Killing Children is NOT Okay

I had said last week that I planned to drink an Ancient Vines Mourvèdre from Cline Vineyards after a movie. The deal was to go with friends to see a Gerard Butler movie in Hollywood (that I knew nothing about), and the wine was to be a celebratory first viewing sort of thing.

But toasting was cancelled.

Of course the acting, writing and cinematography were excellent; the sets and scenes were authentic and in keeping with the situations. Lighting was superb and the action - electric. So why was no glass of wine raised to applaud?

Because the film “Machine Gun Preacher” was not meant to entertain, but to educate. A very sad lesson it was, too.

Gerard Butler plays Sam Childers, a reformed gang biker from Pennsylvania. His journey from the edge of self loathing to his role as guardian angle of abducted children in Uganda, Sudan and the Congo is told brilliantly. Writer Jason Keller and Director Marc Forster have carefully woven a tapestry of tragedy just merciful enough we don’t close our eyes to the problem, and skillful enough to help us understand that the truth is even more horrific than portrayed.

I am no international news journalist and don’t fully understand how things got this out of control in southern Sudan but it appears a high school drop-out named Joseph Kony believes he is a witch doctor and his misguided aim is to install a theocratic Ugandan government based on the Ten Commandments. Which commandments he thinks he is following are certainly not those we know of in the Western world - all of those have been broken repeatedly by him and his guerilla troops - one in particular ‘thou shall not kill’.

His army, currently called the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), attack innocent villagers who have nothing to do with politics, with no provocation and in the most vicious manner, then steal away into the night. They abduct children or kill them. The aim is to beef up their army with the frightened children using fear, threats, pain and death to manipulate them. Everything is taken from these kids - their parents often killed, their villages burned, their childhoods destroyed… My concern is when Kony is deposed, his ‘army’ will be in serious need of psychological help - and there may not be any. The ‘White Preacher’ doesn’t want to wait that long.

Sam Childers wrote a book titled “Another Man’s War” but it is all our war. The United States government has known about this problem since the ‘80s but has had intermittent intelligence from these remote areas in central Africa - not quite enough to go on. After 9/11, Kony’s LRA has been redefined as terrorists and efforts to stop his madness are underway. Reading about it from the ‘man on the street’ will give you a clearer view than I could paint; seeing the movie will be a hell of a wake up call, though I suspect you’re not asleep. It is worth the education.

It was my good fortune to meet with Sam Childers and Jason Keller in the lobby of the Arc Light theatre which I like to call the Dome. In the dim light I mistook Jason for Sam, but once I looked into Sam’s eyes I knew he’d had experiences far beyond our own. Jason explained that it took six years to bring this story to the screen. Once I’d seen the film I was heartbroken to realize how long this horror has been going on in the world. But Sam has a trick or two up his sleeve. One of them is a positive attitude. He surprised me by quoting some of his scriptures, like “In James 3, verse 12, G-d says a man must have only one wife, but he can have seven motorcycles.” He smiles with abandon. (There is no James 3.)

Later, in the hall leading to our seats before the last show is over, I’m walking past a few people standing along the wall. I step on someone’s foot and, turning to apologize, I fell into them. Looking up, my eyes adjusting to the dark, I recognize my victim; “Gerry?”

“Yes?” He leans to catch my fall.

I am forgiven for my clumsiness and we have a short conversation about his part in the project before he goes on stage to answer questions from the last audience.

See the movie. Buy the book. Save the children.

LiveJournal Tags: Gerard Butler,Machine Gun Preacher,Sam Childers,Uganda,Sudan,Congo,orphans