Right to Life

As I watched and read the early reports on the Iraq War, I wondered: If the media and our government are reporting victory, then why are American soldiers still fighting and dying? Victory means the conflict ends. So, why are we still there?

So I searched for answers and was horrified when I came across pictures of American and Iraqi casualties. Children with limbs in shreds; mothers pulling out their hair in anguish. And the brave, young and tragically misled American soldiers, lying in the streets, mortally wounded. These images would never be allowed to appear anywhere in the mainstream media. Yet, they truly do need to reach us; Americans need to understand what we are doing, why we are increasingly hated by so many, and how we are suffering. So I created a short film that juxtaposed images from the Iraq War with two evangelists’ views on the value of life; I chose this perspective because many members of the religious right are fervent Bush supporters. But to support him, they must ignore their faith. I asked these evangelists preaching on a street corner a few questions about their beliefs, the war, politics – I was surprised at their answers.

I have so many more questions to ask. I feel that as a “Nation under God” we have lost our bearings. Human suffering is inevitable when forcing one’s religious beliefs onto others and the evidence can be found in history. Christianity's true message of peace, love, tolerance, is too easily subjugated by the need for power.

My hope is that we can put the significance of our actions in context so that we can get out of Iraq and mend our own horrific image. The killing needs to end or else it will continue to be what defines us to the rest of the world.

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."
- Galileo Galilei