V for Vendetta

[the government has created a totalitarian regime, under the guise of piece.  A "terrorist" by the name of V gives a speech.] 

He begins by talking about the things that we enjoy, rhythm and routine.  We do enjoy these things since it is by these systems that we can operate on a day to day basis, although the question is what to degree.  V suggests something far greater about humanity, that we are autonomous, and free and that we ought to be.  He talks about censorship, and systems of thinking and thought that left unchecked hamper our freedom.

Here in America we know this desire all to well since it was one, if not the, finding principle to our country; "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."  We are made to be free beings, able to make decisions for ourselves.  Sometimes we will make bad ones, and sometimes good ones.  So in this fictional world the citizens had given up a lot of their freedom for protection and safety.  The question though is at what cost did they give up this freedom.  All things require sacrifice.  We choose to do something, and in return we are not doing something else.  We are finite beings, and we can attend one action at a time.  There is a great point to made about our culture in regards to this fact, but that is for another post.

The thing that this country in the clip sacrificed is words.  Words have meaning.  We can never ignore for great length the meaning that words have.  Why is that the words I love you carry so much weight?  If words meant nothing, with a happy demeanor I could say I hate you, and it should be something nice.  Words have the power to stir among us something greater, and it is the means by which we communicate effectively with one another.  The better you are with words, vocabulary and grammar, the more effectively you shall communicate exactly what you mean.  And to communicate at all presupposes a relationship with a subject, not an object.

We can pull from this clip the concept of structural sin, or even collective sin.  At the end of time we will not be held responsible just for our actions, but the actions of our neighbors.  Ultimately you could say they are your individual actions, but we are not a solitary creature.  We are in relationship with those around us.  It is these relationships that we must take the time to evaluate, which is why politics today is so terrible.  Politics ought to be about people, how we govern and relate to one another.  However, we have ceased to see it as about people, but rather policies, and stances.  Think how often that you decide about who to vote for on how they stand on certain issues, even well meaning people in our Church do the same thing. We need to look beyond the issues to the people at hand.  It is about the people, not the policies, those come later.  Our actions ought to be a response of the relationships we have.