a lot of support in the process. So if you have a liberal, for instance, try to tell you the war in Iraq is wrong, but at the same time says you are a nut bar for believing in God, for whom do you think a practicing Christian will vote for in the next election?

The collapse of the American economy is due largely to the massive deregulation of the market place, primarily in real estate and investments, or so goes the theory in Capitalism. And as a result, at the expense of primarily the poor and middle-class, the rich made off like bandits and taxpayers are left footing the bill. So Moore decided to do something I don't think has been done in a documentary before. He took a camera, interviewed some reverends, priests, bishops etc. and asked if capitalism, in its pure form, is sin.

All of them said it was. None of them though the act of profiting from the maladies of others, whether it's health care or mortgage foreclosure, is in line with being a true Christian. Indeed, a humorous part of the movie includes some overdubbing of another film about the life of Jesus Christ, where he encourages his disciples to "go forth and maximize profits" and another scene where a sick man is brought forward to Jesus to be healed, but Jesus unfortunately declines to help becomes the man doesn't carry his own insurance coverage.

Moore doesn't say if religion is right or wrong, if it's correct to be an atheist or the proper path is to be a believer. Many Americans, however, do have strong Christian beliefs, and I think this is a smart way to try to reach them and think about their value system. In other words: What Would Jesus Do? If Moore gets them to ask themselves that question, maybe it can help influence positive change.