The Teachings of Brother Robert

Robert Duvall is probably the greatest actor of his generation. I recently saw the movie SECONDHAND LIONS, which I followed up with OPEN RANGE (for about the 5th time, I just love westerns). I won’t even mention the scores of other great movies he’s been in. Well, ok. I’ll mention THE GREAT SANTINI and LONESOME DOVE. For starters.

SECONDHAND LIONS is a great little movie, filmed down in God’s Country. It features two old men who take in a great-nephew. The old men are played by Michael Caine and the aforementioned Robert Duvall. I’ve watched it twice so far, and I can see watching it a couple of more times in the very near future. It definitely strikes a chord with me. I am not ashamed to say that I cried, though I’ll call anyone a liar who quotes me on that. It’s well-worth seeing, if one has a spare couple of hours to watch a good DVD.

Without giving a boring review of the movie, I will simply focus on a little speech Robert Duvall gave Haley Joe Osmet’s character. He talks about how a man has to believe in certain things, such as honor, courage, and love. He also mentions that these things are worth believing in, whether they are true or not. It makes them no less worthy of belief.

This is an interesting point, and one that I think bears some discussion. Let us assume that God does not exist, and Jesus was not the Son of God. Let’s assume the Bible is not divinely inspired. Would that make the Christian faith any less worthy of belief?

Agnostics and atheists often say that Jesus’s teachings are great moral lessons. From that standpoint, it wouldn’t much matter that Jesus wasn’t divine. He still set forth some pretty great rules to live by.

However, I think this misses the mark. One of the fundamental differences between Christianity and other religions is the fact that Jesus claimed from the get-go that he was the Son of God. Mohammed didn’t make that claim. Neither did Buddha. Jesus didn’t claim to be divinely inspired, he claimed to be God himself come to Earth. This makes him one of two things:
1. A lunatic of the highest magnitude.
2. God personified.

There’s no middle ground.

So let’s continue to assume the Bible is not divinely inspired, and Jesus wasn’t the Son of God. Does this invalidate Jesus’s teachings? From one standpoint, I suppose it would. Again, his whole message was that he was God personified. On the other hand, it’s pretty good stuff to live by, even if it’s completely untrue.

I do not think I am missing out on anything believing in Jesus as the Son of God. I think I try to live my life by his example, and by doing the things he told us to do. That means I’m following a code of moral responsibility that’s really not going to hurt anything. In fact, the world will be a better place because I am doing just that. If I do what I’m supposed to, I love the sinner but hate the sin. I go to church. I try to avoid being judgmental. I try to follow the Ten Commandments. I try to be a good representative of Christianity. I try to be humble, and respectful. (By the way, I’m just trying. I fall short every day.) If I’m doing it sort of correctly, none of these things hurt anybody else around me.

So by being a Christian, I am not doing anything other than putting my faith into a guy who says he’s the Son of God. I’m following his rules. Nobody loses.

So Duvall’s speech is true in that regard. There are things worth believing in. Should they prove to be untrue, so what? The teachings of Christianity are still worth my faith in them. I don’t lose a darn thing by believing in them. On the other hand, I stand to lose a whole lot more if I don’t.

OPEN RANGE makes the point that there are things worth dying for. I’m positive that’s the case. Freedom and democracy are worth it. Protecting innocents is worth it. It also proves the point that a man can come back and be forgiven for things in his past. All that matters is making the change, and trying to walk the right path.

To think this post started out as a discussion of two movies with Robert Duvall. Look where it ended up.