The nominees for the 2017 Golden Globe Awards have been released, and Mel Gibson’s "Hacksaw Ridge" collected three nominations. The trio of nominations marks the completion of Gibson’s Hollywood comeback after his 2006 fall from grace. Gibson was arrested for drunk driving and went on an anti-Semitic tirade to the officer that arrested him. His last Golden Globe nomination came in 2001 for his acting role in “What Women Want.”
I was in the MCC in Academy (working my way up the scale) my second year I became a Second Lieutenant. Professor Everett Dick came for a visit bringing Desmond Doss. Now I wished I had been more friendly and less of a snipe in thinking how much a counterfeit soldier I was with my shining buckles and shoes. I remember how humble Desmond Doss was and small…I knew essentially nothing of the consequence of his bravery. I just knew I was going to do all I could to avoid the Vietnam draft and keep silent about being a Second Lieutenant in the Medical Cadet Corp upon induction.
It amazes me how “truth” changes with culture and science. Many former religious beliefs do not matter at all today. None of us would create a new Passover, celebrating the death of our enemy’s children. I only wonder what will fall next to the unyielding currents of culture. Is it possible to live apart from it?
Baptismal Vows: Movie Theaters & Novels
1874 “Is it your purpose to come out from the world and be separate in obedience to God’s command in 2 Cor. 6:17, by refraining from following the sinful practices of the world, such as dancing, card- playing, theater-going, novel reading, etc. and by shunning all questionable worldly amusements? 1 John 2:15; James 1:27; 4:4.
1932/4: “Do you, by going forward in baptism, thus declare that from henceforth you will have no part in such soul-destroying amusements as card playing, theater going, dancing, and all other entertainments and amusements which tend to deaden and destroy the spiritual life and perceptions ?”
Baptismal Vows: Coffee & Tea
1874: Is it your purpose to obey the command to eat and drink to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10:31) by abstaining from all intoxicating liquors (Pro. 23:29-32), tobacco in all its forms (1 Cor. 3:16, 17) swine’s flesh (Isa. 66:15, 17), narcotics, tea, coffee, and other harmful things?
1946: …abstaining from narcotics, tea, coffee, and other harmful things
It is, but it’s easier to go with the flow, so as not to stand out as “weird.”
I don’t know what it is with movies. I’d rather read the book. Phil. 4:8 (NT, by the way) seems to have fallen by the wayside in the rush to “have fun” like everyone else. Ellen White didn’t make this up. It’s right there in Phil. 4:8, which pretty much eliminates movies, period.
We’re in the age of relativism, so in that topsy-turvy world one can have contradictory “truths.”
I find it odd that all of a sudden some Adventists are getting all excited about this movie, when the book (The Unlikeliest Hero) has been available for almost 50 years. And with the church’s muddled message on military service, some may find it confusing that a CO has gotten so much press.
Since the draft ended 40 years ago in the US, I’m not sure most Americans can understand the concept of conscientious objectors. Many SDA young people are joining the military and most pastors avoid the subject. Our position on military service, and the principles behind it, are no longer well articulated. This could come back to bite us if the draft is ever reinstated.When I was in college it was understood that Adventists didn’t join the military. MCC camp was created to help prepare potential draftees for service if they were drafted. It was very realistic. The camp leaders were former military men who know how the military operated. I remember doing a lot of push-ups. One difference was that at MCC camp the food was good. No C rations.
And why so many Adventists are into coffee is beyond me. It’s an acquired taste. It’s not healthful, in spite of dubious studies which claim the opposite. A jolt of caffeine should not be needed to jump start the brain each day.
hopeful
(Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:13)
7
Important history of the changing Adventist stance on participation in war.
Why do you find that odd? Many people won’t read the book but they’ll go and see the movie. In the quotes below we can see Ellen White advocating packaging truth in a format that people can relate to and putting it in places where they frequently visit. This movie is not so much to reach Adventist, but it’s more to reach those who might never think of walking through the doors of one of our churches. I’ll admit that the movie is not perfect, but I believe that there’s enough good in it to offset any objections that some might have. If you go and see the movie, just bring with you, as Ellen White calls it, “the gospel sieve” and don’t make the mistake of throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Just a thought.
“And so I say that I think we shall be negligent to our duty if we are satisfied with simply the regular subscription-book business, with the work that is being done by our colporteurs, through our tract societies, or by even reaching the better class of the book trade; but we want these cheaper books, the paper-covered books, that will go onto the news stands by the side of the novels, to be found there; for so many, many people feed upon novels, and novels only. I suppose that a very large proportion of the people never read a bound book; but they buy novels, magazines, and newspapers. And so we must meet the people where they are, and have something that will reach all classes of people.” April 16, 1901 N/A, GCB 257.3
“The servants of Christ should accommodate themselves to the varied conditions of the people. They cannot carry out exact rules if they meet the cases of all. Labor will have to be varied to meet the people where they are.” Testimonies Vol. 2 674
It is wonderful that Golden Globes has nominated Hacksaw Ridge for three awards.
Let us hope that the more prestigious ACADEMY AWARDS will be equally favorably disposed.
That said, I will not see the movie, as I understand it is,filled with scenes of violence. I do not enjoy watching the spilling of blood and guts, with many movies exulting in an abundance of gratuitous gore.
That said, the Old Testament is one of the more viscerally violent reads of all literature. If screened it would garner an R or even X rating.
The God ordained genocides, where even innocent babes in arms, and innocent animals, the flocks and herds of the vanquished tribes, were brutally butchered, is surely a depiction of depravity!.
Non combatancy seems a little ridiculous in the face of the Bible narrative.
Desmond T. Doss had given two cousins to the war and he stood ready, avoiding the same at the frontline to sacrifice his, but, stood without a gun repaired the torn bloody flesh of war.
Rarely American movie producer is sane. The inalienable right to taking everyone with him who watch his work to hell in their own ways.
I respect Desmond Adventist faith, but doubt was what got him an education.
Nonetheless, the Constitution of the United States protects those who, because of religious convictions, feel otherwise. That’s what the movie is really about. And that’s the great thing about this country.
One difference was that at MCC camp the food was good. No C rations.