On The Waterfront

On The Waterfront is a 1954 black & white film starring Marlon Brando, Eva Marie Saint, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, and Rod Steiger. It was directed by Elia Kazan and produced by Sam Spiegel. The film won 8 Academy Awards, including best picture, best actor (Brando), best actress in a supporting role (Saint), and best director (Kazan).

This film truly lives up to the hype. It has one of the most famous scenes in all of film history, the clip of which is included below.

The film has some great themes, including: gathering the courage to stand up against evil, standing up for others, integrity triumphing easy money, adhering to one's conscience to turn from evil and choose good.

Below is a passionate speech given by the character Father Barry. He gives the speech after arriving at the scene of a murdered man named Kayo Nolan, who was killed by the mob. The killing took place at the waterfront; i.e., at the docks where the workers labor, which is the workforce the mob has a stranglehold on. The speech may be a bit lengthy for a blog, but it is well worth the read:

Father Barry: "I came down here to keep a promise. I gave Kayo my word that if he stood up to the mob I'd stand up with him all the way. Now Kayo Nolan is dead. He was one of those fellows who had the gift of getting up. But this time they fixed him good— unless it was an accident like Big Mac says.

"Some people think the Crucifixion only took place on Calvary. They better wise up. Taking Joey Doyle's life to stop him from testifying is a crucifixion— Dropping a sling on Kayo Nolan because he was ready to spill his guts tomorrow— that's a crucifixion. Every time the mob puts the crusher on a good man— tries to stop him from doing his duty as a citizen— it's a crucifixion.

"And anybody who sits around and lets it happen, keeps silent about something he knows has happened—shares the guilt of it just as much as the Roman soldier who pierced the flesh of Our Lord to see if He was dead."

A voice cries out to Father Barry: "Go back to your church, Father."

Father Barry responds: "Boys, this is my church. If you don't think Christ is here on the waterfront, you got another guess coming. And who do you think He lines up with?

"Every morning when the hiring boss blows his whistle, Jesus stands alongside you in the shape-up. He sees why some of you get picked and some of you get passed over. He sees the family men worrying about getting their rent and getting food in the house for the wife and kids. He sees them selling their souls to the mob for a day's pay.

"What does Christ think of the easy-money boys who do none of the work and take all of the gravy? What does He think of these fellows wearing hundred-and-fifty-dollar suits and diamond rings—on your union dues and your kickback money? How does He feel about bloodsuckers picking up a longshoreman's work tab and grabbing twenty percent interest at the end of a week?

"How does He, who spoke up without fear against evil, feel about your silence?

"You want to know what's wrong with our waterfront? It's love of a lousy buck. It's making love of a buck— the cushy job— more important than the love of man. It's forgetting that every fellow down here is your brother in Christ."

As Father Barry's voice rises to a climax: "But remember, fellows, Christ is always with you—Christ is in the shape-up, He's in the hatch—He's in the union hall— He's kneeling here beside Nolan and He's saying with all of you: 'If you do it to the least of mine, you do it to me!' What they did to Joey, what they did to Nolan, they're doing to you. And you. And YOU. And only you, with God's help, have the power to knock 'em off for good! Amen."


Here is the famous scene between Terry (Brando's character) and Terry's brother, particularly the last two minutes of the clip:









Soli Deo Gloria

Victory

A cliche' is a common thought or idea that has lost its originality, ingenuity, and impact by long overuse. The fact that an idea or saying is cliche', however, does nothing to effect its truth value.

"There is victory in Jesus." This saying may constitutes a cliche'--it can be heard in hundreds of pulpits and from the lips of a thousand children of God--but over the last couple of weeks this concept has been present in my thoughts; and, it is especially appropriate on the day that we celebrate the risen Messiah.

There truly is power in Christ's saving grace. Through Christ, we finally have power over sin. Yet, we live in a society where the prevailing worldview is that mankind has the capability of bootstrapping itself into utopia. Thus, the concept that we have actual victory in Jesus--as real as any victory in war, as real as any victory in a sporting event, as real as life itself--is foreign to most, despite the fact that this saying has perhaps become a cliche'.

To be free from sin and to have the ability to pursue righteousness through Christ is of infinite worth. I have experienced real victory through Christ, not just the victory over death that I will experience after this life has expired, but real victory in this present moment.

For the lyrics to the old hymn, click here. Turn up your sound if you care to hear an accompanying organ rendition.


Soli Deo Gloria

Reward = Merit?

It has occurred to me that it is impossible to deduce merit from reward. Simply because a person is the recipient of a reward does not mean he or she earned it. The world is full of people who have received a reward and yet are undeserving of such a reward: beneficiaries of family estates come readily to mind, as do winning lottery ticket holders and game show contestants.

