Selma is a good movie (I know I'm late)

The struggle for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness is as old as life itself. Since the fall of man in the garden, man has fought to stay alive, yearned to follow the desires of his heart, and fought to improve his lot in life. This desire fueled the rebuilding of Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity, built the Roman empire, led the insurrections that ultimately brought down the Roman empire, and fueled the Renaissance and Reformation.

The desire for liberty and self-actualization sparked both the American and French revolutions, the Mexican Revolution, the Texas Revolution, and even the Civil War.

The desire to live safely, as one believes fit, and to advance one's station in life, is universal in every human being to walk the planet. A man born into slavery, a man born into absolute poverty, and a man born to privilege all share this same desire. No man is born without this desire, and this desire is foreign to no man.

The struggle for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and the demand for equal protection under the law, and the extension of dignity from society to African Americans were well articulated in Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s famous "I Have a Dream" speech to the Jobs and Freedom March in Washington DC in 1963. That speech was Dr. King's manifesto, his creed, and the foundation of his leadership in the Civil Rights Movement. While Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech articulated the vision to bring equality and dignity to the African American people, his activism demonstrated those values.

Such came to a full head of steam in Selma, Ala., March 7-25, 1965. Dr. Martin Luther King, and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, went to Selma to protest the immoral, if not illegal, denial of African Americans the right to vote. As demonstrated in the movie, Selma, if African Americans could not vote, they had no say in government, could not determine their own destinies, and could not qualify to sit on a jury. In a free country, African Americans living in the Deep South were little more than serfs living on a manor controlled by lords who hated them. (I know that's a strong statement, but it's true. I was born in the South, raised in the South, and there are a lot of things I love about the South, but I'm ashamed of it's Jim Crow history.)

In order to free African Americans from their serfdom, Dr. King knew they had to secure the right to vote. So, to raise awareness, to pressure Alabama officials to give them the right to vote, and to pressure Lyndon B. Johnson to push the Voting Rights Act, Dr. King led a march from Selma to Montgomery. Efforts to launch this march took weeks, and the march was attempted in his absence to devastating results.

Selma captures this. In addition to the historical accuracy of the film, Selma puts a human face on the history of the Civil Rights Movement. No one is bestowed sainthood, no one (outside of Gov. Wallace, the local sheriff, and the state police), is demonized. The movie even gave prominence to white people who went to Selma to march with Dr. King, chronicled their persecution, and noted how white participation in the movement, and recognition of the Civil Rights Movement was important.

The film also showed the human side of the Civil Rights Movement. While LBJ gets credit for the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act, the movie chronicles Johnson's reluctance to take up voting rights, his desire to control the Civil Rights Movement, and his surveillance of Dr. King's activities. While no one can dispute the wholesale changes Dr. King influenced in America, the movie also addresses his personal weaknesses, his moral failures, and the tension between he and his wife, Coretta Scott King.

The movie showed the Civil Rights Movement for what it was, and moreover, it showed us who we are, imperfect sinners struggling, vying for a better way, a better world, and a better life. It showed the struggle that man wages in an effort to better himself.

And for that honest depiction of who we were, who we are, and for what we strive, I say the movie Selma deserved more accolades than it received.

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: Why Christians Engage the Political Process

1 Corinthians 1:27 says "God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;" To put it more plainly, God has chosen the common, everyday man to proclaim His message to the world. With that in mind, it's easy to see why the bearded brothers and patriarch of A&E's Duck Dynasty have been able to influence American culture far and above any other cable reality series.

I normally don't weigh in on Christian celebrities, or major news events surrounding individuals... mainly because my experience is that those placed on pedestals often let us down. Who can forget how Miss California was blasted by Perez Hilton in the Miss America (or was it Miss USA) pageant for not affirming gay marriage. Immediately, we had high-profile Christian leaders rally to her defense, claiming persecution of Christian values. That defense was silenced a few weeks later, when compromising photos of Miss California surfaced, and it became evident she wasn't living up to the values she professed publicly.

Which is why, despite his testimony, and the hours I have spent watching his TV show, I have been slow to weigh in on the controversy surrounding Phil Robertson. Still, there are two things about Robertson that I cannot get away from. (1) His testimony of how God took him from being a wretched sinner, to being a Christian who actually uses his life as a platform to promote the Gospel, and (2) his deep, abiding respect for the American way of life, particularly our founding fathers' commitment to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. How amazing is it that God is allowing these bearded rednecks, who are a laughing stalk among the cultural elite, to re-insert Christianity and Biblical principles into mainstream American life.

