Whoever compared Constantine’s Sword to The DaVinci Code needs to never write reviews again because The DaVinci Code is absolute dreck that you can finish read in less than a half hour. For the record, I liked The DaVinci Code better in 1996 when I was in Denmark watching a documentary on some cable channel late at night based on all the conspiracy theories promulgated long before the book existed, i.e. it is unoriginal, derivative and verging on plagiarism. I would never put Constantine’s Sword in the same category as The DaVinci Code.
Unlike The DaVinci Code, Constantine’s Sword is a documentary that follows the journey of a devout Catholic as he traces the origins of anti-Semitism in Christianity and how Christianity has become perverted as a tool of the state and war starting with Constantine and ending with the Air Force in Colorado Springs under the Bush administration. The DaVinci Code is fiction, and Constantine’s Sword is history told from one who loves Christ AND because of that love, is compelled to criticize his fellow Christians when he believes that they are straying from the Gospel.
Constantine’s Sword is far from perfect. I think that Constantine’s Sword’s editors should have told the story in chronological order after devoting the beginning of the documentary to James Carroll’s life and explaining why he became interested in fighting anti-Semitism and the idea that Christianity should be paired with the military. I think that it is too confusing for viewers to alternate between his life, the air force and history. Tell a story well and simply.
I appreciated the early emphasis that Jesus is Jewish and a rabbi, and that there was a time during the early church when people thought that you couldn’t be Christian without being Jewish to show how antithetical anti-Semitism should be to Christianity. If Constantine’s Sword had started at that point, then discussed the symbols of life associated with the Church, transitioned to Constantine’s cross and sword, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Sephardic Jews fleeing to Rome, the creation of ghettos based on Papal edict, the revocation of that edict when Italy became a country, WWII, Colorado Springs and the election of Pope Benedict XVI and his reversing of reforms made by Vatican II, I think that the documentary would have been perfect.
While the criticism leveled at the Air Force in Colorado Springs for practically making evangelical Christianity a requirement of service is fair and violating the separation of church and state, I would have liked to explore the obvious culture clash between Catholics and charismatic Christianity that added to Carroll’s revulsion. Also I’m not sure if Gary Hart is the most effective ally if you’re going to convince other Christians that something is wrong. It may not be fair, but he is an easy target considering his scandal in the early race. On the other hand, has anyone compiled a list of documentaries that Ted Haggard appeared in BEFORE his scandal? To imdb! It is always the loud ones that have something to hide