On November 13, 2009 the movie “2012” opens in theaters. The story blends the idea of the Mayan calendar, which predicts the world ending in 2012, with natural disasters such as volcanic eruptions, typhoons and glaciers plaguing the planet and a large cast of characters dealing with the mayhem.
What is interesting to me are remarks the director of the movie made recently that I think reflects some major concerns I have about ideological views that are shaping our culture in a very negative way in regard to Islam.
Director Roland Emmerich who seems to be adept in directing movies that emphasize global doom like Independence Day, Godzilla and The Day After Tomorrow. The movie “2012” takes the destruction to a whole other level, destroying some of the world’s most well known landmarks including the Vatican, the White House and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janiero. There is one place that was not destroyed: the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure located in the center of Mecca. It’s the focus of prayers and the site of the Hajj, the biggest, most important pilgrimage in Islam.
"Well, I wanted to do that, I have to admit," the filmmaker told scifiwire.com. "But my co-writer Harald [Kloser] said, ‘I will not have a fatwa on my head because of a movie.’ And he was right."
Emmerich went on: "We have to all, in the western world, think about this. You can actually let Christian symbols fall apart, but if you would do this with [an] Arab symbol, you would have … a fatwa, and that sounds a little bit like what the state of this world is. So it’s just something which I kind of didn’t [think] was [an] important element, anyway, in the film, so I kind of left it out."
“…so I kind of left it out.” Really? Fatwa…what’s the big deal? The fact that we should have nothing to fear about Islam which means “submission” and according to Barak Obama who is of Islam descent and I quote… “America will never be at war with Islam…” Why would a director of a movie who represents Hollywood who ideologically has no regard for the “sacred,” be concerned about a “fatwa?”
Traditionally, a fatwa has meant religious opinion by an Islamic scholar or imam. The term has gained currency in the West after Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a death sentence in the form of a fatwa against British author Salman Rushdie for alleged blasphemies in his book "The Satanic Verses" in 1989. As a result, the Indian-born writer was forced into hiding for most of the ’90s.
In the first decade of 2000 as we approach 2010, Muslim terrorists have flown planes into the World Trade Center killing thousands of Americans. There have been multiple “alleged” Muslim honor killings…in America. Muslim fathers killing their daughters specifically, for dishonoring not just their families, but their religion. Do a Google search of how many in America in the last week!
Just this week, an American soldier who said he was a Muslim first and an American second, injured 42 people, killed 12…our president has promised to investigate the cause of the killings??? Newsweek said it could be that “the military is on the brink…” because the war is so hard. Hasan’s friends have said he was under pressure about the possibility of being deployed…hmmm…maybe that is why he shouted before he shot his “fellow American soldiers, “Allahu Akbar” translated “God is greatest.”
I love this country. I am grateful we ALL have religious freedom, but I wonder how our liberties might be affected if a “devout” Christian on the world’s largest military base shouted “Jesus is the Greatest” and then began to blow people away. I wonder if a few of us killed our daughters out of honor to Jesus, because they were becoming to secular, if people would start to think people who followed Christ and considered themselves Christians, may be a little different. I wonder if anyone would wonder where we would be getting these skewed paradigms, that justify honor killings, flying planes into buildings in the name of our god, and making people “submit” through murder?
Finally, we now know what even Hollywood bows to…no problem with blowing up Jesus…destroying the Vatican, blowing up the White House, but let’s not soon forget the words of Emmerich…
"We have to all, in the western world, think about this. You can actually let Christian symbols fall apart, but if you would do this with [an] Arab symbol, you would have … a fatwa, and that sounds a little bit like what the state of this world is. So it’s just something which I kind of didn’t [think] was [an] important element, anyway, in the film, so I kind of left it out."
As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord Jesus. The reason a “fatwa” sounds a little bit like what the state of the world is in Mr. Emmerich is because there is no regard for what is truly sacred and therefore the world is governed by fear and intimidation and is in a state of over-sensitivity about offending anti-American ideologies, because so many hold NOTHING sacred.
I love you Jesus!
Keith
P.S. As I am writing this blog, a story about Muslim militants beheading a teacher in the Philippines just came across the wire.
As a God fearing Christian man, that believes we have to make a stand for America and for the beliefs our country was founded…. IN GOD ( the one true God Jehovah ) WE TRUST this type of fear and catering to the minority in our country is appalling. America is great for one reason, because of its belief in God and his son Jesus and the value structure that goes with it. Men of God must be challenged to lead their homes, business and churches to stand for what is aligned with Word of God and against what is not aligned. Thank you Keith for clearly relating the passive destruction of God and Christian beliefs in our nation. Bring on the “Fatwa” !!
