Why 'The Godfather' is powerful

Further ideas from Honor & Shame by Roland Muller...


Separation from God takes place because God is honourable and man is shameful. The whole message of the gospel revolves around the restoration of that relationship – one where man cannot elevate himself. Only God can restore man and He used a mediator – one who must be able to speak equally with God and man. For this reason Jesus became human to mediate between us. Once the relationship is restored we have access to the throne room of God. Jesus bestows on every believer the honour and glory that the Father bestowed on Him but humility is called for – God does not honour the proud.

In the guilt/innocence, shame/honour, fear/power world views some cultures operate almost totally just within one, others have a dominant and a secondary influence while others are a mixture of all three. At the same time cultures are changing as their history rolls on. The Roman Empire was founded in a fear/power setting with a pantheon of gods to be appeased. As it developed, law became an important foundation and it moved to a guilt/innocence dynamic. Over the following period shame and honour began to dominate – as embodied in the Godfather movies. Muller observes that southern European culture has lost the guilt/innocence dynamic. In fact cultures are increasingly a mixture of all three paradigms and any clash of cultures often comes down to guilt/innocence v shame/honour – such would be the clash between Christian and Muslim cultures.

To be continued...