Oh God
I just witnessed my second real death on television. Last year I saw some scientific program that filmed the last moments of an elderly man who was dying, and chose to die peacefully at home. Tonight I saw the Nicholas Berg video on public cable access. The host gave ample warning that he was going to show the video.
I am in shock. First, that the film didn't turn my stomach. I watch action movies and play some violent games (namely Diablo and Diablo 2, where heads do fall off and roll). I am shocked and upset with myself that I didn't puke just watching it.
The next waves of shock came as I changed the channel to start recording Enterprise, which is coming close to the end of a story line that threatens the planet Earth and the entire Trek history that has been written so far. I remember sitting up late one night with my brother and a friend of his watching Christine. We sat quietly through the end of the movie, and finally the tape ran out. We hadn't moved. It stopped to rewind and MTV came on playing a Madonna video (new VCR and MTV showing music videos? It must have been the 80s. But I digress).
I so much want to hate the people who killed Nicholas Berg, but I know that it is wrong to hate them so much. Do I want this Iraqi invasion thing to be over? Yes. Do I think those people should die for what they've done? Yes. But I cannot pass that kind of judgement.
I so desperately wanted Gibson's Passion to shock movie goers so much that they'd demand that there would be no more violence in our movies. I want the torture of Iraqi prisoners to shock us so much that we demand that every human being gets treated with respect. I want Nicholas Berg's execution to shock us so much that we stop executing our own criminals. Is it really possible to humanely take someone's life? Ask Bush. He was nicknamed the Governator long before Arnie was appointed Governor.
I don't believe in the "rapture" that most evangelicals believe in. I don't believe that Christ will come back physically to end history and judge us all. I am at the point of praying for judgement day just so our pain and suffering will come to an end
I am in shock. First, that the film didn't turn my stomach. I watch action movies and play some violent games (namely Diablo and Diablo 2, where heads do fall off and roll). I am shocked and upset with myself that I didn't puke just watching it.
The next waves of shock came as I changed the channel to start recording Enterprise, which is coming close to the end of a story line that threatens the planet Earth and the entire Trek history that has been written so far. I remember sitting up late one night with my brother and a friend of his watching Christine. We sat quietly through the end of the movie, and finally the tape ran out. We hadn't moved. It stopped to rewind and MTV came on playing a Madonna video (new VCR and MTV showing music videos? It must have been the 80s. But I digress).
I so much want to hate the people who killed Nicholas Berg, but I know that it is wrong to hate them so much. Do I want this Iraqi invasion thing to be over? Yes. Do I think those people should die for what they've done? Yes. But I cannot pass that kind of judgement.
I so desperately wanted Gibson's Passion to shock movie goers so much that they'd demand that there would be no more violence in our movies. I want the torture of Iraqi prisoners to shock us so much that we demand that every human being gets treated with respect. I want Nicholas Berg's execution to shock us so much that we stop executing our own criminals. Is it really possible to humanely take someone's life? Ask Bush. He was nicknamed the Governator long before Arnie was appointed Governor.
I don't believe in the "rapture" that most evangelicals believe in. I don't believe that Christ will come back physically to end history and judge us all. I am at the point of praying for judgement day just so our pain and suffering will come to an end
posted by Josh English @ 8:39 PM
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