

Pallbearers will be Trey Ward, Blaine Ward, Brock Grisham, Royce Stanley, Tim Blackley, Randy Cole and Roy Lucas. Visitation will be held at the funeral home Thursday, May 11, 2023, from 5-7 p.m. Friday, May 12, 2023, in the chapel of Edmaiston Mosley Funeral Home. Monday, May 1, 2023, at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Union City.įuneral services will be conducted 3 p.m.
#Buddy christ movie#
Not bad for a movie that also features a poop demon.Charles Woody “Buddy” Grisham, 84, of Rives passed away 8:45 p.m. There’s also a conversation between Damon and Affleck that strips away all the jokes and delves into a discussion about God’s love and human sinfulness. The film takes its messages of redemption and faith seriously. The joke is never on God but on humans who’ve created a labyrinthine system to keep power and explain away the inexplicable. The film also has fun discussing the weird theological nuances of Catholicism, the superpowers that come with the ability to bless, and whether angels have genitals. The Buddy Christ is just one funny joke about our attempts to shape the gospel story into something more palatable. Dogma is not for everyone, but I think Smith’s film, while irreverent, is a sincere conversation about faith and the foolishness humans get into when they try to put the infinite in a box. I’m Protestant, and I don’t recall the uproar being as great in our community, but that was probably because most evangelicals believed that R-rated comedies were off limits. Dogma was condemned and protested by many in the Catholic church upon its release. Of course, many Christians weren’t laughing in 1999. A five-second gag in a raunchy comedy has turned into a tool that helps me identify my own idols.

It’s a reminder that I often want a Christ in my own image, who only wants to massage my ego, give me an attaboy and tell me “you’re doing great, champ.” It’s inconvenient to remember Christ’s calling to pick up our own cross, turn the other cheek and consider others to be more important than ourselves. I know Smith didn’t intend the film as anything more than a lighthearted skewering of theology, but the Buddy Christ actually serves as a very visual rebuke to my baser instincts. The Bible isn’t safe for the whole family.īut I have to admit that cheerleader Jesus is appealing. Even Smith’s film, filled one-liners, finds that following its tangents leads to violence and bloodshed. You can try to market church without the grimness, but it’s not going to be Jesus. It’s nice to think about, but it’s not the story the Bible tells. “Christ didn’t come to give us the willies he came to help us out,” the Cardinal says.Ĭrucifixions, martyrdom and sacrifice aren’t as attractive as a God who works like a vending machine, promises easy answers and gives us a thumbs up. If a church wants its key demographic to stick around, it’s tempting to trash the gruesome stuff and focus on the positive. Even Jesus knew this when most his followers left after being told to drink his blood and eat his flesh.
#Buddy christ full#
While Jesus’ teachings were of love and compassion, Christianity is also full of stories of sacrifice, suffering, crucifixion and martyrdom. The Buddy Christ is created as a way to lean away from aspects of the faith that turn people away. The movie doesn’t mention it again, but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. To usher in a new, fun Catholic Church, the Cardinal unveils the Buddy Christ, which features Jesus with a cartoon grin, shooting finger guns at the crowd.

Festooned behind him are comic book-style posters that declare “Catholicism Wow!” The cardinal, played by George Carlin, bemoans that too many feel the church is aloof, and symbols like the crucifix are “wholly depressing.” It shows up once, in a press conference that the cardinal at a New Jersey church hosts to announce the church’s rebranding. The Buddy Christ isn’t even a major part of the film, but it’s easily its most memorable moment.
