I've never thought of Michael Moore as an especially religious person, let alone a Catholic, although he does often come off as a moralist. But his new film and a series of interviews about it give a clear impression that Moore sees the world in spiritual terms. His latest film, Capitalism: A Love Story, takes the American system of capitalism and its wealthiest proponents to task for their lack of concern about the rest of the country--the 99 percent that live outside the sheltered world of the most powerful 1 percent. In an interview with Wolf Blitzer on CNN discussing his film, Moore explicitly attacks the belief held by many of those in power in the U.S. that the richest one percent should control everything. "It's not right, it's not fair, it's not American, and it's not part of our Judeo-Christian ethic, or whatever religion you belong to--Buddhism, Islam. All the great religions are opposed to the wealthy being in charge and letting the poor suffer because of that." When Blitzer asks, "Are you a socialist?" Moore replies, "I'm a Christian." But Blitzer pushes his socialism question: "Would someone emerge from this movie saying, 'Michael Moore is a socialst'?"
"Oh, no," Moore answers. He says that people instead would feel that "Michael Moore is following through on the values that his parents and the nuns and the priests gave him as a child. He believes that he is his brother's keeper. He believes that we will be judged by how we treat the least among us in this society."
"Oh, no," Moore answers. He says that people instead would feel that "Michael Moore is following through on the values that his parents and the nuns and the priests gave him as a child. He believes that he is his brother's keeper. He believes that we will be judged by how we treat the least among us in this society."
That last bit represents a succinct summary of the part of the Gospel of Matthew (25:34-46) in which Jesus sums up his social gospel in clear terms, saying that it is our spiritual and moral duty to care for the less fortunate in our society:"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"
Along with the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5-7), these words represent for many the true essence of Christ's message. Among those who believed the Sermon on the Mount contains the central tenets of his message are Tolstoy, Gandhi, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Now I believe we can add to that list filmmaker Michael Moore.
In the CNN interview, Blitzer several times asks Moore if he is a socialist, apparently in the belief that because he attacks the shadow side of capitalism, he must be implyicitly a socialist. Moore's answer that he is a Christian implicitly ties the principles that Blizer is branding as socialist to the teachings of Jesus Christ. It would be hard to define Jesus as anything other than a socialist, based on his teachings. Yet conservative Christians almost never acknowledge this aspect of his teaching. It's illustrative to look at what I believe to be one of the finest films ever made about the life of Jesus based on Scripture. The Gosel According to St. Matthew (Il Vangelo secondo Matteo, 1964) was directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini, an Italian atheist and Marxist who clearly found in the social teachings of Jesus featured prominently in Matthew a parallel with his own socialist beliefs. Pasolini quotes verbatim from the gospel text and adds no dialogue or action that isn't already there. Through his spare cinematography and the use of amateur actors, it becomes clear that Pasolini is not trying to overlay any ironic gloss.
The story goes that In 1962, Pasolini traveled to Assisi in response to Pope John XXIII's call for dialogue with non-Christian artists. While there, he read through the Gospels "from beginning to end, like a novel," later proclaiming the story of Jesus "the most exalting thing one can read." As a result, Pasolini became consumed with filming the life of Christ straight from one of the Gospels, without a screenplay and with no editorial license. He dedicated the film "to the dear, happy, familiar memory of John XXIII"--a pope known for his humanity and concern for the life of the average person. Pasolini shot his film not in the Holy Land, which he found too commercialized, but in one of the poorer regions of Southern Italy.
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