I don’t often give film reviews but this one was particularly interesting and funnily enough, very relevant to today’s situation. The film is a generic adaptation of the reality (as far as they can be pieced together) of the life of one Newton Knight. In reality, his life is even more convoluted and difficult than what is portrayed in the film and much like Wyatt Earp, he was both more courageous as well as a worse human being than is shown in the film. Reality, as many people are now finding out, is always more interesting and vary-coloured than fiction.
This film has many levels of interesting and I wanted to blog on it precisely to cover the various aspects of it. And yes, the “egalité” and “liberté” at the bottom of that poster is French “enlightenment” nonsense, for neither exists in the world, but sometimes, a modicum of Justice can be achieved.
The Race Element
With all the nonsensical:
Civil Nationalism (we are all the same and illegal immigrants are just like us [even if they have a different religion, hate us and abuse every institution we have to the detriment of the native population]).
Social Justice Idiocy (reparations for slavery, “gender” is a social construct, men can be women and vice versa, homosexuality is perfectly normal and good and gay “relationships” are just the same as heterosexual ones).
We are all one race, the human race (denying racial tendencies, IQ differences, genetic markers for aggression, physical structure differences, and many other uncomfortable yet true facts concerning human biodiversity and its very real implications).
You might be inclined to think that I would see the principal slavery issues in the film as some sort of SJW propaganda, and no doubt, to some extent, there is some of this I suppose, HOWEVER, in the main, I found it to be a historically accurate and not overtly pushing any agenda. The fact is that the film simply reported the facts as they were concerning the marriage laws etc. both back then and as related to Mr. Knight’s great grandchildren.
As I have a bunch of varied followers and as my personal position is invariably misunderstood because it is not reductive ad absurdium, it perhaps might be useful for the young, the confused, the budding neo-nazi retards, those who may feel that white people are unfairly prejudiced against in most areas of life today, to know a bit more precisely what it is.
Here then it is, and more importantly in a wider context, I hope you will understand how this relates to the film and why it is relevant in today’s climate.
There are a few different and at times apparently paradoxical facets of my character that you need to understand in order to appreciate my position.
I am now a hardcore Catholic (Sedeprivationist). If you do not know what that is you probably need to read more of this blog or one or both of my books on Christianity (Believe and Reclaiming the Catholic Church). Tis has, of course, had a profound impact on my life, but from an external practical perspective, one that is probably hardly noticeable at all. I have always treated people on an individual basis, while being fully aware of the fact that generalisations are still facts and so on, on a personal level, I cannot see that ever changing. Nor do I think it can change for an honest man. I have met men I consider friends from all walks of life and while some would indeed stand next to me in a foxhole, I am also aware that some would not. I have a Muslim friend (or somewhat ex-Muslim) that would (and has) stand next to me in a foxhole and I for him. I have a very good friend who is a confirmed 100% homosexual and he would not stand in any foxhole even alone, and I know and he knows I know that. I have travelled a lot and met many cultures and in some cases people who are near strangers will be more reliable in the proverbial foxhole than blood relatives.
The difference from before to now, concerning the Catholicism is simply that I am now extremely aware that someone who is NOT a Sede is simply still lost in the wilderness, as I was most of my life, but frankly, in most cases they are more lost than I was from the perspective of Justice. The result of this is that I am aware that non sede people simply cannot be relied upon to the extent that sede people can be. And by relied upon, I mean for them to be relied upon to be CONSISTENT. Not necessarily on my side or seeing things as I do (though often and naturally they do).
