V for Vendetta

Yes, I saw an R rated movie. While some would condemn me, I think that it is much more important to judge whether to watch a movie based on all of its aspects, and not just some simple letter rating. Thus, while there are some R-rated movies that I will watch, there are also many PG-13 movies that I don't watch; hooray for spiritual discernment.

"The film is set in a futuristic London, and the story follows V, a freedom-fighter, who is also on a personal vendetta, pursuing political and social changes in a dystopian society."(courtesy Wikipedia, I was too lazy to summarize it myself)

I actually wasn't expecting too much of the movie; I mainly went because it looked different, and I was curious. But I was pleasantly surprised; it turned out much better than I expected. It was quite different from standard action movies, and it put a unique spin on the standard 1984-style movie. Though the directing and the plot flow seemed to come apart a little during the last half, it was still worth the trip.

One slightly annoying aspect was the political slant the movie had, whether intentional or unintentional. While the movie did give a plausible reason why the state of affairs in Britian would degenerate to that level, it seemed rather a stretch that they managed to attack capitalists, the military, Christianity, the Church, and Conservatives.

But I don't think that this is a reason to slam a movie and refuse to watch it. Maybe it's propaganda, but it doesn't mean that it couldn't happen. Conservatives must be careful not to sacrifice Freedom in the name of security, and Christians should be aware of how our religion can be manipulated for the purposes of corrupt politicians. As the movie pointed out:

"He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither"
-Ben Franklin

Selective Service, The Ethical Issues

I was contemplating the draft and the ethical issues involved while walking back to my dorm from class. Two intriguing questions stood out. At what point is conscription permissable for a government, and is dodging a draft morally acceptable?

The first issue is rather relative to what country you are discussing. For example, while the USA doesn't need to worry to much about getting enough men for defense of the homeland, a nation such as Israel which faces hostility on a daily basis and constantly has to be prepared for the worst needs compulsory service as a matter of survival. So the answer becomes, if it is absolutely necessary for the nation's survival, than it is permissable. If it is to support a military action that is merely the whim of politicians, than it is probably unjustified. But how do you define "survival"? Example, according to this definition, the draft for the Vietnam War wasn't drafted. But would a draft for the War on Terror be justified if not enough men were volunteering for military service?

With the second issue, at first I thought that being a citizen of a country entails the responsibility of fighting in her defense if called upon to serve, regardless of one's on views. But then I thought about Nazi Germany, where I would consider it one's moral duty to refuse to fight for the evil that it was. At what point do one's personal views supercede the will of the country as represented by the government? I decided that only when a government directly with no doubt involved breaks the Bible by going to war is one morally justified in refusing to serve.

Valentines...and Nukes

Well, I survived Valentine's day again. I don't know, one would think that I would have been depressed during Single Awareness day; I know my roommate was, and before I've always felt that little pang when I saw the couples out in full force. But I actually felt very content. God's has taught me many things over this past year, and one of them was to be content with God's timing, and to wait on what he has in store for me. I actually think that it would help many Christians faith if their default setting wasn't "I'm going to be married" but "I'm celibate till God tells me otherwise." Trust me, it also really helps develop relationships if you don't treat all members of the opposite gender as marriage prospects.

Now, the nukes part. It was all fun and games and Nuclear Holocaust was a relatively vague threat unless the janitor accidentally knocked the switch, but now North Korea has them, and Iran is getting close, and who knows what they would do with them. I wish so badly that the world could scrap all nuclear warheads and pretend that they never existed. They complicate matters so unnecessarily. Say that a few years from now, Iran starts bullying its neighbors again, what do we do? We can't exactly invade with ground forces, and risk nuclear annihilation of a few divisions. We probably couldn't even threaten, as they would call our bluff, and probably up the ante a little, threaten to use nukes on their stronger neighbors. And we can't exactly invade now, unless we're willing to completely empty Iraq of our forces, and hope for the best. A rebellion from within Iran would work out best, but we've kinda sorta been hoping for that forever, and it doesn't look like it's happening too soon. Alright, I need to think about this a little more, but I'm off to class, peace.

