Constantine’s Sword: Is Carroll’s Movie A “Catholic Fitna“?
April 25, 2008 by LO
As the world is busy inquiring about violence surrounding Islam’s Crescent, James Carroll turns attention to the dark side of the Roman Catholic Cross. The movie is based on Carroll’s controversial book, Constantine’s Sword, which accuses the Roman Church of propagating antisemitism. Is Carroll’s movie, then, a “Catholic Fitna“?
Carroll’s Summary of the Film
Constantine’s Sword is the story of James Carroll; a former Catholic priest on a journey to confront his past and uncover the roots of religiously inspired violence and war. His search also reveals a growing scandal involving religious infiltration of the U.S. military and the terrible consequences of religion’s influence on America’s foreign policy.
Carroll focuses on Christian antisemitism as the model for all religious hatred, exposing the cross as a symbol of a long history of violence against Jews (and, most recently, Moslems). The film brings the history of religious intolerance to life, tracing it as a source of the fanaticism that threatens the world today. At its core, Constantine’s Sword is a compelling personal narrative — a kind of detective story — as one man uncovers the dark areas of his own past, searching for a better future (source).
Related Elsewhere
- The Offical Constantine’s Sword Website
- ABC News interview with James Carroll and Oren Jacoby
- Carroll’s book by the same title as the movie, Constantine’s Sword
- In depth movie review with many links to interviews and further reviews at GreenCine
- Brief movie review at the New York Post
- Christianity Today reviews the book and movie
Subscribe by e-mail
