Film, Faith and Justice

Last night I attended a film festival that is about faith and justice. The films I saw were State of Fear and Occupation: Dreamland. State of Fear was about the political situation in Peru in the last ~30 years. It was a major eye-opener and really heavy. Basically the country has been living in violence and fear for all these years, and it's not just because of one group. It started off because the rural native people had no political rights, so a guerrilla terrorist group called Shining Path formed and terrorized pretty much everybody. Eventually this group moved from terrorizing the rural areas to Lima as well. The leader of this group was caught after many years and Shining Path fell apart, but then the government kept feeding the people's fear for their safety and basically conned them into thinking they were protecting them, but the military/government really became the terrorists. The people sacrificed their freedoms for their "safety", which was military occupation. That president was removed from power only 5 years ago, and the truths of what has happened in Peru are coming out. Many people in Peru, especially the upper class, had no idea what kind of corruption and injustice was really happening in their country. The film didn't really end on an uplifting note, because it sounds like there is still unrest, despite a new government. It's makes me wonder what to do with that kind of information. I guess awareness of what's happening in the world is a good thing. It is scary how some of the terminology is similar to what is being used in this country in regards to terrorism. The US government is definitely trying to feed our fears and convince us that they are here to protect us, but they use that to justify their actions all over the world that aren't really "fighting terrorism" (probably more like creating terrorism). It's interesting how similar issues of power and politics can come up in different cultural settings. It definitely gave me a lot to ponder.The other film I watched last night was Occupation: Dreamland which documented the experiences of a troop of American soldiers in Falluja, Iraq 2 years ago, leading up to the peak of insurgency violence there. You get to hear a lot of the views of the soldiers, some who feel like they are in Iraq for good reasons, but moreso those who really don't. You also get to see a meeting, where the soldiers are basically told that their lives will be useless if they don't re-enlist, and that this is the best option they have. The film showed how the soldiers were supposed to be doing public relations with the civilians and making them feel like they were there to help them, but then in the middle of the night, the soldiers barge into their homes with guns and try to capture insurgents (and it didn't really always seem like they really cared if they were getting the right guys or not). That film was not really that surprising to me, as far as what is going on in Iraq, but it was definitely disturbing. It is always reassuring to me that at least soldiers do sometimes question their reasons for what they are doing and don't always blindly follow orders without thinking about it. But I did get a feeling that there is definitely some of that too.Another really good part of the evening was a panel discussion on "the rule of violence and the love of Christ". It sort of included a discussion on pacifism, but more than that. One point that I found really good was that forgiveness can easily be cheapened, and that for forgiveness to really happen, it has to include reconciliation. Another really good point was that pacifism doesn't mean being passive, and that most pacifists realize that there is always going to be violence, but what is our reaction to that, and how do we conduct our own lives. Also that it's important to hear the stories of other people in order not to dehumanize them. Another point brought up was that much of the violence in the world has been, and is being initiated by Christians, either against other religions or against other Christians. One example given was the troubles of Northern Ireland where Catholics and Protestants have had struggles with each other for years. That's an example that particularly touches me, because my sister Erica went to Northern Ireland for a semester in college and lived in Derry, the city where Bloody Sunday occurred 35 years ago. I went to visit her there and became almost obsessed with learning about the situation there. It is really heartbreaking, but it seems like even since I was there a couple of years ago, the situation has improved. Anyway, back to the point... Christians need to stop killing people!There's way more I could say about last night, so I might write more about it later, but that's all for now.