This is not to say that such people should be looked down upon for their having received a reward they did not merit. Rather, it is an observation of the world we live in; but, more fundamentally, it is a spiritual truth based in reality: through Christ's redeeming act of crucifixion and resurrection, we are now privy to a reward that we have not, and indeed cannot, merit. In fact, this principle underlies the concept of salvation by grace as opposed to that of works.


Soli Deo Gloria

Which Deserves the Uppercase "T": truth or tolerance?

Truth and tolerance can occupy the same universe. Yet, if forced to choose, which would you take as your guiding principle? The choice seems obvious, yet there are many who have chosen tolerance as the trump card.

By tolerance let us assume the following definition from the American Heritage Dictionary: The capacity for or the practice of recognizing and respecting the beliefs or practices of others.

Now, ought we to be tolerant and strive for tolerance? Certainly. But at the sake of truth? Certainly not. This ordering of principles (tolerance trumping truth) seems absurd, but it is one that has been caught in the web of many American minds/worldviews.

Perhaps the best spiritual example of this worldview is Unitarian Universalism, or Unitarianism. The cornerstone of Unitarianism is not truth, but tolerance. One might say THE truth of Unitarianism is tolerance. Unitarian Universalism does not require its members to adhere to a specific set of beliefs. Rather, Unitarian "churches" are facilitators for the spiritual quests of its members. Thus, one can be an atheist, agnostic, buddhist, christian, wiccan, or any other religion and call Unitarian Universalism home. Of course, what this really amounts to is the absence of truth claims and the promotion of tolerance.

I prefer the harsh reality of truth, even if it means I am living contrary to it, than the warm embrace of tolerance. The two are not mutually exclusive, but we should take a closer look in order to examine in which camp we most often cast our lot. Tolerance is important because of the freedom it brings through the free flow of ideas. But what good is freedom if we must ignore the truth? Perhaps this is not freedom at all.


Soli Deo Gloria

Liberal Arts Degree

In my previous post, I stated that the purpose of education is to train students to be better servants of Christ. It is to this end, I belief, that a true liberal arts education should propound us, especially at the university level. A liberal arts education offers a broad base of knowledge--spanning such topics as history, philosophy, mathematics, theology, the sciences, the classics, and even music and art. Essentially, the liberal arts education introduces its students to the world, both past and present. It is not, however, designed to make the student an expert in all areas of knowledge. Rather, it enables the student to acquire the advanced skills needed in order to think critically and independently, as well as to dig deeper into the work of previous generations.

Contrary to current thought, the purpose of pursuing and obtaining a liberal arts education is not to obtain a better, higher paying job. Rather, a liberal arts education equips you with a broad base of knowledge, a diversity of knowledge if you will, which enables you to tackle a set of diverse and complex situations; i.e., it enables you to tackle life.The prevailing spirit amongst most university students is that one ought to attend university "for the experience." This mentality coupled with the belief that the purpose of education is to help one get ahead in life, has led to our current predicament where education is nothing more than a mere commodity.

The statistic that 80% of college graduates will not enter the profession in which they majored should not signal defeat for us as educators. Rather, this statistic should not be surprising, given the real purpose behind a liberal arts education. I majored in mathematics, yet I am no mathematician. My undergraduate institution did not fail by my not having secured a vocation as a mathematician. Rather, my training in mathematics, as well as the training I received by taking classes in a host of other disciplines, has fueled my ability to excel in other, more important areas of life, regardless of whether I can still prove the fundamental theorem of calculus (or for the more visual, click here). This ability is what made my undergraduate training a success. This ability, by His grace, affords me the opportunity to become a better servant of Christ. This should be the aim of every learning institution.


Soli Deo Gloria

Education

What is the purpose of education? This question has been heavy in my mind for some time. In our culture, it seems, that those who attend college and obtain a degree are viewed as being of higher value or have more self worth than those who choose not to attend college. In fact, most would say that the purpose of education is to train you for your career; and, a related purpose: to help you obtain a job that pays more cold, hard cash.

While I was in undergrad I can recall being told that close to 80% of college graduates "do not even use their degree." In other words, they enter a field that is unrelated to the field they majored. It never occurred to me at the time, but this stat is of little consequence to the true purpose of education, at least at the college level and below (graduate and professional programs have a different aim than undergraduate institutions).

America places a high value on education, and rightfully so. Yet, we do so for often the wrong reasons. As parents, we encourage our children to attend college because we believe they will, essentially, become better people (this, of course, couldn't be further from the truth at many schools, where the dominant worldview destroys rather than enriches a young mind, supplanting hope with skepticism). We believe that by sending our children to college they will get better jobs, higher paying jobs, and, hence, they will be happier. If these are our beliefs, then we have failed as parents.

The ultimate purpose of education is to prepare students to become better servants of Christ. This should be the foremost guiding principle both as parents and educators. I shall develop this point more in my next post.


Soli Deo Gloria