Western culture — and its roots in Judeo-Christian values — is a phenomenon worth celebrating, according to Welsh actor John Rhys-Davies.
The famed “Lord of the Rings” star recently spoke with CBN News, explaining the Western world ought to be “so proud” of the culture it has created, noting its mooring in Christian principles.
He described the current generations as “the inheritors of one of the most glorious accomplishments that mankind has ever had,” referring to “Western, European, Judeo-Christian civilization.”
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“Has it got flaws, yes,” he said. “But let’s not forget it was actually those Christians who said, ‘Slavery is morally wrong and we must get rid of it. … We must extirpate it in the world,’ and they did so. … Our whole democracy comes from those early Christians.”
Speaking of Western styles of government — which, in the U.S., is a constitutional republic — Rhys-Davies credited Christians and deists with establishing the freest form of self-governance in the world.
Early believers, he said, argued, “Surely, what I believe in and my devotion to my God must trump the emperor’s insistence that I worship him.” The actor explained Christians advocated for the “right of individual conscience,” to “associate with people who think the way you think,” the freedom “to express what you think,” and the “right not to be imprisoned for your beliefs.”
Those values, Rhys-Davies said, are the underpinnings of democracy, the “glory of mankind” and “unquestionably the finest way of organizing people in a political and social manner that we’ll ever have.”
While Rhys-Davies doesn’t consider himself a believer, he certainly has an affinity for the faith with which he was raised. It was that, in part, that led him to serve as narrator for a re-released podcast retelling 19th-century novelist Charles Dickens’ classic story, “A Christmas Carol.”
Any actor worth his salt, Rhys-Davies explained, should seize the chance to work on Dickens.
“The opportunity to do Dickens, even if you’ve done different versions of him before, you always grab that,” he said. “Any actor knows that the performance is really controlled by the word — the script — and anytime you get to work with a world-class writer, you should take it — no matter whether you can do it or not; just take it and learn.”
The universal appeal of “A Christmas Carol,” Rhys-Davies said, is its redemptive thread — a fruit of its author’s likely Christian faith.
“We love that idea that, no matter how much we fail, we can change, we can start again,” he said. “There is hope. In the dark of winter, there is hope.”
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