My principal perspective when observing, evaluating or judging other human beings (yes I do judge, and so does everyone, if you think you don’t you’re an idiot. Go away and stop reading here, you do not belong anywhere near me) is almost always and exclusively individual. This is because the things I value above all else are Justice, Efficiency, Honesty, Courage and Kindness, and yes, pretty much in that order, and these are all individual characteristics. I am aware, of course, that this has its own issues:
Individuals still fall within the generic parameters of their tribe/group/ethnicity/religion/mental ideologies/family dynamic/cultural dynamic, etc etc etc so while individual X may be a good loyal friend, the entire rest of his “group” or even multiple “groups” or even “group of groups” he belongs to, can be utterly toxic to everything I stand for. Hence my two examples above. They are mentioned not to say “Oh some of my best friends are black!” because frankly, I don’t care at ALL what the average human thinks of me. I don’t CARE if you think I am a racist, a homophobe, a bigot, a zealot, whatever, because ultimately, really, fuck you. No one is forcing you to be near me and I do very well without pretty much everyone except those I choose to have near me who feel the same about me as I do about them pretty much. So I mentioned those two examples to illustrate FACTUALLY a principle that is true and applies to my life and would apply to the life of anyone honest that has a modicum of ability of understanding reality.
An individual who exhibits all those principles of Efficiency, Honesty, Courage, and Kindness, may also have Justice, but it may be coloured by his Tribal, Cultural, Family, Religious and so on differences, and these vary so much that what is considered all of those things in HIS culture, appears like a sneaky, vile, evil bastard to me and my views. Furthermore, it may not just be the principle of Justice, in fact, most times it’s all of those principles, and some may give you a different perspective on the very concepts themselves. THAT, however does NOT mean everyone has their own reality. Things are NOT the same. The Muslim religion is simply inferior and less conducive to human joy and health than the Catholic religion, and both are preferable to the mass-murdering nature of Atheism, as history amply testifies to.
Given the above, hopefully you can understand why I am adamant about trying to surround myself ONLY with Sede who ALSO fit the principles of Justice, Efficiency, Honesty, Courage and Kindness, because having 5 such people nearby is preferable to having 50 or even 500 that are just generic “good guys” with all their specific facets of those qualities coloured by different foundations. And the foundation of Catholicism or NOT-Catholicism is so pivotal to the center of a man, that if you change that alone, you literally are in a different universe. The NOT-Catholic Universe is a morass of unethical, falsity, lies people bought into that alter the very fabric of the society they create and the values they consider as important. The differences are staggering. The simple point of believing on the traditional Catholic Mass or not has such huge divergence in terms of the societies it creates that alone it would be enough to make the differences obvious, but it is, of course, far from the only principal difference.
Given all of the above, hopefully you can understand at least in theory, the complexity added to a society when you mix different races (with all their different religions, cultures, languages, etc). And those differences are invariably even MORE relevant in a situation of high stress like war, which is what this film looks at. The opposing principles here are:
Different ethnicities or races are most harmonious when they are homogenous. And the mixing of them invariably brings discord, violence and war between them.
The human condition, at its best, should (and does) transcend such “worldly” realities. ultimately our spirit is more important than our flesh and blood.
There is no escaping this reality, both the idealised spiritual one, and the brutal physical one. I believe that this film does a very decent job of examining these differences and portraying them better than many I have seen attempt it. If you pay attention you will not that at the beginning, when Newton is the only minority among a band of escaped black slaves, he is more “accepted” as a member of the group, yet when the white deserters outnumber the black escaped slaves there is a natural segregation between the races even if they are nominally on the same side. In fact, the segregation already begins even when Newton is still the minority one he acts in a way that is beyond their expected cultural norms. I have personally experienced this and it is a very real experience. Shocking as it may be, doing a different group a good deed, recognised by all as such, can and does still remove you from the group dynamic. As, in fairness, it should and does. Think about it, if you were to meet a literal saint that performs acts of kindness way above your comfort level, you would, paradoxically, be a a little uncomfortable in his presence. In a milder form, it is not unlike when you meet and deal with or have over as a guest a REAL Catholic priest. It is not fear of his judgement or Catholic “guilt” or so on that makes the Catholic layman uncomfortable to spend too much time in close proximity of a good priest. It is his piety. His generosity of spirit. His dedication to your spiritual (and often mental and physical) well-being of yourself and your loved ones. His dedication to that which we all would be best placed to put highest, God.
