In a recent post I mentioned a film Mary Ann and I had just gotten on DVD that we were looking forward to watching. It is called Friday at Noon. Last night I got home from our fire department drill earlier than I expected and we curled up to watch it. I wanted to share my thoughts about it and the issues it brings up. (I am not profiting in any way from recommending it, other than maybe playing a small part in encouraging the family that produced it and in strengthening the faith and defense of anyone who might watch it on account of my recommendation.)
As I mentioned in my previous post, the movie explores the issue of how we define or determine right or wrong in the absence of a God. While this is an issue I have enjoyed discussing, and one that played a strong part in my conversion, it is one I have rarely seen handled in a fictional format. This movie does a wonderful job of it, taking a man grieving over the murder of his son by young men who were acting out the evolutionary implications of life and having him kidnap the daughter of the professor who taught them the theories they lived out and telling the dad he can save his daughter only by answering one question, "Why shouldn't I do evil to her?"
As the professor struggles to give answers beyond the shallow and not thought through surface answers most people would give he realizes how inadequate the canned answers are, and how few people actually think through the implications of what they claim they believe. I don't want to spoil the ending or the conclusion, but suffice to say that it would be a very strengthening film for older youth and for adults to watch to either strengthen their conviction in God and how we can defend his existence, or to challenge non-believers to see the horrible, logical, moral extensions of their atheism. The movie does a great job of systematically demolishing the intellectual arguments for morals that sound so good in the "hallowed" halls of academia, but, when carried to their logical conclusions, end in horrifying places.
Made by a homeschooling family and the church the father pastors, the film is surprisingly well done considering what I can only imagine was resources at their disposal that were nothing like what a feature film can throw at a production. Do you laugh at a few scenes and see a few places the "Hollywood" experts would pick apart and criticize? Yes. Of course. But I can tell you that if my family, or our fellowship, produced anything remotely close to this I would be very proud. I'd recommend you get a copy of this to show your friends, to initiate discussions, to strengthen yourself, and to encourage a family and church who are seeking to glorify God in all that they are and do. I would not let Bethany and Abigail watch it yet as we have shielded them from more violent or stark scenes and a little of the imagery might scare them right now, but it won't be long until I do and I would certainly encourage it for high school and above.
Showing posts with label Friday at Noon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friday at Noon. Show all posts
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Who Decides?
I just received a DVD I am looking forward to watching with Mary Ann when we have an evening where we can sit and do so. As best as I understand it, it is produced by a homeschool family and the church the father pastors. It is called Friday at Noon and one of the quotes associated with the movie's promotions is from Fyodor Dostoyevski, and it says, "If there is no God, everything is permissible." My understanding is that the movie will use a fictional story to explore if atheists can call anything wrong.
I think it intrigues me so because at West Point, in my pre-Christian days, I concentrated in philosophy and once considered myself a moral relativist (I believed that what was right for some was right for some, and what was right for others was right for them). My enjoyment of academic intellectual arguments was rocked when a professor there (who I many years later found out to be a Christian) told me that if he really believed I was he would do all he could to have me kicked out of the academy. It was too dangerous to him to have someone preparing for an officer's position of leadership and authority who didn't recognize there are absolute rights and wrongs.
I think that my encounter with that professor (which I have written about that encounter and moral relativism before in this blog) rattled me so much because up until that time things like philosophy, religion, etc., were just intellectual things to have fun arguing. But his intensity and passion was new to me. He really believed it mattered and had consequence and wasn't just fun and games.
Later in my journey toward Christ the argument for absolute right and wrong was a strong factor in my conversion. I came to realize that at my core I had a strong sense of right and wrong—it was one of the things that led me to West Point and the military—and if I was honest I couldn't explain that, or defend it, without an appeal to authority in it . . . God.
Tonight I had fun with our girls at dinner. I asked them to explain to me why some things are right or wrong without appealing to God. Needless to say it was quite a conversation! Each time something was brought up as right or wrong I could simply ask, "Why?" and then not let them use God in their argument. As we talked back and forth they came to see that, without an absolute authority, there is no true right or wrong. Some might say it is defined by popular vote, or majority opinion, or the strongest, or ??? But the reality is that there is no way to say one person is more right than another, or one thing is more right or wrong than another, without some appeal to authority that is higher than them all. Even a country that decides right and wrong by votes on moral issues or laws can be overrun by a country with a stronger army that decides right or wrong on its own moral compass—and the invaded country has no basis to say that they are right and the invaders are wrong.
It is truly a scary thought when someone denies there is a God by Whom absolute right and wrong is defined. If they are consistent in their logic from that point on then they have entered a realm where anything goes, and they have no basis or standing or appeal to say someone is wrong, even if that someone intrudes on their rights or safety. It is, I believe, a powerful approach to witnessing because it is a very rare person who will not acknowledge that inside them they have a sense of right or wrong. To pursue where that comes from and if it is absolute or relative is a powerful door to begin to talk about God, being made in His image, and His transcendence over all.
So, sit back, pour yourself a good cup of coffee, gather some friends, and try and define absolute right and wrong without including God. It should be an eye opening time! I'd love to hear about it! Blessings, and thanks for reading. —Erick
I think it intrigues me so because at West Point, in my pre-Christian days, I concentrated in philosophy and once considered myself a moral relativist (I believed that what was right for some was right for some, and what was right for others was right for them). My enjoyment of academic intellectual arguments was rocked when a professor there (who I many years later found out to be a Christian) told me that if he really believed I was he would do all he could to have me kicked out of the academy. It was too dangerous to him to have someone preparing for an officer's position of leadership and authority who didn't recognize there are absolute rights and wrongs.
I think that my encounter with that professor (which I have written about that encounter and moral relativism before in this blog) rattled me so much because up until that time things like philosophy, religion, etc., were just intellectual things to have fun arguing. But his intensity and passion was new to me. He really believed it mattered and had consequence and wasn't just fun and games.
Later in my journey toward Christ the argument for absolute right and wrong was a strong factor in my conversion. I came to realize that at my core I had a strong sense of right and wrong—it was one of the things that led me to West Point and the military—and if I was honest I couldn't explain that, or defend it, without an appeal to authority in it . . . God.
Tonight I had fun with our girls at dinner. I asked them to explain to me why some things are right or wrong without appealing to God. Needless to say it was quite a conversation! Each time something was brought up as right or wrong I could simply ask, "Why?" and then not let them use God in their argument. As we talked back and forth they came to see that, without an absolute authority, there is no true right or wrong. Some might say it is defined by popular vote, or majority opinion, or the strongest, or ??? But the reality is that there is no way to say one person is more right than another, or one thing is more right or wrong than another, without some appeal to authority that is higher than them all. Even a country that decides right and wrong by votes on moral issues or laws can be overrun by a country with a stronger army that decides right or wrong on its own moral compass—and the invaded country has no basis to say that they are right and the invaders are wrong.
It is truly a scary thought when someone denies there is a God by Whom absolute right and wrong is defined. If they are consistent in their logic from that point on then they have entered a realm where anything goes, and they have no basis or standing or appeal to say someone is wrong, even if that someone intrudes on their rights or safety. It is, I believe, a powerful approach to witnessing because it is a very rare person who will not acknowledge that inside them they have a sense of right or wrong. To pursue where that comes from and if it is absolute or relative is a powerful door to begin to talk about God, being made in His image, and His transcendence over all.
So, sit back, pour yourself a good cup of coffee, gather some friends, and try and define absolute right and wrong without including God. It should be an eye opening time! I'd love to hear about it! Blessings, and thanks for reading. —Erick
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