I don't Care What You Believe...Just Believe.

POSTED BY: RiveR6213
UPDATED: Monday, July 31, 2006 23:15
VIEWED: 23405
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DEEPGIRL187

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 2:07 PM

To RiveR6213 and Rat,

If anyone here hijacked this thread, it's you two. Between your constant bickering, it's amazing that anyone could remember the original purose for this thread (or indeed, the reason we're on this site) at all. Extremeism doesn't really solve anything, whether you're a hardcore atheist or a hardcore Christian. We are all here as fans of a great show displaying our appreaciation. You two did a wonderful job of losing that idea.

To get to the original point, I believe that what Book was really referring to was that Mal believe in himself. Only through his own personal conviction could he summon the will to get through their current troubles. The quote can stand on its own, depending on your personal perspective.

This website is for fans of the 'verse, not people spewing their own negative biases. Try to remember that in the future!

At last.
We can retire and give up
this life of crime.

CHRISISALL

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 2:21 PM

Rat, please! Reject Satan!
Reject him so we can have the original thread title back!!!

Holier than thou Chrisisall

GELASSENHEIT

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 3:12 PM

Time for the good old dictionary.

belief-(b&-'lEf) a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing.

So it could be belief in a greater good, or belief in what Shepherd or River stood for. These alone could have propelled Mal to go and seek the truth about Miranda and then later get the story out to the public. AND risk everything and everyone to do it. That's belief.

Gelassenheit means Serenity

ROCKETJOCK

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 3:33 PM

Heard about the dyslexic devil worshiper?

He sold his soul to Santa.

*Ba-doom-poom!*

"Your application's been rejected, but here's what we can do... If you convince ten of your friends to sell their souls I think we can work something out." -- Satan, Sinfest

CHRISISALL

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 3:45 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by RocketJock:

He sold his soul to Santa.

*Lucifer eyes his next easy mark*

But I'll be with ya, 'cause I laughed Chrisisall

RIVER6213

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 4:14 PM

*Soundtrack to Damien, Omen II is in the background*

*River stands in the center of a pentagram, dressed in all black*

*The Choir of the damned begins to chant*

MALACHITE

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 5:53 PM

So, I guess I've understood Shepherd's statement a bit differently. First, Shepherd tells Mal that the only thing that will get him through (his current predicament) is belief, and that belief is evidently not God. He goes on to say that it is having belief in something, in and of itself, that is important, not the particular content (though, as mentioned in other posts, it likely has something to do with River, and what she knows). Mal eventually finds his belief that the world needs to know the secret of Miranda. I think that the strength of Mal's belief, and his willingness to die for it (as demonstrated by his response to the Operative) are what give him the internal resolve to keep fighting and eventually triumph over the Operative. Had he not had that strength of belief to match the Operative's own belief that killing River leads to a better world, he would have given up and been killed.
So, for the movie, Shepherd wanted Mal to survive. Shepherd knew that Mal had to develop a strong internal resolve to do what was right (based on a belief) in order to survive against the Operative. For that instance, Mal needed a strong, but not specifically Christian, belief. But overall, given Shepherd's character, I still see that Shepherd wants Mal to reconnect with God some time in the future. Does that make sense?

"Of course, that ain't exactly Plan A" -- Mal to the Operative

STORYMARK

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 6:07 PM

Just to throw my bucket of fuel on the fire...

Now, in relation to the thread title, I would not say that Satan is my god, as I don't believe in Satan, but I do believe in the Church of Satan - in it's original incarnation at least.

Now, I don't really know what form the Church of Satan is in these days, if it even exists anymore. But I did do a lot of research back in college into Anton LeVey, the founder, and the way the organization worked back when he started it.

I may have the wording a bit off, but the basic tennant was: "Do as you like, but bring no harm to others."

That's something I can get behind. Follow your bliss, do whatever you need to to be happy, just as long as you don't hurt others in the process. I think the world would be a lot better off if people were to live this way.

People could worship and believeas they chose, without forcing it on others, or judging them for not believing the same as they did. What a pleasant thought.

Of course, since that's not the way it is, if I were to go around saying this too much, I have no doubt that eventually some "good Christian" would brain me for it.

"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."

RAT

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 6:14 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by deepgirl187:
To RiveR6213 and Rat,

If anyone here hijacked this thread, it's you two.

If you look at the first few posts, you'll see where it got threadjacked and that it wasn't me! (Unless you count my using the "C" word.)

Quote:
Originally posted by Malachite:
Does that make sense?

Sort of, but I still don't see how Book could know all that!

____________________________
Acquisitions Officer - SereniTREE

THEREALME

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 6:15 PM

The original title had something to do with "belief", not Satan. The author did not care for the sort of posts that came, and so changed it.

As far as Mal and Book's "Believe in something," idea, I think it has nothing to do with believing River. I'm not sure Book had an understanding that she was remotely sane.

But Book was trying to help fix Mal's biggest problem. Mal was directionless. "Wind blows north, I go north," he himself says. He had no goal, no purpose, aside from survival. And we can see that living like that has had its toll on Mal.

TheRealMe, First Officer of the Sereni-Tree

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