In short, the dilemma of race is there, will always be there, and any man that has had a meaningful relationship with a woman of a different shade of skin than their own knows it. It can have its own positives too, its own uniqueness that adds to the spice of life, but it invariably has the negatives too. There is no getting away from it and while in the intimacy of the two of you it can all be idyllic, in the greater context of the world at large, it often is not as pleasant. In fact, it rarely is.
The Individual Against the Horde or the System
Everyone loves the underdog. The heroic struggle of one man against the injustice of the masses, the idiots, the enemies of Justice, Efficiency, Truth, Beauty, Courage and Kindness is always inspiring and we always want the lone man struggling against these forces of darkness to win. The reality however is that often he does not. Often he gets crushed and ground to dust without anyone even knowing he fought. And even on those rare occasions he “wins” it is at great cost, and often it’s a phyrric victory. Once again, this film shows the determination of a man that cares more about Justice than the lies of this world. In the film at least he is represented as someone defending his loved ones and his principles against the meat grinder of wars started and perpetrated for political ends that mean little or nothing at all to the men being chewed up by steel in them.
Throughout the film I kept trying to second-guess what I would do and until about half-way I was not even aware the film was based on factual events to some degree, nevertheless I tried to estimate how I would act, and There’s not a lot of divergence at least for the first half of the film from what is shown and the actions I would likely have taken. All the while I was also acutely aware of the undeniable fact that this was the fight of one man against the faceless and meat grinding Satanic horde of a system designed to reduce human beings to particles of dust in the machinery of tormenting grind and mechanisation of humanity that the prince of this World delights in.
And while I knew in similar situations I could do no different, I was also extremely aware of the precariousness and ultimately, futility of his actions. I want to be very clear however that the futility of his actions (or mine) is limited to the WORLDLY aspects. I have NEVER thought it was futile from the spiritual perspective. Never. Not even when I was atheist as a teenager. Back then I relied on the concept of Honour, Courage and Justice, stupidly divorced from God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, due to my ignorance, but they were nevertheless enough to ensure I never wavered in that respect. With the deeper understanding I have now, the level of fear, stress, anxiety and doubt, is also magnitudes less, so it is my hope that my determination in such things is only many orders of magnitude more.
That, of course, does not diminish in ANY WAY the very real worldly consequences for yourself and your loved ones. Once again, the disparity between the spiritual and the physical is huge and heart-destroying. Especially if you are not a Catholic. Because if you are not a Catholic, even if you nominally “believe”, your understanding of the Glory of God, the afterlife, purgatory, Heaven, the Saints, life after death in general, is several orders of magnitude removed from what is ultimately simply more accurate. This is almost impossible to transmit to a non-Catholic, Demonstrated by the achievements of Catholicism in civilising the planet when compared to any other religion on Earth (at least until 1958 anyway).
In point of fact, Newton knight won as much as it is possible to win against the horde. In some ways he achieved spectacular success considering the odds against him. And he lived to a grand old age. Do I think his life was easy and pleasant? Hell no. It was hard as nails and full of pain and heartache and hardness and grimness and frustration. BUT… in the greater scheme of things, in the SPIRITUAL realm of things, which is the reality that is far superior to the worldly physical one we think we inhabit for the most part, Newton Knight DID make a difference and the view of his great-grandson 85 years later, though no-doubt it will be seen as an SJW push on “equality” and so on, is, in fact, a genuine raising of human consciousness to a better place. Yes, yes, the worldly aspect of “miscegenation” to use the “white supremacy” terms are unpleasant and unavoidable all the same, (especially for the miscegenated themselves) because, as I hope I explained above, there will always be a disparity, a conflict, between the worldly and physical aspects that are under the dominion of the Murderous, Psychopathic, Prince of Lies and the Spiritual overarching reality that is the realm of God. But that reality, the one of God, the one of our suffering Lord Christ who was tortured to death for us, IS and always will be the superior perspective. Always. Human existence is literally Hell without it.
The Types of Christian available
Newton Knight was a primitive Baptist, so not a Catholic, and as far as I am concerned the only Christians are Catholics, all the rest being some version of error of varying degree, nevertheless, the principle here is applicable to all men, regardless of their degree of error in observing reality, and that is:
There are only three types of Christian.