I couldn’t agree more with the views expressed by Keith Craft. As a Christian, a Husband, a Father, a Grandfather and an American, this blog challenges me to take more of a stand to protect my Christan values for my kids, grandkids and future generations. The “symbols” which represent Christianity and others which represent foundational American Free-Idealology should not be destroyed, even in film. Justifiably it may be ‘just a movie’ but these symbols being destroyed are just one more effort to de-sensitize Americans to Jesus Christ and American Freedom which people have given their lives to preserve.
Thank you Mr. Craft for taking a stand, challenging me to stand strong as a Christian and an American. God Bless America!
I agree with you Keith. It is time that Christians stand up and take back the beliefs that our forefathers had when they founded this great nation. Each one knew that by taking this stand to start a new country they would be sacrificing all that they had. They did and formed the greatest nation on the planet. Now, as we allow for these types of attacks both physically and figuratively to take place and not move into action to stop it, only weakens a great nation. People will say that the tolerance that we have is what makes us great. I say that the belief in our Lord Jesus Christ and His Kingdom is what made, makes and will continue to make this the greatest country in the world. Stand up Christians!!! Stand UP!!!!
I love you Jesus
Chuck
Its time to “Warrior UP!” I dont mean I’m looking for a fight. There’s no need to go looking, the fight is here.
The current state of our culture would require us to apologize for our faith, to embrace religious differences, and to minimize the importance of what we hold dear, (“yes, I’m kind of a Christian but its not that big a deal”).
Our culture would almost consider it a bold choice to follow eastern mysticism or Islam and this choice would even earn respect as “spiritual’, but to publicly acknowledge Jesus Christ would be embarassing.
I’m standing with Keith in declaring, As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord! Warrioring UP means to stand strong in my faith that Jesus Christ is Lord. I wont be embarassed, ashamed, or apologize. Warrioring UP means that my life will be about more than my comfort and ease. Warrioring UP means that my life WILL be about advancing God’s Kingdom on the earth.
I wont attack someone who has differing beliefs, I’ll pray for them to find the TRUTH and live to be a light, BUT I wont cower in the face of intimidation either.
I wouldn’t have gone to see 2012 anyway. I don’t pay to see movies that scare, sadden, or bring a sense of doom. If I’m going to a movie it had better make me laugh or have a really good car chase. It sounds like Emmerich has some sense of faith. I wish he would have Warriored UP and stood by his beliefs. (I almost said convictions but if you are willing to bend to the POSSIBILITY of fatwa then it isn’t a conviction.)
Jesus is an all powerful, passionate, and loving Savior that chose to sacrifice Himself for us. What a contrast to the militants that beheaded a teacher in their religious fervor.
I love you Jesus!
As a husband and father it concernes me to see the total disregard for the Christian values that established America as the greatest, most prosperous country on earth. Where are the warriors who will stand up and say, “Enough is enough”? It is time for Godly men to take a stand. It’s time for us to say we will stand for what we know to be true. We will stand for the ONE TRUE GOD – JEHOVAH! We have allowed ourselves to become so concerned with what others think that we have started to fail to stand for the values and things that most matter. Our forefathers levied high stakes – life and limb, fortunes and honors – to make this nation great, founding the basis of it all on biblical principles. It’s time to make a stand. Kick passivity and dare to stand up and make a difference.
Jeremy Skidmore
The time has come that we bypass what is politically correct and stand for what should be a Biblical world view!! Cowardly, religious zealots kill our innocent in the name of a dead god’s name seeking recognition and false redemption. It is not allowing the freedom of religion, it is allowing the fear of the un-Godly to put a stranglehold on our Nation. WE THE PEOPLE stepped down and ME THE PEOPLE stepped in that is why everything in our country is in such disarray. Just today one of the imam in Yeomen, Anwar al Awlaki was quoted as saying “The only way a Muslim can justify serving in the U.S. military is if he intends to follow in the footsteps of men like Nidal.” (the cowardly soldier who killed 12 @ Ft.Hood) Wake up people!! The only true living God is a God of love and forgiveness, not murder and mayhem. “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” (Edmund Burke) I pray everyday that WE come to the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!! I love you Jesus!!
I think we would all be surprised to see how the media industry has responded to the goings on of the Muslim population. Many news stations simply ignore it, or report only what is necessary to satisfy the hungry news mongers. I have been studying the Middle East for years and what America is just now finding out is barely scratching the surface. The news stations are quick to tell us that the soldier who killed those men was not doing so as a Muslim but a scared and under pressure soldier of the United States. The fact that he screamed Allah Akbar is being dramatically down played and what is gaining more spotlight is the war we are fighting in Afghanistan and how it is driving our soldiers to extremes.
