The prerogative of good over the distraction of evil

Rating: 10/10 (12 December 2006)

With Christmas fast approaching, it is most important to remember that when God sent His Son to save us from ourselves (basically), He already knew our capacity for evil  for choosing poorly, in other words  and that capacity, along with the inextinguishable prerogative of a glimmer of hope, is on full display in "Blood Diamond," the new movie from director Edward Zwick, a stunning character study set against the brutal backdrop of the illegal diamond trade in Africa, and one of the finest movies I ever have seen. Offering incredible acting performances from all of its principals, sweeping cinematography, crisp, cut-to-the-chase dialogue, impeccable pacing and timing, Blood Diamond presents, without preaching, conflicted people with conflicting ideologies and shows what happens when those people and ideologies are thrown into the same melting pot: love and hate, God and godlessness, good and evil, war and peace, selfishness and nationalism and altruism, the powerful and the meek, how the lure of money and power entices and kills, how only those who choose to let go of the things of the fallen can rise above the hell. Along the way of my quest, I have been asked on numerous occasions why anyone would choose to live forever on this seemingly God-forsaken planet in favor of putting off the afterlife's heaven, and Blood Diamond answers succinctly: heaven is where one's heart is. Heaven was here on earth until Adam and Eve turned their hearts away from God (basically they loved what the serpent was telling them more than what God told them), and the fact that evil still exists in this world is testament not to the world being evil, because it remains God's creation, but to the poor choices that His children continue to make  and my argument for choosing to extend one's stay on earth is to fight the good fight against Satan and reclaim for God what Satan deceived us into giving away  for what we chose to give away, we can choose to take back, if only we would, and heaven and earth again will be reunited. Jesus came not only to save us, but also to remind us of the authority God gives us to do His work, and we witness in Blood Diamond that tiny glimmer of hope turn into a brilliant beacon.