The Martyr – These are people who are willing to face violence, torture and death with love, courage beyond my ability to grasp, and everlasting grace. They are the peak of human condition on Earth. These are the best Christian of all. MANY fake being this type. Very, very, VERY few actually are.
The Warrior – These are men who are self-driven and often can appear (or actually be) arrogant, selfish, ambitious, self-aggrandising and so on. They may or may not have these negative qualities to some degree or other, but ultimately their principal concern is Justice. Not laws, not common sense, not democracy, not kindness, not fear, not self-preservation and often, not even love, but rather, Justice. God’s Justice, as much and as best as their flawed human spirit allows them to know it. These men will not fight for politicians and economics. They will fight for principles. They can be fooled into fighting for what they think are principles, but if and when they realise it, those who led them to unjust wars may well find themselves on the receiving end of their wrath. These are men who are conversant with and understand violence. Not for it’s own sake, but at a spiritual level, one that knows that unfortunately, while the aim is for a world full of martyrs, in order for there to be a space for such martyrs, a village of them, a town, a nation, or even an entire planet of them, some, are required to protect the walls. To go into the darkness and set fire to the enemy encampments and do the necessary worldly things to ensure not just survival, but thriving of the Catholics they protect with their crudeness, toil, bodies, pain, and ultimately, a lower order soul, just so they can be those men who guard the walls and allow the builders behind them to build them and the beauty inside those same walls. Again, many men want to be these and many present themselves as this when they are only bullies, idiots, cowards and liars who want the “glory” of the position without ever really taking on the duty of it. Most policemen today are such cowardly thugs, the idiot thugs who did not even have the courage to be proper criminals without the sanction of government. A warrior, as the Japanese understood, is ultimately a servant. He may not appear like it to you, citizen, when he scares the living shit out of you for littering, or when you know he has a body count that is higher than the number of suits you own, but he is a servant. Not to you. Not to the king. To God. And though he may take “orders” from a king or a general or his friend, because it is correct to do so in a certain circumstance and though you might never see him ever deviate from such orders while it is needed to follow them, ultimately, these men are servants to the King of Kings and to Him only. They know the importance of loyalty, cohesion and sacrifice, so they may appear and act as a monolithic group of Spartans like Leonidas and his 300, but each and every one of them chooses it. Warriors are rare because the Prince of this world has made their existence as difficult as possible, as they directly affect his realm. Nevertheless they are more numerous than martyrs of course.
The Villager –The Soldiers, blacksmiths, bakers, brothers and sisters of the village – While men can be warriors AND soldiers at the same time, a soldier is not a warrior. Almost any man can be made into a soldier, but warriors are, I believe, ultimately born that way. A baker can be made into a soldier, but it is unlikely that a warrior would be a baker to begin with. These are all the other types of men. Good, Catholic, solid men who can be relied upon to do their duties well and competently and without fanfare or complaints. these are the men who literally create civilisation. Warriors make the conditions for creating it possible, villagers create it and martyrs give it all purpose. Everyone wants to be a martyr or a warrior, but the reality is most men are villagers, and a good thing it is. A village composed of warriors would be, like Sparta, cruel, harsh and mostly devoid of any deep beauty, it would be, as their name has come to mean: Spartan. There is absolutely no shame in being a villager and in fact, Warriors exist to serve the needs of these people and generally if they are good warriors will almost invariably be willing to put their own lives on the line in order to protect any villager. Even the ones they don’t like at all. Because warriors are servants of civilisation. And similarly, Martyrs inspire and educate the villagers, but without the villagers, there would be no village. no beauty, very little art, joy, laughter, children, the intimacy of good relations among neighbours and friends, the very essence of what makes life joyful.
