I saw the movie, “The Invention of Lying” last night, not expecting to find any biblical or religious associations or messages in it. Hah. I should know better! They’re everywhere. It’s really quite a sweet story in which the main character becomes a kind of Moses, even standing before an expectant crowd with two tablets (pizza boxes, actually) of written info from “the man in the sky.” If I could hang out with you in person, at a cozy coffee shop for some post-movie conversation, here are some of what I’d want you to tell me and to talk about: How do you think the effects of the movie character’s declarations are like or unlike the effect of Moses’ great Sinai moment? In some ways, the main character seems modeled also on Jesus — his knowledge of things greater than what anyone else can see, the sacrifices that he makes out of what can only be a kind of love… Yes? No? And most general: what about this character is like (or not) any religion’s founder, or (person aside) what circumstances does the movie share with the founding of a religion?
