There
is a scene in Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996) set inside
the titular French cathedral, in which the gypsy woman Esmerelda
(voiced by Heidi
Mollenhauer)
sings:
“I
don't know if You would listen
To a gypsie's prayer....
God
help the outcasts
Hungry from birth
Show them the mercy
They
don't find on earth
God help my people
We look to You still
God
help the outcasts
Or nobody will.”
These
are very Christian words, from the Hollywood studio which
at
the time was
being
boycotted by some large Christian groups in America, including the
Southern Baptist Association, for the supposedly negative values the
company espoused. Was this song part
of a plan to bring back large sub-demographics of the American nation
back to Disney movies?
Whatever
the motive behind these lyrics in Hunchback, on the surface they seem
quite authentically Christian.
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| Photo Credit: Pinterest.com |
The
pious
parishioners pray in the same scene:
“I
ask for wealth
I ask for fame
I ask for glory to shine on my
name
I ask for love I can possess
I ask for God and His angels
to bless me”
The
writers of this song
paint
an
accurate picture of wrong motives in prayer and worship. These
characters are self-interested, and greedy for wealth and fame. What
a truth that we still
need
to experience
now, 20 years after the movie was released. There is a reason that
Christians have had the label of “hypocrite” - some of us have
been hypocrites! But every time a follower of Christ is genuinely
kind, helpful and loving, this can change someone's perception of
Christians – and Christ.
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