In the Bible, we can see murder, annihilation of cities, bludgeoning, burning people alive, cannibalism, decapitation, disemboweling, hanging, genocide, stabbing, stoning, suicide, etc. These are different kinds of violence. The Bible portrays violence with gruesome images and hideous acts of evil (Godawa 34). In the book of Judges, God wrote the script with lies, espionage, intrigue, and grotesque images of murders. It was necessary because the Israelites needed a leader to show them that they were being evil for not seeking God’s help.
Sexual activities, such as adultery, incest, masochism, satanic worship, orgies, prostitution, rape, and seduction are described in the Bible. The Bible portrays sex with vivid imagery of adulterous seduction with detailed descriptions of smells, sights, and sounds of the scenes (Godawa 36). Solomon used the image of the “garden” to describe the female sexual organ. The Bible is not one-sided in sex portrayal. Some people interpret the sexual imagery in Song of Solomon as an allegory of God’s love, bit it is still sexual imagery. Profanities, like vulgar language, are described in the Bible.
Profanity in the Bible “has its place in the Holy Scriptures” (Godawa 38). The apostle Paul uses profanity to shock his readers into spiritual seriousness (Philippians 3:8). In 1 Kings 12, King Rehoboam presented his people with an analogy of loins (motnayim), which represent strength. “The language of the Bible is filled with alliterative wordplays and poetic analogies” (Godawa 39), so King Rehoboam was making some double entendre in the Bible. The first element that helps us make determination on the acceptability of a movie is intent.
It is an intention or purpose that reports history on the highest ground. The storyteller can use evil for moral instruction and avoid the catastrophic repetition of the past. The second element is depiction. It is an action or result of illustrating something. Evil is depicted in the Bible both with and without intimate detail. The third element is consequences. It is a result of an action. According to the Bible, consequences always follow sinful behaviors. Loving your neighbor shows a good example of a positive consequence. The last element is context.
In the Bible, immoral actions are always contextually expressed as immoral. Evil is not depicted as entertainment, and sin is not expressed as an alternative lifestyle, but there is always a redemption. The three things to consider when deliberating about the appropriateness of sex, violence, and profanity in a movie are context, context and context. Context is everything. Context summarizes the other three ideas. “To End All Wars” is a movie based on the book by Ernest Gordon. Ernest Gordon was a stalwart young man who fought and belonged to the Scottish regiment of the Allied POW during World War II.
Soon, however, he was captured by the Japanese military and got sent to the Chong-Kai Prison Camp in Myanmar. At the prison camp, Gordon was forced to labor to build a railroad through the Burmese jungle. Gordon experienced the most extreme pain that humans can ever endure. The situation was getting worse everyday to the point where all the prisoners finally became and behaved like savages. It was ordinary to steal other prisoners’ food and supplies, even from the dying prisoners. They also fought for food crumbs on the ground because there was a lack of food for them to eat.
The food distributers stole the foods that were supposed to be given to the fellow prisoners so the prisoners felt the threat of severe survival. Soon after, Gordon was put into the intensive care unit of the prison camp due to his serious illness. Gordon gave up everything and waited for his death. There, he met two prisoners who still did not give up their hope of life and freedom. They shared their food with dangerously ill prisoners, and whenever the camp needed people for extra labor, they volunteered to do it. They were also very caring to Gordon as well.
They disinfected Gordon’s rotting wounds and massaged his legs that were going through paralysis. Their acts of kindness were bringing positive changes in the camp. Everyone started to take care of the sick prisoners and shared their supplies with everyone. The best thing that happened was that they started having worship. The two prisoners’ sacrifices eradicated the selfishness in the prisoners. It also was a great driving force for the prisoners to find God again. Towards the end of the movie, the Allied force found the camp and turned the tide of the war.
The prisoners forgave the Japanese who treated them harshly and found true freedom. Twenty years later, Gordon became the Dean of the Chapel at Princeton University for 26 years. I believe that violence was necessary to communicate the power of the prisoners’ redemption. Despite the violence they faced, the prisoners learned how to forgive their enemies. Though Gordon and the fellow prisoners were mistreated by the Japanese soldiers, the prisoners still forgave the Japanese soldiers and gave aid and comfort to the enemy. This scene begins at 1 hour and 35 minutes and ends at 1 hour 38 minutes.
I believe that Gordon was able to help his enemies who mistreated him because God helped him to open his eyes to see the Japanese soldiers as “wounded, dying human beings” (1:36:18) made in God’s image. Those Japanese soldiers were precious to God in spite of their sins. Gordon was able to see them like God did. Therefore, Gordon and the prisoners were able to follow Jesus’ teaching on how to treat their enemies. This scene of the movie is my favorite part because you get to see God’s grace through Gordon and the prisoners.
The Japanese soldiers hesitated between their loyalty to the Bushido Code and God’s love through Gordon and the prisoners. At the end, the Japanese soldiers chose God’s love, which proved the strength of God’s e. When someone hurts me, it is a natural instinct to hurt that person back. However, Jesus did not. When Jesus was getting crucified, he did not seek revenge against those people. Instead, he asked God to forgive them. Gordon and the prisoners followed Jesus in their example and forgave the Japanese soldiers who mistreated them.
In Luke chapter 6 verses 27-36, Jesus talks about the practical ways that we can show love to our enemies. In the movie, there was a scene where one of the prisoners is talking to the rest of the prisoners about loving your enemies starting at 54 minutes 44 seconds mark. Sometimes God challenges us with pain, which is the consequence of violence. Pain is God’s loud shout to us, and it teaches us what is truly important in our lives. Pain is God’s sound of clapping to tell us to look at permanent things over instant things, relationships over deals, and people over materials. Pain can be a gift from God.