While the producers of the Duck Dynasty TV show limit Robertson's ability to proclaim the Gospel over the air, he is repeatedly able to discuss the three unalienable rights granted to us by our Creator... the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, rights to which the founders of our nation committed this country when they drafted the organizational documents and mission statement of our government. They were the guiding values of the American revolution, and the drafting of the U.S. Constitution.

The problem in America today is that the society, and government officials, have either forgotten that our country is built on preserving those three basic rights, or forgotten what they mean altogether. These are rights that every Christian should stand up and defend, not only because they were granted by the Creator, but because without the protection of these basic rights, we are not free to "lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty." (1 Timothy 2:2) Basically, without the protection of our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, we are not free to worship God in Spirit and truth, and we are not free to seek His will for our lives. For that reason, Christians should be involved in the political process, because every piece of legislation and so-called national defense initiative are eroding those rights.

All that said, let's look at these three unalienable rights, and what they truly mean to us. The first right is basic... the right to life. God created us to live. Life is such a basic right that many take it for granted. However, the Bill of Rights, and due process under the law are designed to protect this most basic right. Both the Bill of Rights and laws governing due legal process prevent a person's life being taken from them without a proper trial, without being proven guilty of a crime, and laws are in place to prevent someone else from taking your life away from you.

Yet today, the Executive Branch of the U.S. Government is slow to speak against using deadly force against Americans who are suspected of being engaged in domestic terroristic activity. While this may seem to some to be a common-sense way to combat terrorism, keep in mind that if one of your fellow Americans can be labeled a national security threat, and terminated without due process, you can be as well.

Furthermore, U.S. law allows for unborn children to be denied the basic right to life, based on the decisions, values or whims of the mother, or medical advice of a physician. Some abortions are performed because the unborn child has Downs Syndrome, or a serious disability. To counter the idea that unborn children should be aborted, and denied their right to life because of a disability, I will quote abortion survivor Gianna Jessen, who suffers from Cerebral Palsy as a result of a botched abortion. Jessen's mother tried to abort her, but she survived, and was later adopted.  Jessen told a crowd of supporters in Brownwood, Texas, recently, that it is arrogant for a healthy person to determine whether a disabled person can enjoy a good quality of life.

The second unalienable right given by our Creator, and recognized by our country's founding documents, is the right to liberty... the right to make your own decisions. While Christians are often accused as being enemies of liberty for opposing homosexuality, same-sex marriage, drug legalization, etc, it is not Christians who are trying to dictate what you feed your children for lunch, or what values are taught to your children through the public school system. Today's government seeks to monitor and control child nutrition, caloric intake, how much water flows through your toilet when you flush, what kind of light bulb you can buy, what options are in your health insurance package, what kind of car you drive, and even mandate with whom you are allowed to do business.

There have been court cases where business people (like a wedding photographer in New Mexico) were compelled by legal penalty to partake in activities that violated their very conscience. In a land of liberty, the individual should have the ability to decide for whom they would like to perform services, and for whom they would not. In a land of liberty, no one should be compelled to engage in religion, neither should one be compelled to engage in what they view as a sinful event. So, liberty is being attacked.

And finally, there is the pursuit of happiness. To properly understand what it means to pursue happiness, you really have to read Thomas Jefferson's writings. Jefferson's view of the pursuit of happiness was to determine what your talents were, and then to live life pursuing those interests, building your talent, and becoming all you could be. It was about self-actualization, rising through the income brackets, accomplishing great things, and breaking barriers. It was about the son of a blacksmith becoming a senator, or the son of a senator becoming a teacher. The pursuit of happiness is about finding your passion, and following it, and maximizing your achievement.

However, today's culture and government penalizes such behavior, and encourages settling for serfdom in low income positions, and mediocrity in ambitions.

Seeing the slow erosion of these freedoms, and the awareness and value placed on these freedoms, Christians should be involved in the political process. The goal should be to defend, protect, and restore those basic rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. For, if we remain silent, one day those rights will be gone, and so will our ability to live peaceably, and holy, and worship in Spirit and truth.