REEL SPIRITUALITY
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army” is showing in area theaters, again featuring Ron Perlman as the comic book superhero – a demon fighting on the side of the angels. If you're interested in what Christian critics have to say about the film, you can get the lowdown at Christianity Today's Web site – christianitytoday.com/movies – which also provides conversation starters to discuss the film and some considerations for parents wondering whether the PG-13 film is appropriate for children. The site also has links to other sites' reviews.
WORTHY OF NOTE
San Diegans who remember Father Leo Booth can welcome him back to the area after 20 years on July 27. Now Rev. Leo Booth, the Unity minister will oversee a workshop titled “Say Yes to Your Spirit! Enhancing Our Personal Growth” from 1:30 to 4 p.m. at Seaside Center for Spiritual Living, 1613 Lake Drive, Encinitas. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased at Seaside Center on Sundays, at SoulScape Books & Gifts in Encinitas, or online at wahzee.com.
The Rev. Booth, an author, lecturer and trainer in spirituality and substance-abuse recovery, also will talk on “Dancing in Spiritual Awareness” during the 9 and 11 a.m. Sunday services at Seaside. A catered lunch will be available for sale between the second service and the workshop.
For more information, go to seasidecenter.org or call (760) 753-5786.
GOD AND COUNTRY
The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion last week in U.S. District Court in Kansas to dismiss a lawsuit brought last September by Army Specialist Jeremy Hall and the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. The government's motion says the plaintiffs “lack standing, have failed to exhaust intramilitary remedies” and more.
The lawsuit was filed, the foundation explained in a release at the time, because last August, “Specialist Hall, after receiving permission from a chaplain at Contingency Operations Base Speicher, Iraq, posted fliers around his base announcing a meeting of atheists and other non-Christians. When Hall attempted to convene the meeting, it was disrupted by Major Freddy Welborn, who threatened to initiate an action under the Uniform Code of Military Justice against Hall.”
The suit names Welborn and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, citing a pattern of practices that discriminate against non-Christians in the military.
CHAPTER AND VERSE
“Ours is a world of clinical data, physical evidence and hard facts. And yet, I can't deny all the things I've heard, seen and experienced,” says Allan J. Hamilton, a medical doctor and author of “The Scalpel and the Soul: Encounters With Surgery, the Supernatural and the Healing Power of Hope” (Penguin Group, $23.95).
Hamilton, script consultant for “Grey's Anatomy” and a professor of neurosurgery and clinical professor in the departments of Radiation Oncology and Psychology at the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center, says he has observed enough over the last 30 years to write the book and challenge the assumption that science and spirituality are mutually exclusive. He cites spiritual manifestations physicians see every day, and explores how they affect patients and even change medical outcomes.
