My resolutions for 2022

 I know, this likely would have been better said at the beginning of the month, but I needed to time to organize my thoughts on the subject, so here goes:

1. I want to cover more FOSS (free and open-source gaming) for ChristCenteredGamer.

Used to be, Linux was the backfoot in gaming, but in recent years has been fighting hard to remedy that, and some FOSS games have turned out to be just as good if not better than their commercial counterparts. I intend to try covering more and more of these FOSS gems because I'm genuinely pleased with the strides that the community has taken to stand alongside the profit-based games developers.

2. I want to continue to evangelize for Christ

If you read this blog, a few years ago, I was quite the heathen. Won't lie, my past still weighs heavily on me, and while I cannot escape it, nor will I shy from admitting it. Sin is my shackle like it is for everyone else on the planet, and while I still struggle against my own chains, I hope to help others liberate themselves as well.

Another reason I want to keep doing this is that, compared to my shameful past, I found it liberating to admit my sins freely. Shame has been very useful in keeping me from returning to many of my former habits, and while I'm far from being as virtuous as I'd like, I consider the goal a worthy one to strive for and wish to help others who feel the shame of their own sins find release from their confession and strive to not repeat them.

3. I plan to continue to avoid partisanship.

One thing last year taught me is getting involved in sectarian squabbles, political stuff, gossip, and other areas of human endeavor where people are sharpening daggers to stab one another with is childish, petty, and venal. If I'm to make any headway on my second resolution, I plan to continue to do what I started to do in the closing months of last year and refuse to be baited into such activities. An eye for an eye leaves the whole world blind, and I have no desire to contribute.

4. I want to further my creative talents.

I've had a ton of game-making resources piling up I have yet to touch that I really want to start doing something with this year. I've found writing both for entertainment and scholarly purposes to be a worthwhile project I wish to hone my skill in more, and I believe it is my duty to avoid falling prey to sloth. To avoid the third point's pitfalls, I also believe my time is better spent creating for others than destroying other people. Like my last blog post said, any man can destroy the works of other lives, but to save and contribute to those lives is a far worthier sets of laurels to aspire to.

In 2022, Christians should save lives for Christ

 Now, I have to admit, prior to writing this post, I had a few ideas for my New Years Post. I knew it was going to be Christian-themed, but I wanted to do something along with it, so, after remembering one good scene in an otherwise cheesy movie, I'm going to do a movie review too.

And so, without further ado, I plan to review the movie "Batman and Robin" by Joel Schumacher, and I promise it will tie into my moral theme for the Christians in the audience. If you aren't Christian, I do hope the review is entertaining, and I think the moral theme is good no matter your values, but you be the judge.

In 1997, as a follow-up to the decent "Batman Forever", we got "Batman & Robin". Where the previous movie featured Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face and Jim Carrey as The Riddler, Batman & Robin planned to feature Mr. Freeze and Poison Ivy.

Now, the first mistake this movie made, right off the bat, is the villain team-up. Freeze is an ice-themed villain, Ivy is plant-themed. Ice and plants DO NOT MIX. Sure, the movie tries to paper this over, but the pairing choice is ridiculous. At least Two-Face and The Riddler made more sense and their actors were amazing at chewing the scenery, which leads to the second mistake the movie made.

Tone. Schumacher was apparently a fan of sixties-style camp while trying to maintain continuity with the older Tim Burton films, which went for a more nineties, grittier style. As a result, we got Freeze (played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) being a bizarre mix of his hokey sixties origin (where he was a goofy ice-themed gimmick villain) and his far more serious nineties story (which was done quite well in the Animated Series and has become iconic) where he only turned to crime to save his wife Nora from degenerative disease (cancer or some other similar disease) by putting her in cryogenic stasis and using crime to fund his attempts to find a cure. 

Marry this to a film that also tried to be deadly serious while introducing Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy (who took a villain who usually acts a seductress and diagnosed with nymphomania in the more realistic portrayals) who proceeded to overact to the point she came across as a trying too hard tramp. George Clooney played Batman this time and obviously (and even by his own later admission) was mostly there to pick up a paycheck, and the rest of the cast was either barely acceptable in their roles or were also barely acting enough to pick up their checks too.

In short, the film was stupendous in its cheese factor, had tone problems out the wazoo, starred Batman villain Bane as Ivy's dumb as rocks goon for some reason (instead of the intelligent man he is in most other portrayals), and featured a super cringe subplot cramming Batgirl into the story which was kinda meh and could be cut without hurting the film too much.

That said, the movie did have one legit good scene with great acting by nigh everyone that was the highlight I still remember years later and which is so good Christians should use it as a template for their lives.

Poison Ivy got taken out of the movie earlier, and later Mr. Freeze is taken down too. Thanks to Ivy getting jealous of the fact Freeze was married (and quite loyal), she behind his back tried to pull the plug on Nora's cryo chamber, pinned it on Batman, and tried to have Freeze ice the whole city in revenge so they could be some demented Adam and Eve ripoff (they even mention the two by name) over the remains.

Freeze is defeated and defiantly tells Batman to kill him like Freeze was under the impression did to his wife. Batman, however, has proof Ivy tried to do it and reveals he managed to plug Nora's cryotube back up before she thawed out completely and her MacGregor's disease (the cancer stand-in) continued.

Freeze is kinda stunned to have been so wrong and that he did all the evil stuff he did because of a lie, and that's when George Clooney does some real acting for once, asking Freeze (who had managed to cure the disease his wife had in its early stages) to share his knowledge to save a life (of Alfred Pennyworth, Batman's butler, though Batman doesn't say his name out loud) also afflicted by the same disease in its early stages, telling Freeze,

"Any man can take a life. But to save it, that's true power."

Freeze obliges, handing the cure to Batman (who promises he's made arrangements so even back behind bars he can continue his research due to Batman pulling strings for him), being a doctor willing to save others instead of the villain he once was.

Now that the movie review is over, I just want to say Batman's words not only sum up the Dark Knight so well, but they are also words every Christian (and those who seek Christ's grace) should engrave on their hearts for 2022.

It is so easy to do evil. The temptation to give your school bully a wedgie, attempting to obliterate someone's career out of petty hatred, or even murder are overpowering for all of us. Sin stains the soul of every man and the cloying stench of malice colors our temptations. If we give in, we condemn not only the lives of others, but ourselves as well.

That said, Christians instead, like Mr. Freeze, can save lives, because as Jesus said:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."

Jesus sacrificed himself so that all may not be lost to evil, so that we can be redeemed from our sinful flesh and be reborn and redeemed in His Father's name. If you are a Christian, you hold the power to save others by bringing others to Christ yourself. You hold a power far greater than anything inspired by jealousy or hatred. If you are not Christian, you can become a child of God and also attain the same power to save others as you yourself were saved.

In the year of Our Lord 2022, I urge all to remember that any man may injure, maim, or kill. Far fewer have the power to succor, restore, and heal. If you choose the path of true power, then I urge you to choose the path that saves your eternal life and save others as you were or can be saved.