By Dr. Dencio Acop
The showing of the movie ‘Nefarious’ and the event ‘SatanCon’ happened almost at the same time in the Boston area. While the attempt to attract publicity to the Marriott Copley Place event was palpable, the showing of the ‘Nefarious’ film was mysteriously scarce. Despite its rave reviews, ‘Nefarious’ was nowhere to be seen in any of the AMC theaters except for a brief moment in Boston Common. And even that suddenly disappeared too. Now, why is that? What is it about ‘Nefarious’ that forces behind the move do not want people to see? If you check the reviews, ‘Nefarious’ is set to be a box-office hit. Even ‘Rotten Tomatoes’ got hit by its name when it tried to give the movie an undeserved rating. Is it because lukewarm believers and atheists are being converted by ‘Nefarious’? Why not judge for yourself? See it and tell us what you think! Tell us who wins the argument between an intelligent non-believer and ‘Nefarious’ — the speak of the devil.
People have been calling for divine intervention. The state of the world today is such that immorality seems to be winning over morality. Some call these times the post-Christian world. ‘That’s why you are losing’, says ‘Nefarious’. ‘Because you don’t think there’s a war going on’. Each time the smart psychiatrist mouths off today’s secular beliefs, ‘Nefarious’ animatedly retorts back with ‘That’s my boy!’ The legion behind the voice actually argue that they have been so successful at what they do that humans at their best think that sin is relative; humans at their worst believe sin is okay; and that humans in the gray are neutral. People who miss the peace and order of things have almost given up. Then just as everything appears hopeless, interventions like Planned Parenthood Unplanned and now ‘Nefarious’ spring up from the ashes as if to say ‘Never underestimate the power of God’. The same God ‘Nefarious’ confessed to have brought about the opposite effect from what had been expected by the forces who tortured, humiliated, and crucified the Carpenter. Instead of making Christianity go away, the more Christianity grew and survived until today. The divine intervention we all seek is the Cross. That Symbol that makes martyrs of witnesses, converts of sinners, and brings hope to the world when it needs it most.
‘Nefarious’ is a reminder and a wake-up call. It reminds us of God’s greatness rooted in Christianity. The world was a ‘new’ heaven when it was bed-rocked in moral values. But the world moved away from Christ. As ‘Nefarious’ countered, it knew more about theology than any priest! That is why it could not even utter the name of the Carpenter. But truth is that God is what He is and Satan is what it is. While One is All-Love and Transparent, the other is all-hate and a liar. The truth hurts. And it is God’s enemy who is hurt most by it. Yet God is not the author of hurt, sickness, and death. God is the Author of Life and the Ultimate Healer. God is the positive creative force which is all He’s done through history and all eternity. As C.S. Lewis concluded in his ‘Screw tape Letters’, if God was not the Creator and Love personified then evil would not exist; but it only does because God is’. Indeed, if evil won then there would not have been any good from the get-go. Everything would have been obliterated which is the nature of evil. If there is any good in your life, that is OF GOD — that peace and joy alive within you. With Him, we gather. Away from him, we scatter. That is the whole Truth. And nothing but the Truth.
