On Terrorism and Torture: When Good Prevails
January 28, 2013
Zero Dark Thirty chronicles the lengthy search for Osama bin Laden that ended in May 2011. The movie is brilliantly filmed and well-acted by the likes of Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, and Jennifer Ehle. Director Kathryn Bigelow has managed, with screenwriter Mark Boal, to tell a highly complex story in a clear narrative that doesn't overly simply. The story moves along slowly at first, drawing the audience into the dark territories of terror networks and the intelligence and military communities who combat it. Bigelow has paced the film artfully, as the plot picks up pace at just the right moments.
The film helps us to see the depths and intricacies of one facet of the "war on terror," leaving us to contemplate the massive undertaking such an effort entails. The movie is thought provoking at several levels.
Viewers are forced to contemplate the horror of torture, and are left to consider its effectiveness along with the moral matters surrounding the practice. Can torture curb terror? If it can, is it acceptable? Are there occasions torture is acceptable and others not?
One also is brought face to face with the enormous personal cost paid by those who engage in terrorism and those who oppose them. Both sides dedicate their lives to fighting what they perceive to be evil. In such circumstances, what does it mean for good to overcome evil? If “good” people use “evil” means to defeat evil, has good actually prevailed?
To those brave souls who get in the arena with evil – terror and otherwise – we pray wisdom and preservation for you. May God bring about good and speed the coming of His peace.
The film helps us to see the depths and intricacies of one facet of the "war on terror," leaving us to contemplate the massive undertaking such an effort entails. The movie is thought provoking at several levels.
Viewers are forced to contemplate the horror of torture, and are left to consider its effectiveness along with the moral matters surrounding the practice. Can torture curb terror? If it can, is it acceptable? Are there occasions torture is acceptable and others not?
One also is brought face to face with the enormous personal cost paid by those who engage in terrorism and those who oppose them. Both sides dedicate their lives to fighting what they perceive to be evil. In such circumstances, what does it mean for good to overcome evil? If “good” people use “evil” means to defeat evil, has good actually prevailed?
To those brave souls who get in the arena with evil – terror and otherwise – we pray wisdom and preservation for you. May God bring about good and speed the coming of His peace.
