Blaise Pascal was a great critic of Jesuit casuistry, and coined the pejorative adjective “Jesuitical,” meaning “crafty; practicing equivocation or overly subtle rationalization.” That may not have been fair to the Jesuits of Pascal’s day, but the image of the sly, deceptive Jesuit stuck.
More recently, among many orthodox Catholics, the Jesuit order has become associated with dissent and “progressive” theological heterodoxy, which, again, may or may not be fair.
Soon, though—if Last Temptation of Christ filmmakers Paul Schrader and Willem Dafoe have their way—the Jesuit name could carry another connotation entirely: hyper-violent criminal reign of terror?
In The Jesuit, a man comes out of prison in south Texas: “Neto” wants only a new life, far removed from his violent past. Just when it seems he might regain his wife and ten-year old son, she is brutally murdered and the boy kidnapped. Neto must abandon his dream of happiness in an explosive return to methods that made him the most feared man in Texas, and earned him the nickname … the Jesuit.
Say what?
First Dan Brown imbued the name “Opus Dei” with sinister, murderous connotations; if people think of anything at all in connection with the name “Opus Dei,” it’s “albino assassin monk.”
Now, according to Schrader, if you’re a brutally violent criminal, the handle the world gives you is … “the Jesuit”?
What’s next? A Franciscan hit squad? Outlaw bikers called the Knights of Columbus? An international crime lord known only as “the Thomist”?
How about a thriller about a serial killer who plays Russian roulette with his victims, called Pascal’s Wager?
Whatever. Hey, who’s looking forward to Shrader’s follow-ups, The Mullah and The Hasid? Your thoughts?
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Then again, there’s The Mission, which portrays Jesuits in a favorable light.
The chaplain at my university is a Jesuit and is neither heterodox nor a brutally violent criminal. Other Jesuits who were neither heterodox nor brutally violent criminal include current head of the Holy See Press room Frederico Lombardi and founder of the Society of Jesus Ignatius of Loyola.
Well, this is absolutely ridiculous, even from the point of view of religiously-clueless secularism. At least the Opus Dei is labelled as “conservative” (which may or may not be true or fair. For instance, Mgr Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador assassinated by the military junta, who is generally labelled as “progressive”, was not a member of the Opus but often expressed his admiration for the organization and its members), so it was easy to portray it as mafia-like organization of killer monks. But the Society of Jesus is generally considered “progressive” (which may or may not be true or fair, as the examples I listed above show) so a religiously-clueless secular director defaming it makes no sense.
At first I thought “Jesuitical” was an elision referring to a musical written and performed by Jesuits, and I can’t tell you how disappointed I am right now.
On the other hand, I’m definitely looking forward to Robert Rodriguez’ “The Shriner” (“This Christmas, Death wears a Fez”).
@Matthew: Great film. Unfortunately nobody has seen it in decades except churchgoing Christians.
@Thibaud: FWIW, I don’t know that it’s accurate to call Paul Schrader “religiously clueless.” He was raised Dutch Reformed (as I was) and minored in theology at Calvin College. I think The Last Temptation of Christ is among the most excruciating movies ever made, but it’s certainly not religiously clueless—it would be much less excruciating if it were! He also directed Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, which is the only Exorcist sequel that remotely attempts to honor the theological vision of the original.
And it warrants mention that the main character isn’t actually a Jesuit … that’s just a nickname he gets. The question is, why the heck does he get it? The summary apparently connects it to the “explosive” methods of his criminal reign of terror. Where does that come from???
@Victor: I will never, ever look at the word “Jesuitical” the same way again. Ever. When I figure out whether I want to hug you or mail you a dead fish, I’ll let you know. Also, whatever Rodriguez’s next movie is, I’m morally certain your idea is better.
Although I am a great lover of the Spiritual Exercises, people don’t realize the damage that the Society of Jesus has done to the Catholic Church in the post-Vatican II era. Their liturgies, preachings, their style of living the religious life have quite frankly done more harm than good. John Paul II took action, but perhaps should have gone further. I don’t know whether the damage done by Arupe and his ilk will ever be repaired.
ooh, I really like the idea of a gratuitously violent movie called “The Hasid”, or better yet, “The Tzaddik”! What will he tell his followers to do? Will there be a kosher apocalypse?!?
Lon: I actually originally typed The Haredi, but I changed it because I figured a joke readers have to Google isn’t funny. But The Tzaddik is the best of all. Better yet, The Lamedvavniks. They’re like the League of Shadows in Batman Begins; unseen, they go around ruthlessly exterminating decadent subcultures before God goes Sodom and Gomorrah on the world. “Fire from earth, not from heaven,” that’s their motto.
Dan Brown, Willem Dafoe and Paul Schrader and others like them are but the latest version of unimaginative writers and film makers who need a hook on which to hang works of dubious merit. This same anti-intellectual mischief pervades much of English history. That’s why we have expressions such as “Dark Ages,” and silly accusations that Catholic philosophers debated “how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.” The English-speaking world received most of it history from anti-religious or anti-Christian and definitely anti-Catholic British historians and writers. The word “medieval” is currently used negatively by journalitst ignorant of what really happen in those highly-productive times.
