It was really awkward for me because hey, I'm Christian and every swear word and shot of a shirtless guy in a bar made me feel really awkward (not to mention one of my best gal friends was sitting next to me and feeling awkward for my guy friend sitting next to her. It was a bit of a mess, ha.) And the double entendres that sprinkled every other scene of dialogue also enhanced the awkwardness. It's not that I felt responsible for my friends seeing the inappropriate stuff, even though it was my idea to see it, I just felt like I was watching something I shouldn't have been and it didn't sit well with my spirit.
But the main thing that plagued me was the vivid representation of the evil and suffering happening in Iraq.
I watched as the American Sniper was forced to shoot a child who's only crime was holding a bomb given to him by his mother. I watched him shoot the mother as she rushed out to mourn for her child. The friend beside the sniper laughed gleefully when the bomb she'd been carrying detonated and totally destroyed her. How sick can someone be? I was proud when the sniper told his friend in not-gentle terms to be quiet.
I watched as the American Sniper was forced to shoot a child who's only crime was holding a bomb given to him by his mother. I watched him shoot the mother as she rushed out to mourn for her child. The friend beside the sniper laughed gleefully when the bomb she'd been carrying detonated and totally destroyed her. How sick can someone be? I was proud when the sniper told his friend in not-gentle terms to be quiet.
Plagued by guilt and unable to disconnect himself from what he has seen in battle, the sniper says,"That was an evil I've never seen before. It's not how I envisioned the first one to go down." It was sick how he shot them dead with one shot. He saved his American people, and I was so thankful. But war is horrible.The sniper's job was to watch every citizen with hawk eyes, and shoot them dead if they acted suspicious. So, he'd watch the citizens and shoot them each dead.And every time he shot one, his heart stopped with a second. The guilt in his soul was palpable to the audience. He couldn't separate himself from the pain unless he was drinking.
"You're not talking you're acting like you're okay," his wife notes, concern etched in her face.
"We are all on our cell phones living ours lives and no one cares?" is his only reply.
Whoever says movies don't affect you is lying. Humans have and forever will be affected by what they are watching, seeing and hearing. It's who we are. It's the real reason we fight, to protect our loved ones. We fight for love, not money or power. We fight because we think we deserve something "more" for our loved ones, or that we deserve to protect them. We fight for love, not hate.
I swear didn't take one full breath for two hours.
I tensed up so much I was shaking. "Calm down, it's just a movie," you're probably thinking. But it's not just a movie. It's reality. I cannot forget what I saw. I watched a terrorist group drill holes into a child's head, then shoot the father as he came running to help.The women screamed and cried and couldn't do anything
I saw the fierce passion and injustice blaze in the Chris Kyle's eyes and understood
This is they fight."There is evil here. You have seen it. You want these men to come to San Diego? It's more than dirt that we are protecting." It was people.
The whole reason was people.
People.
People.
Not money.
People. Why?
Because God made them.
We have intrinsic worth
Our world is evil
Our "time" isn't even ours. And it's coming to a close.
What else is their to life but to make sure that everyone has a chance to hear about Jesus?
It's a struggle. Jesus never said that seeing with His eyes would be easy.
"You're my brother. They are going to pay for what they did to you." Kyle vows to his fellow fallen soldier.
The cycle of evil and revenge was warring inside him, but he insisted he was a Christian. The strongest of us struggle with it.
I watched as he had to play God. He killed another terrorist at one point, and the little boy that had been sitting by the man curiously picked it up the gun and struggled to aim it at the American soldiers.
"Put it down!" the sniper pleaded through clenched teeth from his rooftop position, finger poised on the trigger.
Finally, the child did. The sniper let out a broken sigh and was human again.
"The thing that haunts me is how many I couldn't save..." The sniper laments at the end of the film. Sound like Jesus a little bit? He is a Christ figure, for sure.
His psychologist invited him to see the veterans. It was the only way he could heal, through love.
Only love could fix it.He helped them shoot again in the woods
"Who's the legend now?" one of them joked.
"That's a title you don't want, trust me." No one should have to play God. Ever.
Main point of the movie came when he finally rose up and talked to his son long enough to teach him how to shoot.
"Be calm...
Confident...
And you never hesitate
To protect your own.
You are who I fight for."
Jesus is who I fight for. I fight for love.
Jesus is who I fight for. I fight for love.
Thank you for taking time to read this. But I'm not here to talk about "cinematic masterpieces." The all-too-real evil in this film makes me sick and numb. But we cannot hide from the evil. What we can do is pray against it. I'm here to call you to action.
So what will you do?
Will you cower when the shot goes off, or will you rise up and pray?
