The Deception of Evil in Religion
A young boy who has had the unpleasant and unforgettable experience of seeing his father killed on the streets in battle takes it upon himself to devote himself to a life of revenge and one day seek atonement against the man who killed his father. This boy grows up into a young man who through a unique set of circumstances becomes the right hand man of the enemy who killed his father 16 years ago. The boy struggles with the thought of working for and with the man who took his father away from him and the love he deeply cherished. The boy turned man eventually leaves the side of his enemy and seeks to shift the power into the same hands of the people as his father before him. The power struggle goes on rampant through the streets of New York is one that draws on both sides and provides an interesting picture of politics and religion. While he eventually gets his revenge upon his enemy this is not before saving his adversaries life at the hands of another and while ultimately ignoring a command given by the God he prays to constantly in Romans 12:19 “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.”
The storyline that I just referenced comes from the movie Gangs of New York which I just watched recently for the first time. It is a compelling story and captivates the viewer with aspects of family, religion, politics, groups, violence, and power. While I discussed the attributes of small groups and how they impact and make up the church in my last post I am going to tie in some of those ideas with the aspects of religion and politics and how the details of this movie can be applied and learned from. The setting of this movie in is 1860’s New York when the Civil War is just beginning to commence and the tension within the city between the native population and immigrants that are arriving is reaching a boiling point. Throughout the course of the movie the aspect of religion is shown and seems to be a focal point that the characters hold too even despite some of the grievous sins and language that they commit and use throughout the movie. While the Bible itself is never directly shown there are several scenes that show prayer and the church and where scripture is mentioned so it is safe to assume that this was something that the people of that day held too no matter how cruel or evil they were. What caused this blindness and self-deceiving thinking that one can hold to religion but commit sins on a regular basis? Was it just a result of easing the conscience or the desire to try and hold to something good in an evil world?
The book Christian Perspectives on Sociology discusses the idea of competition that I believe is illustrated quite well throughout Gangs of New York and is an important idea to comprehend when trying to answer these questions. In the course of the movie we see various religious groups that are walking the streets attempting to win new acolytes and followers and we also see the overarching conflict between the natives and the Irish and their religious systems. The book and movie both show that in some areas there can be a presence of two different belief systems and cultures but that eventually one must preside over the other and take a dominant role. Those that do this the most successfully are the systems that are able to replace the departure or absence of members with new ones who are equally willing to lend their support to the church or cause. An interesting point brought up in the book on page 248 is that as religious organizations struggle to survive the rigors of competition, they find themselves catering more and more to the desires and demands of cultures and migrants which is shown closely in the movie as well.
The struggle for power is the second idea that I think is important to comprehend and is shown well in Gangs of New York and in Christian Perspectives on Sociology. Power is the capacity to control others and perhaps even causing them to behave in ways other than what they would prefer. This is shown in the young man’s actions when he is taken in by his rival and “forced” to commit actions and sins that he might not have done before hand or outside of that group. There are several other characters throughout the movie that switch sides after the boy’s father is defeated and are then called upon to take up positions or commit actions that they either previously despised or would have turned down had to opposite power won. While the character in the movie portrayed as the villain ruled certain sectors of New York I would like to look at the way he ruled. The book describes three different kinds of authority or power on page 206 that include traditional, charisma, and legal-rational. The one that I believe is showcased in Gangs of New York is the legal-rational which derives authority from whoever holds the position and makes it possible for someone to rule through fear much as we see from the movies character. I believe this has had an impact on the way that people who come upon such positions of power have the ultimate goal of causing destruction and ruling for themselves but have a strategy in doing so. With the growing sin and evil in our world it seems that is has become simple for someone to rise into power over a community and assert their dominance. But what I have seen and from what the movie shows is that these “villains” rule with a combination of brawn and brains. They hold to an appearance that makes them look favorable to those beneath them and many do this with the idea of religion. Having the resemblance of someone willing to let others practice their religion and beliefs not only makes them feel more comfortable but also allows for less opposition to someone’s rule and lets evil go more and more unchecked.
Lastly, the idea of small groups comes back into the mix once again and the influence it can have on one another’s beliefs and actions is important to consider. In Gangs of New York we see the formation of gangs or groups of people that are together because of their beliefs, culture, and practices. As shown on page 151 of Christian Perspectives of Sociology groups that come together develop a set of norms and those who are the leaders of a group have the greatest say in what those norms are. Also discussed in the book is the idea of personality and I believe that without the presence and foundation of religion in a group that an individual will lose what behavior that makes him or her unique and instead conform to that groups ideas and wishes. Once again this is showcased in the film as the head of the various gangs make orders and call upon their lackeys and “subjects” who seemingly have no power for themselves and offer no resistance. This also shows an answer to my earlier question on how this could have affected the start of the thinking of self-deceit concerning evil actions and religion through the loss of power to think for one’s self in order for self-preservation and survival.
In conclusion after all this has been said and done I believe this goes to show that without a firm standing and comprehension of the scriptures and Christ there can be little to no resistance to the evil that plagues our world today. Humanity has already fallen a great deal into the depths of depravity but the choice now is up for grabs on whether or not we continue to fall or pick ourselves up and rise. Religion will always have some influence in society and culture but the successful and united communities are the ones that make religion a priority and understand that living for Christ and others should be the ultimate goal. For not only will trials become easy to bear when we make ourselves small and Christ large but God really thinks about our lives and has a purpose of His own for us to hold too.
