Three different reviews from a faith perspective criticize the new Lone Ranger movie as portraying Christians in a negative light for a family fun film. Below are the three reviews of the Lone Ranger on how it treats religion.
But one of the aspects of European culture that gets trounced is Christianity, with believers shown up as either weaklings or hypocrites.Early on, one of the former, a Presbyterian church lady, invites Reid to pray with her during a train ride. In response, Reid holds up the book he’s been reading on the journey — philosopher John Locke’s 1689 text “Two Treatises of Government” — and identifies it as “my Bible.”
From Religion News,
Attacked moments later by outlaws, the Presbyterian pastor’s attempt at a nonviolent resolution is met with a bullet to the leg. Take that, blessed peacemaker. Later in the movie, we spot the pastor again, limping and wild-haired and all but frothing at the mouth as he screams “Heathen!” as the Ranger and Tonto ride by. There’s at least one more prayer in the movie — offered by the man who turns out to be the most vile villain in the story. I guess we’re supposed to understand that as irony. Later the bad guy explains why he’s willing to slaughter so many innocents to gain power and money: “Nothing is accomplished without sacrifice.”
From Plugged in online…
Christianity isn’t treated nearly as reverently. At best, it’s shown as silly and ineffectual: Preachers bluster aimlessly; a servant crosses herself, but it doesn’t save her homestead. At worst, it’s a tool of evil and prejudice: A preacher screams, “Heathen in our midst!” when Tonto walks by, and the preacher is later seen as part of a mob hoping to kill him; a cavalry commander talks about bringing the justice of “Almighty God to the heathen,” and later massacres a tribe while shouting to his troops, “For God and country!”A transcontinental railroad cutting through Comanche territory is described as being blessed by God. A bad guy tells a young widow and her child that he “prayed that God would send me a family that I could care for,” though he obviously has a coarser purpose in mind. Elsewhere he prays, insincerely, that the widow’s savior of a Ranger would come safely out of the desert and that he’d be blessed, “for he is in the path of righteousness.” It’s a prayer that gets answered.
Disclaimer: Articles featured on Oregon Report are the creation, responsibility and opinion of the authoring individual or organization which is featured at the top of every article.