I just finished watching Defiance. It’s an awesome movie. It has all the good things that awesome movies have: good lines, some romance, some humor, action, and a great plot. Supposedly, it’s also a true story (as opposed to “based on” a true story. There’s a big difference) It’s a serious movie, because it’s about Jews during WWII, but not depressing. It’s inspiring, and more importantly, it has some good points that make you reflect on the value and meaning of life.
There was one scene which was the most powerful for me, and it made me cry… it was the scene which brought home an important theological point: sometimes, you just have to kill somebody.
Let me explain. I’m not talking about Jews fighting Germans out of revenge or self defense. There was plenty of that in the movie, and there is plenty of that in most movies. In this scene, a Jew has to kill a Jew. It’s a perfect picture of good and evil, standing face to face, and yet the good one was the one who pulled the trigger. The scene is powerful because I understood the motivation, at least what I imagine the motivation was, of the person who pulled the trigger. He didn’t do it out of anger, pride, or any other self-centered thought. It wasn’t out of a sense of self-righteousness. It wasn’t a spur of the moment decision. He thought about it, maybe even prayed about it, and in the end he knew it was the only choice he had. He didn’t want to do it… and that was the most powerful part. In a way, the action contradicted everything he had been striving to accomplish up until that moment, and at the same time, any other action would have completely destroyed everything he had built. I knew he would do it, and yet I was still surprised when it happened. After the shock, I realized that it was the only right and moral thing to have done in the situation.
I realize that I am a second generation of a young religion. If for some reason our faith has to survive for two millennium (which I pray every day that it doesn’t) I realize these words could be interpreted in exactly the opposite way that I intend then. I don’t want to create a justification for murder… However, I think motivation is an important factor in understanding what is right and wrong. An action by itself cannot be either good or bad, I think, but the motivation behind the action determines whether it is good or evil.
It’s like the scene from Wizards First Rule. (Spoiler Alert and Obscure Reference Alert) When the main character has to kill the girl who bonded him to her, he has to turn the Sword of Truth into a blazing white fire. No one had ever done this before, because it only turns white when you kill a person with love for that person. I think the main character in Defiance did the same thing. He understood that the person he was going to kill was just young, a bit arrogant, starving, and not really an evil person. Also, he was a fellow Jew, struggling to survive in a world gone crazy. He didn’t want to kill him, and in a way, he loved him. But he had to. It was the only way… and if you’ve seen the movie, I think you would agree.
Then I understood Moses, and why he had to have people killed when they started worshipping the golden calf. Or when there was a rebellion and he had all those that wanted to return to Egypt stand on one side, and once they were separated into two camps, the earth opened and swallowed the rebellious group whole… It’s same thing, on a larger scale. It was the motivation that God was looking at, and it is the motivation that determines whether an action is good or evil. That is why when he struck the rock twice it was a sin. He let anger control him, and even though the action was small, the motivation was completely wrong. He lost faith, and if his anger had been directed at a person, he would have killed them. The Bible says that he killed the Egyptian soldier out of anger, but maybe he also did that with the right heart. Who knows?
I think it is the same with God. The Bible has many stories where God kills people, or orders the Jews to kill people. Atheists read this and say that if there is a God, he’s genocidal and sadistic, but I think they’re missing the point… it’s possible to kill with the right motivation.
If you don’t think so, watch Defiance.
I hope I was making sense. I get sentimental at two in the morning…
On a lighter note, please watch my newest “Ask a Moonie 6 – DCPS” http://tinyurl.com/nyrv7y. It’s kinda funny, and hopefully educational.
I love you guys…
-Youngil Ely Loew