How did the gospel get into The Matrix?

I am going to shift gears so I don't look like a cranky, ranting middle-aged guy. I am a lot of fun. Really. This post is about something near and dear to me, why the essentials of the gospel keep turning up in film, music, literature, etc. from people with little or no connection to the Christian faith. OK, some of it, a lot of it in years gone by, is because the Christian faith and biblical images were part of the warp and woof (woof just doesn't seem right, but I checked and it is) of western culture. That is not so much the case any more, with even life long church goers often woefully illiterate concerning the Bible and basic theology. Some film makders, for example, (Schrader, Scorsese) come from religious backgrounds, and, while not Christian, acknowledge the influence of their upbringing. Many artists, though, have no real Christian background, and some artists,(eg. Spileberg concerning ET) adamantly deny any connection with the gospel story, even when the allusions are more than obvious.
Enough preliminary, here is what I'm getting to. My original source for this was Tolkein's essay On Fairy Story, but i have added some to it. My starting point is Revelation 13:8, "All who dwell on the earth will worship [the beast], everyone whose name has not been written in the book of the Lamb who has been slain from the foundation of the world." In other words, the atoning death of Jesus was not a last minute plan by God when He saw that sin had somehow entered the world and the 10 commandments weren't cutting it. It was there from before the world began. That is why, as Tolkein says; "There is no tale ever told that men would rather find was true." Since we are created in God's image and there is something about God's essential nature that makes the gospel story foundational to all creation, I believe there is something deep within us that knows that this is true, that this is what all humanity, all creation, is yearning for.
I believe that the more gifted the creative artist, the more in touch they are with the truths of human existence and the more in touch they are with the underlying reality of the death and resurrection of Christ, even if they don't conciously believe it is true. I also believe that, because they are not conciously trying to tell the gospel story, but are just letting their artitistic impule drive them, they tell it more effectively than just about every "Christian" work of art from the last 30 years that I have seen (the only exception that comes to mind is The Hiding Place). A lot of Christians in the past few generations have gotten involved in the creative arts just to portray the 4 Spiritual Laws in artistic form, and that never works. There is a world of difference betwen Bach seeking to write every piece of music he composed, whether it was a church cantata or a prelude and fugue for the harpsichord, to the glory of God, and trying to make every creative effort end in an altar call (Uh oh. I'm getting cranky again).
That wasn't always the case. Bach, Handel, Dostoyevsky, Dante, Rembrandt and on and on. But where are their conterparts today?
This is somewhat abreviated, but since I'm beginning to rant I'll stop here and come back to it when I've regained my cheerful nature.

Who's judging who?

Well, imagine my surprise when I discovered today that, because I believe the bible teaches that homosexual behavior is sinful, I am a Klansman. I am indebted to Re. Jim Rigby of St. Andrews Presbyterian Chruch in Austin, TX for pointing this out to me at this "progressive" website. here. First of all, I know of no self-respecting fundamentalist oganization that would have me as a member, so unless anything to the right of Bishop Spong is Fundamentalist I think you need to be more careful with your teminology. Second, unless any kind of challenge is, necessarliy, an attack, I haven't attacked anyone's family, or tried to take away anyone's kids, and I'm not sure what bsic civil rights Rigby is saying I am constantly working to take away.
Rigby also claims that the story of the woman caught in adultery teaches that "real Christians don't use the Bible to condemn other people." First of all, he is using the Bible to condemn me throughout his little essay, but lets forget that for now. Any serious look at the text shows that this is an incredibly superficial reading. When Jesus says "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" He is not just making that up. He is simply reiterating the requirements of the Mosiac Law (Deuteronomy 13:9, 17:7 and elsewhere) that the witnesses of the crime must be the first to throw the stones and that they must not be prticipants in the crime itself. Jesus is not attacking the Law or those who really do take it seriously. He is attacking the double standard that still is prevalent today. The law requires that both the parties be brought. Where's the guy? This was doubtless a set up, and Jesus is pointing out that these very men were doubtless guilty of having a little fun on the side themselves. So its the double standard of a male dominated society that is under attack, not the Law.
Rigby talks about putting the shoe on the other foot. OK, lets try it with the question of abortion. Rigby points out the Jesus was not silent about those who abused the bulnerable. Who is nore vulnerable than an unborn child? We get angry when torture is called enhanced interrogation techniques, or killing enemy troops is pacification or killing civilians is collateral damage. Why? Because it downplays the violence involved and dehumanizes the vicitms. What about referring to an abortion as terminating a preganancy or, my favorite, evacuating the uterine contents? What could be more sterile? What could be more dehumanizing?
So maybe while Rev. Rigby is condmening those he says are condmning others and calling them , calling me names (hateful, a bully, a vicious predator, harassing, slandering) he should remember that Jesus said something about taking the log out of your own eye before you take the speck out of your brother or sister's.

What's up with the Trinity?

I was going to comment on the paper on the Trinity that was presented at the General Assembly, but I can't come up with anything that does it better than
this cartoon.