Catch a Fire

Tonight I watched Catch a Fire with Mom and Dad, a movie I’ve been meaning to watch for a long while now—it had a different flavor/pacing to it than I was expecting, but it was still a really good and interesting treatment of its subject (a mind-his-own-business-type South African man under Apartheid who was tortured, along with his wife, regarding an act of terrorism which he didn’t commit, and then turned to armed resistance against the Apartheid government afterwards as revenge for the way his family and friends had been treated). It also had a few really choice Bob Marley tunes in it, along with some ANC songs I recognized from Amandla!, and you can never go wrong with militant ANC songs or Bob Marley. It’s an interesting quandary, though, the one the protagonist finds himself in—how far one would be willing to go in terms of armed resistance when faced with a deadly enemy that threatens both you and your family’s well-being. I don’t think most people would think twice, though I think the gospel should lead you to at least consider the ramifications of one’s actions when turning to armed resistance. The more I think about it, the more I think I’d be ready and willing to take up arms in defense of family—though here’s still hoping that circumstances don’t lead me to put that to the test any time soon.