In the film, it is clear that Newton Knight was a warrior. And while warriors are absolutely necessary, and, loved by God (though it took me a long time to realise this) they rarely make good leaders or good kings. Then again, so few men make good leaders, so that is no indictment. The point is that a warrior, paradoxically, aims always towards peace, while willing to do whatever acts of war are required to ensure safety for his loved ones and his tribe. His concerns rarely extend beyond his immediate surroundings. And if a leader is to rally warriors enough to his cause to make a larger and therefore more likely viable area, county, country, nation or whatever, he is, above all, to give these warrior men due consideration for above all Justice and secondly, equitable compensation for their sacrifices not just in worldly goods, but in spiritual and social recognition. Not to soothe their ego, but so as to make the performance of their duties easier as well as easier for others to get out of their way. It is very rare that a warrior who wins is himself the one that produces a nation or city state or region out of it. It generally takes a generation or more for that to happen. And we have long since lost the lineage of kings and royalty, though I am not sure it is not likely to return. Pass on what you build to your sons and each them to defend and expand on it. And if they can begin this while you are still alive, so much the better.
Newton Knight did not manage to create a fully independent state, BUT, he made room enough for himself and others near him, to exist relatively unmolested. He did not, however, do so alone.
The Importance of Community
Hate it as much as people like me might, the reality is that numbers make a difference. If you do not have a bunch of people on your side, whatever thing you want to do that affects a lot of people, is not just likely to fail, it is certain to fail. If you have a misanthropic warrior nature, creating a community might be as fun as trying to pluck your irritating nose hair with boxing gloves. Nevertheless it is a REQUIRED step. It is not optional. it is fundamental. And complicated by the further fact that herding warriors makes the cultivation of farms of cats seem like an easy task. Yet warriors are the first type you need to have an abundance of to create and clear the required physical space to form your community. If you can muster the warriors, the villagers will come once you have made a space for them. they will come faster and in bigger numbers than you expect and you will need to have prepared to control this too or else their ill-formed, non-Catholic presence will soon lead to the same level of degeneracy and strife that led you to have to create the community in the first place. Warriors respect efficiency and justice above almost all else, so you best be effective if you want them to listen to you. And do not be afraid to make it clear that your community is NOT a democracy. Nor should it be.
All of these points are generally well-represented in the film, which makes it one of the better films I have seen in a long time. As usual, the good films often are not a box office success. This one cost $50 million but only took in $25 million. But, as I hope you understood by now:
Such is the disparity between the spiritual and the physical
The Free State of Jones
I don’t often give film reviews but this one was particularly interesting and funnily enough, very relevant to today’s situation. The film is a generic adaptation of the reality (as far as they can be pieced together) of the life of one Newton Knight. In reality, his life is even more convoluted and difficult than what is portrayed in the film and much like Wyatt Earp, he was both more courageous as well as a worse human being than is shown in the film. Reality, as many people are now finding out, is always more interesting and vary-coloured than fiction.
This film has many levels of interesting and I wanted to blog on it precisely to cover the various aspects of it. And yes, the “egalité” and “liberté” at the bottom of that poster is French “enlightenment” nonsense, for neither exists in the world, but sometimes, a modicum of Justice can be achieved.
The Race Element
With all the nonsensical:
You might be inclined to think that I would see the principal slavery issues in the film as some sort of SJW propaganda, and no doubt, to some extent, there is some of this I suppose, HOWEVER, in the main, I found it to be a historically accurate and not overtly pushing any agenda. The fact is that the film simply reported the facts as they were concerning the marriage laws etc. both back then and as related to Mr. Knight’s great grandchildren.
As I have a bunch of varied followers and as my personal position is invariably misunderstood because it is not reductive ad absurdium, it perhaps might be useful for the young, the confused, the budding neo-nazi retards, those who may feel that white people are unfairly prejudiced against in most areas of life today, to know a bit more precisely what it is.
Here then it is, and more importantly in a wider context, I hope you will understand how this relates to the film and why it is relevant in today’s climate.
There are a few different and at times apparently paradoxical facets of my character that you need to understand in order to appreciate my position.
