NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC - THE CULT OF MARY
I was disappointed in this Documentary from National Geographic, but maybe it's because I expected a broader meaning of the world CULT. This one focused on a particular cult associated with the years long visions of Mary and devotion to her in Medjugorgie. Now, I'm afraid of cults because I've known people who got into them and never seemed to get out. It was clear they had gone through some sort of dramatic change in which they turned their backs on everything they used to believe. However, while the particular group that this film focused on does seem to have cult features, most likely what came first is a person's utter devotion to Blessed Mother of Jesus, Mary. Some people are concerned that since Mary is not considered divine, that this is displaced loyalty, since the focus should be Jesus.
That said, consider all the people in the world who are not Christians of any sort and how weird they must think Christians are. It's easy for Non-Catholic Christians to condemn any sort of saint worship. There are those who think that even Jesus is a small player in the Great scheme of things, that prayer is to go directly to his Father, GOD.
Ah well, this cult is tame compared to what you've read about Scientology. People give up everything they own and are to spend most of their days in the worship of Mary, along with some every day work, just like so many orders of Nuns, Priests, Sisters, Monks, Monastics.
There is a long tradition of that. The people are not locked up. They can drive away. They don't. So what we're talking about is not wanting to or fearing it.
So why didn't national Geographic properly title this DVD to be something like "A Blessed Mother Cult in Medjugorgie." because this is NOT a film about the worship of Mary throughout Catholicism, nor does it discuss other cults, or other Holy Orders who have spent much of their time in prayer, meditation, or Gregorian chants.
As a side, there is also a film bonus called "The Secret Lives of Jesus." I'm not one to think that if Jesus did spend time in India learning from Hindus or Buddhists there before he began his preaching at age 30, that it's a bad thing. However, after the Dan Brown fiction novels that so many Catholic haters have referenced, thinking the fiction is fact, I'm sensitive to the issue of Catholic's being understood accurately.
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