Faith in the Face of Terrorism

Of Gods and Men

Film Friday

 

Today I recommend Of Gods and Men (2010), an extraordinary French film that I watched last month.  It is about a small community of Cistercian monks in rural Algeria who must decide whether to stay or leave in face of rising terrorism.  Good Friday is a good day to write about it since it deals with love and death.

The monks respect the Koran, which some of them know well, and they are on good terms with their Islamic neighbors.  Radical Islamists, however, have entered the scene and are killing non-believers.

The choice whether to stay or to leave is difficult because they feel a sense of responsibility to their neighbors, who rely on them for their medical services. However, they did not become monks to die a religious martyrs.  We watch each man as he wrestles with his soul, with his faith, and with the fact that we live in a dangerous world.

I won’t reveal what happens but only note that there are extraordinary moments, including a joyous “Last Supper” scene.  Here is a note written by the head of the order where he addresses the man he imagines killing him.  Calling him “friend of the last minute,” he sees the two of them as the thieves that were crucified alongside Jesus–which is to say, sinners that may meet in Paradise.

At a time when Christians and Muslims spend a lot of time and energy demonizing each other, it is good to remember Christ’s injunction to “love your enemies”:

Should it ever befall me, and it could happen today, to be a victim of the terrorism swallowing up all foreigners here, I would like my community, my church, my family, to remember that my life was given to God and to his country. That the Unique Master of all life was no stranger to this brutal departure. And that my death is the same as so many other violent ones, consigned to the apathy of oblivion. I’ve lived enough to know, I am complicit in the evil that, alas, prevails over the world and the evil that will smite me blindly. I could never desire such a death. I could never feel gladdened that these people I love be accused randomly of my murder. I know the contempt felt for the people here, indiscriminately. And I know how Islam is distorted by a certain Islamism. This country, and Islam, for me are something different. They’re a body and a soul. My death, of course, will quickly vindicate those who call me naïve or idealistic, but they must know that I will be freed of a burning curiosity and, God willing, will immerse my gaze in the Father’s and contemplate with him his children of Islam as he sees them. This thank you which encompasses my entire life includes you, of course, friends of yesterday and today, and you too, friend of last minute, who knew not what you were doing. Yes, to you as well I address this thank you and this farewell which you envisaged. May we meet again, happy thieves in Paradise, if it pleases God the Father of us both. Amen. Insha’Allah.

 

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