I just got back from seeing the film Valkyrie with my fiance and the movie really got me thinking. For those of you who have seen the movie you know that the movie is based upon a plot by German officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and reclaim Germany. The majority of these officers were forced to join the Nazi regime and do not associate themselves with the ideology of the party. So they decided to change the culture they lived in. They decided to be counter-cultural.
During movies I have a bad habit of trying to put myself in the character's situation and wonder if I would react in the same way. (However, I mostly do this during Superman movies) So I put myself in Tom Cruise's character Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and thought would I be able to risk my life to try to change a culture that I knew was going in the wrong direction?
You know as Christians we are called to live counter-cultural. It is so evident to me as I read the newspapers and I watch TV that our country is embracing a new set of values. Living life from the Christian Worldview is being seen as outdated, and in some circles, out right dangerous. Our country is starting to believe, if we can just distance ourselves from our embarrassing Religious past, then our country will be better and brighter then before.
When watching the movie I didn't have to imagine what it would be like in Colonel Stauffenbergs shoes because I think I am in his shoes. Now I am not saying that we are living in Nazi Germany, and I am definitely not implying we need to go to such great lengths to change the cultural. However, I do wonder if I am willing to die to myself, and put my popularity and acceptance on the line to stand up for what I know is right based on my Christian worldview? Operation Valkyrie, are you in?