Given all of the above, hopefully you can understand at least in theory, the complexity added to a society when you mix different races (with all their different religions, cultures, languages, etc). And those differences are invariably even MORE relevant in a situation of high stress like war, which is what this film looks at. The opposing principles here are:
There is no escaping this reality, both the idealised spiritual one, and the brutal physical one. I believe that this film does a very decent job of examining these differences and portraying them better than many I have seen attempt it. If you pay attention you will not that at the beginning, when Newton is the only minority among a band of escaped black slaves, he is more “accepted” as a member of the group, yet when the white deserters outnumber the black escaped slaves there is a natural segregation between the races even if they are nominally on the same side. In fact, the segregation already begins even when Newton is still the minority one he acts in a way that is beyond their expected cultural norms. I have personally experienced this and it is a very real experience. Shocking as it may be, doing a different group a good deed, recognised by all as such, can and does still remove you from the group dynamic. As, in fairness, it should and does. Think about it, if you were to meet a literal saint that performs acts of kindness way above your comfort level, you would, paradoxically, be a a little uncomfortable in his presence. In a milder form, it is not unlike when you meet and deal with or have over as a guest a REAL Catholic priest. It is not fear of his judgement or Catholic “guilt” or so on that makes the Catholic layman uncomfortable to spend too much time in close proximity of a good priest. It is his piety. His generosity of spirit. His dedication to your spiritual (and often mental and physical) well-being of yourself and your loved ones. His dedication to that which we all would be best placed to put highest, God.
In short, the dilemma of race is there, will always be there, and any man that has had a meaningful relationship with a woman of a different shade of skin than their own knows it. It can have its own positives too, its own uniqueness that adds to the spice of life, but it invariably has the negatives too. There is no getting away from it and while in the intimacy of the two of you it can all be idyllic, in the greater context of the world at large, it often is not as pleasant. In fact, it rarely is.
The Individual Against the Horde or the System
Everyone loves the underdog. The heroic struggle of one man against the injustice of the masses, the idiots, the enemies of Justice, Efficiency, Truth, Beauty, Courage and Kindness is always inspiring and we always want the lone man struggling against these forces of darkness to win. The reality however is that often he does not. Often he gets crushed and ground to dust without anyone even knowing he fought. And even on those rare occasions he “wins” it is at great cost, and often it’s a phyrric victory. Once again, this film shows the determination of a man that cares more about Justice than the lies of this world. In the film at least he is represented as someone defending his loved ones and his principles against the meat grinder of wars started and perpetrated for political ends that mean little or nothing at all to the men being chewed up by steel in them.
Throughout the film I kept trying to second-guess what I would do and until about half-way I was not even aware the film was based on factual events to some degree, nevertheless I tried to estimate how I would act, and There’s not a lot of divergence at least for the first half of the film from what is shown and the actions I would likely have taken. All the while I was also acutely aware of the undeniable fact that this was the fight of one man against the faceless and meat grinding Satanic horde of a system designed to reduce human beings to particles of dust in the machinery of tormenting grind and mechanisation of humanity that the prince of this World delights in.
And while I knew in similar situations I could do no different, I was also extremely aware of the precariousness and ultimately, futility of his actions. I want to be very clear however that the futility of his actions (or mine) is limited to the WORLDLY aspects. I have NEVER thought it was futile from the spiritual perspective. Never. Not even when I was atheist as a teenager. Back then I relied on the concept of Honour, Courage and Justice, stupidly divorced from God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, due to my ignorance, but they were nevertheless enough to ensure I never wavered in that respect. With the deeper understanding I have now, the level of fear, stress, anxiety and doubt, is also magnitudes less, so it is my hope that my determination in such things is only many orders of magnitude more.
That, of course, does not diminish in ANY WAY the very real worldly consequences for yourself and your loved ones. Once again, the disparity between the spiritual and the physical is huge and heart-destroying. Especially if you are not a Catholic. Because if you are not a Catholic, even if you nominally “believe”, your understanding of the Glory of God, the afterlife, purgatory, Heaven, the Saints, life after death in general, is several orders of magnitude removed from what is ultimately simply more accurate. This is almost impossible to transmit to a non-Catholic, Demonstrated by the achievements of Catholicism in civilising the planet when compared to any other religion on Earth (at least until 1958 anyway).
