twelve angry men

In Pen and the Sword on Friday, we watched the 1957 movie "Twelve Angry Men" which may go down as my favorite movie ever. This is significant because I don't like many serious movies, and I like even fewer black and white movies. This one was a masterpiece: art at its brilliant inspired best.

All but perhaps 10 minutes of the movie are filmed in a single small room where a jury of 12 men is gathered at a table, trying to reach a unanimous conclusion about the case of an 18-year-old man accused of murdering his father. Because it is a hot summer day in New York and the heat makes them impatient, the jury votes before discussing: 11 to 1, guilty.

The 11 are angry at the 1, who explains calmly that he doesn't know whether or not the boy is guilty, but feels that he deserves more than a minute of their time. Then follows a brilliant debate filled with heroes and hate. The acting is superb, the story convincing, the ending ambiguous. We are left not knowing whether the boy was innocent or guilty, but we do know that the jury's final vote revealed each member's their best efforts to be true to truth.

What I took away from the movie was this: first, we are each responsible to think and reason for ourselves. We must not go along with anything just because of peer pressure. Second, all knowledge is personal. Our personal history and our interactions with those we love influences all of our feelings and decisions. We learned a great deal about the men on the jury from the way they saw the case.

Seagulljaap's reply to my post "charity and proposition h8" was expected. We have been discussing this issue in detail and depth for several months. We were chatting when he posted his comment. We continued to discuss it for over an hour, and somewhere along the way, I realized that he and I are both right. We want the same thing: charity for all. Because of our personalities, experiences, and connections to others, we approach the issue from different angles and we express ourselves in different ways. I think we will each be able to help others--but he will help people I can't reach and I will help people he can't reach.

The Lord, the Church, the World all need many types of people. We need different personalities and abilities. From everyone, for everyone, we need charity: sometimes charity expressed through gentle healing, and sometime charity that warns, "sin no more". Occasionally, we may need charity with a whip. We speak of Christ, we preach of Christ, we follow Christ, we love like Christ.

Each in the way we are able.