“Dark Ages” to describe the medieval era was coined by smug intellectuals in order to denigrate the basis on which all scientific and humanistic thought was built. (See The Victory of Reason by Rodney Stark.) That is, it was their Enlightenment which they themselves created. The term “crusades” (used as a pejorative)and their numbering was done centuries after the events they describe. This was intended to confuse as well as denigrate the Church as a never-ending source of trouble.
One wonders why the Jesuits at the University of San Francisco are giving Sister Carol Keenan awards, when she was instrumental in gaining passage of the current health care law, which will almost certainly mandate free coverage of birth control as preventive care (many low dose hormone birth control pills act by preventing implantation of a fertilized ovum) and pro life primary care providers will be put in the position of no longer being able to practice their vocation.
Victor:
I will be giggling all day because of you.
That’s very odd. Jesuits whether ancient or modern are usually accused of mental crimes, not physically violent ones. I read in The Wandering Jew about how they have a huge database of personal information for everyone who’s ever had any contact with the order, which they can use to coerce and intimidate almost anyone in the world. It read like a combination of The Da Vinci Code and Google Watch.
And Francis Parkman gives us this nugget (source):
So he should have earned the nickname “The Dominican”. They must not know much about this stuff in Texas.
Of course we all now he would not dare touch the Muslim religion in any way. Catholics are continually fair game….
In the Australian Crime drama “Animal Kingdom” that was released earlier this year, I remember being uncomfortable about one of the criminals in the family being called “Pope” - who was the most savage and ruthless of the lot!
How about an eco-terrorist who lives with wolves and works for the abolition of capitalism…“The Franciscan.”
He’s a loner of few words…no words in fact. And his home is 100’s of miles from civilization. But we does appear, he’s your worst nightmare…“The Carthusian.”
Coming in 2012: “The Carthusian.” Silent is Deadly.
I vote for “The Thomist”. Imagine the multiple intertwined plot lines, the inscrutable dialog, the ferocious arguments, and the giant letters on the final screen that say “QED”.
Belloc’s pamphlet on Pascal’s PROVINCIAL LETTERS is a good antidote to Pascal’s misunderstanding of the Jesuit attitude to confession. But the question is why should Pascal have been thought necessary to attack the subtleties of the Society.
It is a great question - what happened to the Society in the 20th Century? There is something in the girl’s complaint that students at Jesuit schools are stuck-up. St. Ignatius’s rule which was meant to teach humility seems to have changed into its opposite - pride.
YES!
I’ll withhold my thoughts on the title until I’ve seen the film.
They taught that as long as you didn’t tell a bold-faced lie, any omission, embellishment, innuendo, etc. was OK as long as it was for a ‘good’ purpose. “The ends justify the means” might as well have been the motto of the Order.
Can you say that Pascal was incorrect on any point? If, so, show us where and how.
BAW:
Documentation please?
Just thinking out loud, but is it possible (I don’t know myself) that “Jesuit” DOES have the implication of “super-committed badass” in Latin American culture(s). Or that it did so recently enough to retain a kind of cultural cachet. I know of English-speaking non-Catholics who have that image of the Society.
“The Mission” disagrees with history by portraying the good guys as being devout…liberals, and the bad guys as being vestment-wearing priests; not a good example of a pro-Catholic film.
And look at how Mel Gibson was persecuted as an anti-semite for producing “The Passion of the Christ.” (Not that he didn’t later on give his persecutors reasons to attack him…)
@ Victor: “super-committed badass” = Jesuit… I do love that! Isn’t that the image you get when you think of St. Issac Jogues & co.? I’ll be thinking alot about how to translate that whole Terminator persona into my boys’ ideas about heroic self-sacrifice and love for the sake of the blood of Jesus Christ poured out for sinners in a vocation to the priesthood.
And I’ll be the first one to order advanced tickets of the films about “The Franciscan” or, steel my beating heart in terror- “The Carthusian”! :o) You guys are a hoot!
Posted by BAW on Friday, Nov 12, 2010
“They taught that as long as you didn’t tell a bold-faced lie, any omission, embellishment, innuendo, etc. was OK as long as it was for a ‘good’ purpose. “The ends justify the means” might as well have been the motto of the Order”.
Untrue. The Jesuits are annoying but not that stupid.
“Can you say that Pascal was incorrect on any point? If, so, show us where and how”.
My reason for citing Belloc’s pamphlet was precisely to give a source of Pascal’s errors. Belloc demonstrates that Pascal was incorrect on all points. Pascal’s LETTERS is a marvelous piece of mockery, but it is written to defend his Jansenist position.
Belloc? He was the one who came up with Distributism, aka “Fascism with a Rosary,” wasn’t he?
Islam:131
United States Catholic Catechism for Adults
Alcohol,abuse of:381,401
United States Catholic Catechism for adults
DANIEL 12:1-13
The New American Bible
Antichrists
1 JOHN 2:18-23
The New American Bible
Sin:528
United States Catholic Catechism for Adults
BAW was probably referencing the “Doctrine of Mental Reservation”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctrine_of_mental_reservation
I have no idea how accurate either BAW or Wikipedia is on the matter, though.
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