The Kingdom

The Kingdom. I saw the movie today. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. The only movies I've seen that also fall into this class of movie would be Syriana and Babel. The Kingdom takes it in a new direction, however. So one leaves the movie feeling of greater understanding of what is actually going on beyond the politics in the middle east.

If you are looking for an American propaganda movie this isn't it. This is more a thoughtful movie about what makes both sides tick in this long running terrorist war. This movie tries hard not to propagandize either side. it just shows the bombs the bullets and the blood in a way that some people might not be able to handle. However, even if that is difficult for you don't forget to rent the DVD when it comes out in that form so you can see things more the way the really are and not just propagandized by either side.

What was clear for me in watching this was that each side was mostly just protecting their own families and their own customs and beliefs. However, in this movie one got a feeling more of the problem being western didactic materialism versus Extremist fundamentalist Islam. Also, for those of you who have studied history this war has actually been going on since the Crusades and Richard the Lionheart during the times of Robin Hood or even before that. So we all should get used to all this because if Global Warming doesn't kill all life on earth I expect to see this Terrorist or Crusader War still going on in one form or another 1000 years from now because in a certain way nothing has changed from the times of Richard the Lionhearted
of the 1100's in England. The only relief I could see coming is if people both Christian and Islamic become more secular in their thinking. But even then there would be wars over resources between corporations and between nations if nations continue to exist in a real way.

I personally think the biggest threat to the secular Christian world is not fundamentalist Islam but Global Warming. In other words the biggest single threat to most Islamic nations is not the Christians or the Christian world but drought, Winds, floods, famine and pestilence in the next few hundred years. I hope all cultures on earth wake up to this fact before all the biggest nations go bankrupt fighting issues that might be redundant if we're all dead by Global Warming.