In point of fact, Newton knight won as much as it is possible to win against the horde. In some ways he achieved spectacular success considering the odds against him. And he lived to a grand old age. Do I think his life was easy and pleasant? Hell no. It was hard as nails and full of pain and heartache and hardness and grimness and frustration. BUT… in the greater scheme of things, in the SPIRITUAL realm of things, which is the reality that is far superior to the worldly physical one we think we inhabit for the most part, Newton Knight DID make a difference and the view of his great-grandson 85 years later, though no-doubt it will be seen as an SJW push on “equality” and so on, is, in fact, a genuine raising of human consciousness to a better place. Yes, yes, the worldly aspect of “miscegenation” to use the “white supremacy” terms are unpleasant and unavoidable all the same, (especially for the miscegenated themselves) because, as I hope I explained above, there will always be a disparity, a conflict, between the worldly and physical aspects that are under the dominion of the Murderous, Psychopathic, Prince of Lies and the Spiritual overarching reality that is the realm of God. But that reality, the one of God, the one of our suffering Lord Christ who was tortured to death for us, IS and always will be the superior perspective. Always. Human existence is literally Hell without it.
The Types of Christian available
Newton Knight was a primitive Baptist, so not a Catholic, and as far as I am concerned the only Christians are Catholics, all the rest being some version of error of varying degree, nevertheless, the principle here is applicable to all men, regardless of their degree of error in observing reality, and that is:
There are only three types of Christian.
In the film, it is clear that Newton Knight was a warrior. And while warriors are absolutely necessary, and, loved by God (though it took me a long time to realise this) they rarely make good leaders or good kings. Then again, so few men make good leaders, so that is no indictment. The point is that a warrior, paradoxically, aims always towards peace, while willing to do whatever acts of war are required to ensure safety for his loved ones and his tribe. His concerns rarely extend beyond his immediate surroundings. And if a leader is to rally warriors enough to his cause to make a larger and therefore more likely viable area, county, country, nation or whatever, he is, above all, to give these warrior men due consideration for above all Justice and secondly, equitable compensation for their sacrifices not just in worldly goods, but in spiritual and social recognition. Not to soothe their ego, but so as to make the performance of their duties easier as well as easier for others to get out of their way. It is very rare that a warrior who wins is himself the one that produces a nation or city state or region out of it. It generally takes a generation or more for that to happen. And we have long since lost the lineage of kings and royalty, though I am not sure it is not likely to return. Pass on what you build to your sons and each them to defend and expand on it. And if they can begin this while you are still alive, so much the better.
Newton Knight did not manage to create a fully independent state, BUT, he made room enough for himself and others near him, to exist relatively unmolested. He did not, however, do so alone.
The Importance of Community
Hate it as much as people like me might, the reality is that numbers make a difference. If you do not have a bunch of people on your side, whatever thing you want to do that affects a lot of people, is not just likely to fail, it is certain to fail. If you have a misanthropic warrior nature, creating a community might be as fun as trying to pluck your irritating nose hair with boxing gloves. Nevertheless it is a REQUIRED step. It is not optional. it is fundamental. And complicated by the further fact that herding warriors makes the cultivation of farms of cats seem like an easy task. Yet warriors are the first type you need to have an abundance of to create and clear the required physical space to form your community. If you can muster the warriors, the villagers will come once you have made a space for them. they will come faster and in bigger numbers than you expect and you will need to have prepared to control this too or else their ill-formed, non-Catholic presence will soon lead to the same level of degeneracy and strife that led you to have to create the community in the first place. Warriors respect efficiency and justice above almost all else, so you best be effective if you want them to listen to you. And do not be afraid to make it clear that your community is NOT a democracy. Nor should it be.
All of these points are generally well-represented in the film, which makes it one of the better films I have seen in a long time. As usual, the good films often are not a box office success. This one cost $50 million but only took in $25 million. But, as I hope you understood by now:
Such is the disparity between the spiritual and the physical
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Tags: christianity, film, warriors
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