Mike Barnhill
Ashland
Dear Editor:
A 2005 movie starring Orlando Bloom called "The Kingdom of Heaven" caught my eye recently. It's about a blacksmith newly knighted whose destiny is to protect Jerusalem from invaders. The movie had a great plot, the usual gory battle scenes and best of all political intrigue. Political intrigue involving the normal differences in how to solve a dispute. Both Christian and Muslim foes had division within each group as what to do about governing the Holy City Jerusalem. The Muslims wanted to conquer the city and the Christians wanted to maintain the current governing of it. The battle for Jerusalem seemed to be about which religion was strongest. But in reality, it was about governing taxation on goods and bountiful lands surrounding the city that was at stake. Just as it seems to be in modern times; it often just boils down to it's all about the money.
The pivotal point in the movie when all out war is decided seems almost comical, but perhaps not. The scene shows both Christian religious orders, The Knights of Templar and The Teutonic Knights, nearly fighting each other over war or not. In a final desperate outcry, the Templar leader yells "God wills it." The war was on for the Christians.
The Muslims led by a benevolent Saladin, meaning he did not want to slay all the Christians within Jerusalem, just have them leave the City. King Richard, a Christian leader who won Jerusalem by battle, in an earlier Crusade, slew all the Muslims in Jerusalem until blood ran in the streets. Some Muslims within Saladin's army wanted to return the favor. They debated with Saladin and when no agreement could be made, the Muslim religious leader of those seeking revenge yells out "Allah wills it." That ended the politics and started the war for Jerusalem.
In summary, a movie is just a movie meant for entertainment and rarely accurate in historical details. However, what was described in the movie as using God's name to justify a questionable cause is in my opinion wrong.at least in these two examples. Perhaps the greatest reward in evaluating "The Kingdom Of Heaven" is that it reinforces the American view of democracy in that church and state should always be separate in all matters of governing.