re: Best religious movies you've seen?

Hope and redemption are centerpieces of many Christian teachings but are not exclusive to Christianity or any religion for that matter. This is not a religious movie. Move on.

Stephen King, the author of the novella upon which the movie is based, disagrees with you.

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One of the principle reasons humans are a religious animal is that we are self-aware. We know we exist, but we don't know why we exist. We know we want something from life, but we don't know why. Much of religion attempts to explain why. Why we exist. Why we yearn for more. The fundamental question of being is the heart of religion.

Movies that deal with that question of being are religious. That's not to say that because movies, or art, deal with religious symbols that religion can be replaced by movies or art. The cinematic arts express and attempt to describe the same sort of questions and situations as religion, and thus, arts can be a helper, a tool, for religion.

How then is a movie like Shawshank Redemption religious? Although religious imagery is used throughout, the most stirring scene is the rain scene after the escape. Here we see a rebirth, a washing away of the old and the creation of the new. It is art and religion because this scene is a symbol, something that points beyond itself and opens up to the soul something new. In itself, it is merely rain falling on a feces-covered man. But the symbolism of the event points to a deep existential truth: the different stages of our lives require rites of passage, rites which occur in the, as the Japanese philosophers have said, the engawa, the in-between, the eternally now where time is not chronological. For Christians, this rite is baptism and the Eucharist. For Andy, his redemption comes through the rain.

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Passion of the Christ

Saint Ralph

I don't wanna sound like a queer or nothin, but I think unicorns are kickass!

THREAD\

The Seventh Sign. more about faith than religion

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Shawshank Redemption

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I would say Star Wars is more of a religious movie than shawshank

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Facing The Giants

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I tried to watch this movie. It was a neat idea and a good story. A high school football team, families and a community experience a mini revival that makes them all happier. Sounds good. Problem was, the actors were bad. Really bad, and so was the script. I couldn't finish it.

I don't know if it has been mentioned, but I thought Walk to Remeber was a really good movie with lots of Christian overtones.

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Saint Ralph

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One of the few movies mentioned in this thread - besides the non-religious ones - that was surprisingly good.

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How then is a movie like Shawshank Redemption religious? Although religious imagery is used throughout, the most stirring scene is the rain scene after the escape. Here we see a rebirth, a washing away of the old and the creation of the new. It is art and religion because this scene is a symbol, something that points beyond itself and opens up to the soul something new. In itself, it is merely rain falling on a feces-covered man. But the symbolism of the event points to a deep existential truth: the different stages of our lives require rites of passage, rites which occur in the, as the Japanese philosophers have said, the engawa, the in-between, the eternally now where time is not chronological. For Christians, this rite is baptism and the Eucharist. For Andy, his redemption comes through the rain.

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That has nothing and i mean NOTHING to do with religion .. Would'nt you wanna wash your arse after you've crawled through a pipe filled with shite?