FREEDOM

Two men separated by 100 years are united in their search for freedom. In 1856 a slave, Samuel Woodward and his family, escape from the Monroe Plantation near Richmond, Virginia. A secret network of ordinary people known as the Underground Railroad guide the family on their journey north to Canada. They are relentlessly pursued by the notorious slave hunter Plimpton. Hunted like a dog and haunted by the unthinkable suffering he and his forbears have endured, Samuel is forced to decide between revenge or freedom. 100 years earlier in 1748, John Newton the Captain of a slave trader sails from Africa with a cargo of slaves, bound for America. On board is Samuel's great grandfather whose survival is tied to the fate of Captain Newton. The voyage changes Newton's life forever and he creates a legacy that will inspire Samuel and the lives of millions for generations to come.

Average. Has a very strong (and sometimes very heavy handed) religious flavour with the song, Amazing Grace, by John Newton, providing the organising theme. True freedom is presented as that which comes from trust in the Christian God. The story did not have the power I thought it should have. The acting was adequate and the musical element undermined the emotional potency - although viewers who like musicals may experience it differently to me. The whole movie seems restrained - pulling back form the harsh realities of the slave trade. I suspect that it may be that way to ensure a broad audience. It is consistent with the distributors, Heritage Films International, which has a faith focus, according to its website. Movies supported by faith-based organisations tend, in my opinion, to promote somewhat sterile versions of reality - and I think that FREEDOM suffers from this. The most frightening aspect of the movie is the declaration at the end, just before the titles, that there are more people in slavery today than ever before in human history. While reminding ourselves of the past history of slavery is essential, I'd like to see more contemporary movies addressing what is happening today. It's a travesty that slavery hasn't yet been eradicated.

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Set free to be free

The apostle Paul, in Galatians 5:1, declares that it is ’For freedom Christ has set us free.’ In the context of this letter, Paul was trying to persuade the Galatians not to return to the yoke of slavery to the Old Covenant laws symbolised by circumcision. For Christians in the 21st century, there are other potential sources of enslavement which we must resist if Christ has set us free in order to be free. Someone recently expressed concern about me saying that, from his point of view, I was on a path that would lead me to be unable to be certain of anything. This person was in a position of religious authority who decided to ban me from an activity within the organisation. This individual had come to this conclusion without any direct dialogue with me. Clearly, he had made a judgment about my spiritual path leading him to the decision he made. What is interesting, though, is this person’s notion that a spiritual path should lead to certainty. For many people, religion is about security and certainty rather than the pursuit of truth which might, in fact, lead to discomfort and uncertainty. Making one’s spiritual path about becoming more certain leads inevitably to fundamentalist attitudes and oppressive judgmentalism. Unless a person conform to one’s own set of beliefs they are judged to be on a false path and frequently result in manipulative actions that are designed to make a person conform to one’s own set of beliefs. Christ did not set us free in order to be enslaved by someone else’s belief system or criteria for what constitutes an authentic spiritual path. And a commitment to certainty and security will inevitably lead to a stagnant paralysis where it is impossible to learn and to grow in understanding. The freedom to doubt and to question is an absolute essential for growth in understanding and the development of a mature faith. Without doubt and questioning, we merely reiterate our current understanding and confirm what we already believe. This is not freedom nor is it authentic faith. A commitment to certainty and security rather than truth is the very antithesis of faith! Ignazio Silone, in The God That Failed, has made it clear what true religious liberty (freedom) is about:

Liberty is the possibility of doubting, the possibility of making a mistake, the possibility of searching and experimenting, the possibility of saying No to any authority -- literary, artistic, philosophic, religious, social and even political.

If any person or organisation tries to tell you that authentic faith means:

• It is wrong to doubt
• It is wrong to make mistakes
• It is wrong to search and experiment
• It is wrong to say No to any authority

Then run for your life! Christ set you free to be free, not to be enslaved by the yoke of someone else’s prison.