Unpop Culture

When we hear the well-worn tale of the Christ child, we can be tempted to greet it with a yawn. We know what Christmas is about, thank you very much. Well, Abraham didn’t. Here’s how I image he might have responded to the “good tidings of great joy” that he heard.* ---------------------------------------- After a long and harsh argument with my wife, I sought refuge in the solace of the desert night. Leaving our tent, I walked until home was a small fleck on the horizon behind me. As my anger subsided, my strides became slower and shorter. Finally I stopped. The moonlight cast harsh shadows on the ground, imitating the harsh way in which the moon had dealt with me in the past several years. You see, I grew up worshipping our moon god, whose name was Nanna. My hometown served as the location of the chief sanctuary dedicated to Nanna. The moon god played a central role in my upbringing; it was his name that I learned to worship on into adulthood. And when Sarai and I failed ...

This Friday, Bristol Bay Productions (which also produced Ray and Sahara ) will bring the life of antislavery pioneer William Wilberforce to the big screen. The film Amazing Grace is directed by Michael Apted from an original screenplay written by Academy Award nominee Steven Knight. The cast includes Ioan Gruffudd ( Black Hawk Down ), Albert Finney ( Erin Brockovich ), Michael Gambon ( Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban ), and Rufus Sewell ( Legend of Zorro ). As the movie website explains : The legacy of William Wilberforce is tied to his relationship with John Newton. John Newton, an ex-slave trader turned minister and abolitionist, wrote the lyrics for the hymn Amazing Grace and became Wilberforce’s spiritual counselor. He set his young protégé on the path of service to humanity. It was only after Wilberforce underwent what he later described as his “great change” or embrace of Christianity, that he became a reformer. Newton knew this to be true, and invoking the deliveran...