A Movie and Freedom

We saw "The Book of Eli" yesterday and it was as good as we thought it would be. True there's some language but not from Denzel's character. He fights back but doesn't start the violence.

The story concerns an apocalyptic world where one man tries to save the only existing Bible. One line he speaks gave me chills. It has to do with why there are no more Bibles. I'm seeing that same kind of thought becoming prevalent in some areas of our culture. The ACLU is championing this thought--that Christians should be shut up and not allowed to speak outside of their churches. That would only be the beginning of shutting us down completely.

A couple here is suing their next-door neighbors for smoking in their backyard. The smoke comes in through their vents and is causing them health issues. They installed large fans that blow the smoke away from their house, but that isn't working.

I'm not for smoking period, but where does my freedom end and yours begin? Yesterday a man came in and sat down three chairs away from us (at the doctor's office.) His odor, mostly smoking odor, was so strong that I had to sneeze and move away. Should I have asked him to move? Certainly not.

I don't like having to listen to loud music in cars next to me. Sounds that cause my car to vibrate because it's so loud. But should I outlaw all loud music? I think a sound law has been passed here but nothing is ever done about enforcing it.

Leaving a house isn't as easy as leaving a chair. Throwing a rock at the car with the loud music isn't an option. At least smoking has been banned inside restaurants and public buildings. But outside those places we usually have to walk through areas where people have been smoking.

Everywhere we go we will come in contact with things we don't like. Those who didn't like the Bible in the movie had destroyed all of them--or thought they had. Although there were no out in the open Bibles it didn't stop God from speaking. In the Old Testament we find that one prophet thought he was the only one. God had to tell him he had many more.

What is the kindest, most loving thing I can do when someone offends me? Instead of burying their freedom to do that thing, we need to do what Eli did--let God work it out and keep on the path He has set for us.