It’s unfortunate that men like Emmerich who have a voice in media choose to be appeasers out of fear.
People like this remind me of a quote by John Stuart Mill -“War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.” —
Thankfully we have a Pastor who does not merely swallow the jagged pills the media serves on silver platters, but is seeking to know and educate those around him. Thank you for being a Warrior for Christ and sharing the truth. If ever there was a quote to describe Pastor it would be this:
“If you have an important point to make, don’t try to be subtle or clever. Use a pile driver. Hit the point once. Then come back and hit it again. Then hit it a third time-a tremendous whack.” — Winston Churchill
Amber
As a young father I look at the world that we live in today and wonder what the “world” may look like when my son(10 months) is my age (27 years) if God permits us to be here. I guess my thought process is that I can’t control what the world will be like. What I can do is play a part in what my son and those under my influence chooses to stand up for. I choose to kick passivity and not stand around and do nothing. “My Savior Lives” I love you Jesus!!!
I’ve got your back Pastor! It is time to warrior up and make a stand for our Creator. He made us, He saved us by giving us his only Son and He puts up with all the un-Godly in this world. It is time to stop being lukewarm Christians and stop putting up with the mediocrity, fear and lack of faith that this country is now operating under. I’m praying for every un-saved soul to come to Jesus. He is the only way!
I Love you Jesus!
As a father it deeply concerns me about the challenges my son will have as he grows up. When movie directors and writers are more concerned with backlash from muslims than they are from people with Christian beliefs, I worry and pray. Our founding fathers risked everything for Our America and now there is the same threat and we are scared to offend them? God will protect this Nation because it is a generous nation and founded on Christian Values. We as followers of Christ need to stand strong that it stays that way.
I stand with you! I think about when my grandparents would say “what is this world coming to” and that was in the good old days. I like what Billy Graham said in an interview when asked by Larry King if the Christians were loosing the war. Mr Graham responded to the effect that we are not loosing but seeing a separation between Christians and non Christians. As a Christian I have read the last chapter of this story. I know how it all turns out in the end. It is not going to get any prettier before the coming of Christ. We are warned of end time sequences and how deception will rise up. However, as Christians we are always called to stand up, state the truth, claim God’s greatness, and be His tool to build His Kingdom here on earth no matter what forces try to come against us…”for if God is for us, who can be against us!!!! I love you Jesus!
As a God fearing, bible believing Christian and an American citizen; I agree with Pastor Keith.
How can hollywood have no qualms about destroying Christian symbols & symbols of our nation’s heritage, in the name of entertainment? At the same time they won’t dare to do the same to another country’s religions’ symbols because of the possbility of condemnation or threats from groups of cowardly thugs, who encourage violence & murder in the name of their “religious” beliefs?
It sometimes seems that Isiah 59:14 is correct; “justice is turned away backward, and righteousness standeth afar off; for truth is fallen in the street, and uprightness cannot enter”.
It is long over due that JUSTICE is turned towards evil; for RIGHTEOUSNESS to close in and deal with those things that threaten CHRISTIANITY, our beliefs and core values; for TRUTH to rise up and be heard over the lies and for UPRIGHTNESS to be the example that we as Christian Americans lead the world with.
WE CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH GOD WHO STRENGHTENS US!!
GOD BLESS AMERICA, OUR VETERANS AND SOLDIERS!
my definition:
F – fear
A – actuated
T – threat
W – without
A – authority
Think + Be+ Do = Have
Keith
As I read your words I became challenged in my own thought process. I have been in and out of the Church for over 20 years, mostly as a spectator. Usually, it was my wife that drug me there because it was good for the kids to be in Church or it made me feel better, to do something good, after the way I had acted all week. In the last five years I have learned that the only way my wife and children are going to make it in this world is if, I lead my family as a God fearing man and not be passive in my beliefs.
Thank you, for exposing this kind of thought process and challenging me to lead my family in, what the world considers “uncertain times.”
One thing I am certain of, God is looking all over the earth for those that will take a stand in His Name, against all other gods. Just as He brought the Children of Israel out from slavery in Egypt. I will not to be intimidated by fear from false gods. I will not be a Slave any longer.
As I read this blog, the battle between Elijah and the followers of Baal comes to mind. This movie never interested me. It sounds crazy as does the director. He seems scared but I wouldn’t consider his publicly stated fear a win for Islam because I can guarantee that my God isn’t using the bathroom!!!!!. All I can say is that I LOVE JESUS!