A scene from Dogma

on the IDEA that all things happen for a reason, yesterday morning, the flipping of the channels fell on the indie station where kevin smith's movie, Dogma, was on. i've watched it maybe 3 or 4 times before, but something told me to keep watching. cool, a good study on dialogue never hurts. but then these lines came out of chris rock's, who plays the 13th apostle rufus, mouth:

BETHANY
(beat)
What was He like?

RUFUS
Jesus? Black.

BETHANY
Besides that.

RUFUS
The brother was centered. I mean, He was God, right? But I think He felt left out because He was more than human, you know? We used to sit around the fire - me and the other guys - and we'd be talking about what ass-holes the Romans were or getting laid...

BETHANY
Some things never change.

RUFUS
...and He'd just sit there listening and smiling. We'd ask Him why He never joined in the convo, but He said He just liked to hear us talk; about anything. Said it was like music. I think He just wished He had unimportant shit to talk about himself.

BETHANY
How does He feel now?

RUFUS
He still digs humanity, but it bothers Him to see the shit that gets carried out in His name - wars, bigotry, but especially the factioning of all thereligions. He said humanity took a good idea and, like always, built a belief structure on it.

BETHANY
Having beliefs isn't good?

RUFUS
I think it's better to have ideas. You can change an idea. Changing a belief is trickier. Life should malleable and progressive; working from idea to idea permits that. Beliefs anchor you to certain points and limit growth; new ideas can't generate. Life becomes stagnant. That was one thing the Man hated - still life. He wanted everyone to be as enthralled with living as He was. Maybe it had something to do with knowing when He was going to die. but Christ had this vitality that I've never encountered in another person since. You know what I'm saying?

BETHANY
He was big on life?

RUFUS
It was more than that. He was the only person I ever knew who never engaged in that most ancient of life-affirming activities.

BETHANY
Sex.

RUFUS
Debate. That's the only way people know how to reaffirm that they're alive - by debating. In all it's forms. People spend their whole lives debating: we fight about who's right and who's wrong, we fight ourselves, we fight each other, we fight death, we fight over beliefs, we fight over fights. We believe that to stop debating - in any fashion -is to stop living and give up. People say that life's a struggle, but it's not. Life is living. I'm even guilty of it myself, the way I go on about Christ's ethnicity, fighting for the truth to come out. And I'm dead. Even in death, the only way I know how to live is through debate. That's sad, isn't it?

BETHANY
Not if you believe it's important for people to know.

RUFUS
A belief's a dangerous thing, Bethany. People die for it. People kill for it. The whole of existence is in jeopardy right now because of the Catholic Belief structure regarding this plenary indulgence bullshit. And whether they know it or not, Bartleby and Loki are exploiting that belief, and if they're successful, you, me. all of this... ends in a heartbeat.
(beat)
All over a belief.