Saturday, January 30, 2016

Here I Stand: Disney's Frozen vs. Martin Luther

In the cresendo moment of the Oscar-winning best original song Let it Go in Disney's 2013 film Frozen the character and hero of the story repeats resoundingly Here I stand!



Martin Luther in his famous defense before the Holy Roman Emperor used the same phrase: Here I stand.



But as Tim Keller and others have pointed out, the meaning behind these two identical phrases are vastly different.  Right before making this pronouncement, the character Elsa in Frozen sings:  It is time to see what I can do, to test the limits and break through.  No right, no wrong, no rules for me.  I'm free.  Right before making the same pronouncement, Martin Luther says ...my conscience is captive to the Word of God.  Notice the difference.

Keller says, Luther meant he was free from fear and from other authorities because he was bound by the Word of God and its norms.  Elsa speaks for contemporary culture by saying she can be free only if there are no boundaries at all.

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