A couple days ago after the secretary of defence announced that he was going to extend all tours of duty to 15 months there was the predictable pap from network news profiling some poor soul who I do have pity on who in his second tour of duty was injured very badly by a roadside bomb. Never mind that could have happened in his first tour.
Tears all around, angry wife, confused soldier (brain damage) and upset parents. If that were my boy I'd be upset too. But, War is Hell.
One of my all time favorite movies WAS Braveheart. The heroics, the bravery in battle. Fabulous stuff.
Then there's Shakespeare's Henry the Fifth and the battle of Argincourt. If you have seen the Kenneth Branaugh edition of this play on the TV you have seen a good one. It's wonderful.
And PATTON. I saw some of it today on AMC. The part where he is driving by the walking wounded and goes to the hospital tent. It is there where the famous slapping of the soldier incident takes place. We forget that in WWII we would lose as many men in one DAY as we have so far in Both Iraq and Afghanistan together.
MY NEW MOVIE FAVORITE and I expect anyone who reads my humble blog to go see it in theater. The 300. That was one of the most beautiful movies I have seen in years. Very colorfully and artistically done. The plot was about a brave group of men fending off people from present day IRAN who want to invade and destroy Greece and Sparta. They come across a village already destroyed. It's complete and brutal. They know they are dealing with a ruthless enemy. But there is a traitorous and cowardly congress unwilling to support the war effort.
So 300 men go against tens of thousands of Persians and prevail for the most part until a defector betrays them. The glory, courage and honor of these men in the battle is wonderful to behold. And the Kings wife was brave and courageous.
Of course it reminded me of the situation in Iraq and Afghanistan. Traitors and cowards in congress. Defectors (Pelosi) doing evil behind the backs of our men. Every soldier in Iraq and Iran should see this movie. It tells the story of the importance of standing firm against an evil invader.
It was true in 700 BC and it's true today.
By the way, every one of the 300 but ONE is killed heroically. War is Hell.
For my more pacifistic readers was the action portrayed in The 300 justified or not? If so, then, why isn't the Iraq and Afghan war as well.
2 comments:
Well, since I believe I qualify as "one of [your] more pacifistic readers," I will venture a comment.
Not being much for movies, I haven't seen "300", and probably won't. I've heard enough about it to know what it's about.
You ask whether the action of "the 300" was "justified." By what standard? Perhaps it seemed the noble and courageous thing to do, but was it Christian? Did it look like something Jesus could take part in? We are confusing the worldly ideals of military bravery and violent heroism with the Christian ideal of the cross.
So I answer that yes it was justified in regard to the generic moral code of the universe. But it was most emphatically not justified, Christianly speaking.
I make no comment about the war in Iraq except that it's not my war - at least not in the M-16 sense, anyway. We as Christians all are called to fight against "spiritual wickedness in high places." We are not called to do it with guns.
Is this "generic moral code of the universe" God's code or man's code? If it's man's code, it is not the code of the universe. If it is God's code...
Post a Comment