Gratitude is sweeter than sugar

Yesterday, I was in the cafeteria for breakfast, staring at my bowl of cereal. I was thinking to myself about how much I wished that it wasn't cereal, that it was a delicious breakfast like I could have back home. In my head, I started sarcastically singing to myself a kid's song from Veggie Tales,

I thank God for this day,
for the sun, in the sky,
for my mom and my dad...

and all of a sudden, I wasn't being sarcastic anymore. I started looking at everything that I had to bea thankful for: I was getting an education, I had all the food I needed to eat, I could praise God openly, and dozens more.

It was the best cereal that I've ever had.

Mohammad cartoons

Apparently, some European magazines decided that it would be a good idea to make a cartoon of Mohammad. Instantly, the Muslim world explodes in anger, so what is the European response? Print more of course, causing more threats and violence on the part of the Muslim world.

First off, one must note that it's not specifically because the cartoons poked fun at Mohammad that Muslims got angry, but because it is blasphemous to make a picture of Mohammad period. It's basically how a Christian would feel about seeing Drew Carey or some other "comedian" mock Jesus by incorporating the cross and crucifixion into a comedy sketch, it's a very inappropriate setting, to put it lightly.

I'm rather undecided on this issue. First off, those pictures never should have been printed. Freedom of speech nonwithstanding, it's not a good idea to print stuff that will make people angry, when said people are quite capable of killing innocent people. Also, the European press is making free speech and democratic ideals seem like a horrible thing to the Muslim world. The message is clear to them, if we tolerate free speech, then the press will spend its time attacking our religion and our Prophet.

But one side of me says that I might do the same thing. Why should I let fanatical extremists determine what I say and do? I have a right to print pretty much anything I want.

However, the problem with that is, where does it end? The Muslim world is not going to back down, no matter what, so it would probably be a good idea to just stop now before they take more drastic action.

I supppose that if I were in the editor's shoes, I would state that I wouldn't print the cartoons anymore, but I would refuse to apologize, as I couldn't honestly say that I had done anything wrong; quite foolish maybe, but nothing wrong. He's proved his point he printed the cartoons. Hooray for the power of the press, now could we just move along?

Good Times...and books

Sorry for not posting in a month. I was home for break, and what can I say, my family likes keeping busy. So I'm back to school now, which means more posts I guess.

Anyways, I've read some awesome books since last posts. I read the Screwtape Letters again; I'd forgotten how totally and completely awesome that book was. On a side note, I'd never noticed before that the book was dedicated to Tolkien. St. Augustine, Schaefer, and all the rest are cool, but no one can hold a candle to C.S. Lewis. I've been inspired to read another of his books, Pilgrim's Regress again. If you haven't read either of these books, you've definitely been missing out. And if you don't know who C.S. Lewis is...my heart goes out to you.

Also, I highly, highly, ever so highly recommend not even a hint by Joshua Harris, of I Kissed Dating Good-bye fame. An excellent book. His writing once again was stellar, and he had some very deep insights into the issue of lust. Also, this book is written just as much for members of the female persuasion as those of the less fair persuasion, so don't think you can skip out.

At some later point when I have time, I'll leave a commentary about something. Right now, I'm kinda sorta getting ready for a show, so, have fun y'all.

Home...

Sorry for taking so long to post, my family likes keeping me busy, and our internet was dead for a few days.

It's so good to be home. I walk in the door, see my wonderful mother, and she turns to me and says, "Can you drive your sisters to their play?" Ah, the joy of living in a family of 12. Seriously, I really love coming home and seeing everyone. And spending my first hour fixing up everyone's computers. Bliss...

Later on that eveing, I was pulled aside by my mother, who gave me a slight reprimand about the rather risque post that I put up last time. If I offended anyone, I apologize, but it wasn't meant to be confrontational, and I tried to talk about the issue with as little vulgarity as possible.

I don't believe that one should close their eyes to something simply because of a tad amount of corruption. Should I refrain from Shakespeare because of the vulgar innuendoes that he enjoys inserting in here and there? At the same time, I do recall informing Mom at the age of 11 she should stop taking us to art museums cuz of all of the pornography. Heh, heh, good times. It's simply a judgement call; does the redeeming quality outweigh the tainted portions?

Oh yeah, I saw Narnia. Worth every penny. I knew it would be good, but it still surprised me. I also enjoyed how closely it followed the book.