Jonathan Lange has just mentioned V for Vendetta on his blog, which I watched for the first time the other day. I thought it was great – Hugo Weaving does a wonderful job of reprising his role of Elrond / Agent Smith, and Natalie Portman is very good as well.
This is a rather political film, and has received criticism for being anti-American and therefore anti-Christian. It is set in a futuristic England which has become a totalitarian, though nominally Christian, state. The persecution of homosexuals under this régime, gruesome mass burials, and the portrayal of a corrupt clergy have all caused Christians to condemn V for Vendetta, yet these are all things which can occur in such circumstances – and did, in fact, occur in Nazi Germany. Hence, this movie is of significant interest, not only in that it raises the question of when it is appropriate to practise civil disobedience, but also in the warning it gives Christians regarding complicity in the sins of a government, whether totalitarian or otherwise.
The movie starts with the line "Remember, remember the fifth of November" – ironically, because Guy Fawkes is regarded as a hero by the protagonist, whereas the rhyme (rightly) regards him as treasonous. But it is the ninth of November to which this movie is really points. As Dr. Jim West reminded us a few days ago, that is the anniversary of the Night of Broken Glass. On this night in 1938, thousands of Jews were set upon, Jewish shops had their windows smashed – and the Church in Germany awoke the next morning, and said nothing.
It's easy for the Church to be manipulated by a government – whether that of Germany in 1938, England in 2038, or Australia in 2008. Christians always have a responsibility to speak out against injustice. But the question I have is this: do we sometimes have a responsibility even to blow up buildings?
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