Pariah

This coming Sunday in my Indy-Pendant column one of the titles I discuss is Pariah #2. I reviewed the first issue back in May in the same column, and was sent the second issue just a few days ago.

You can read the review to find out what I thought of the issue in and of itself, and I assure you it was pretty positive. But this post is to address some things I disagreed with in the issue. I didn't want to litter the review with negativity, nor did I want to express my concerns about how it opposed beliefs I have. The review was on the story, writing and art, which was all good. It wasn't the time or place to discuss beliefs.

Now, the first thing I take issue with is the thought of humans becoming angels. This is a pet peeve of mine, because not only does it not make sense, but it's also not Biblical. Nowhere in the Bible does it mention a human becoming an angel. Sure, the human spirit goes there, but we don't all of a sudden grow wings and start looking out for people.

Biblically, we are actually above the angels in rank with God when we have a relationship with God because we have free will. The angels don't have that, and the Bible says they envy that relationship we have with God.

Secondly, as I mentioned in my review of the first issue, Lucifer is not the only fallen angel, nor is he the only one banished. Yes, Lucifer is the first, and he was cast down, but a third of the angels were cast out with him because they sided with him.

It's also questionable to me that the figure that appears as an angel in this issue would be in heaven at all. Now none of us know for sure who will make it and who won't. Because aside from the guidelines God lays out for us, His love and compassion goes beyond our comprehension or understanding. And He does wish all of us would make it. So anything's possible.

But the character in question isn't the most saintly in the world, or even the most decent of people regardless of the love he instilled in his afterlife in all of his fans.

But that one's a small issue that doesn't bother me that much. I know it was added for the story, and it's actually kind of cool.

I guess I would just like to see more accurate depictions in media than we normally get. The movie City of Angels and the books by Frank Peretti are the closest representations I've seen to date. And City of Angels still got it wrong with an angel becoming human. As far as I know that's just not possible. They can appear as human, but not actually be human. Then again, I'm not an angel and I'm not God, so who knows?

Regardless, Pariah is an interesting story with some cool twists, and it's great entertainment. So for that I give it props!

B-Out