Jackie Lentz: Blog #2 (Student Topic) Serenity

If you’ve ever seen the film Serenity then you know its awesome! One aspect of it that always gives me chills is the character who is hunting River and her brother Simon to the point of insanity. Malcolm explains the character hunting them is a believer and truly believes that what he does it morally right and therefore he cannot be stopped by talking or fighting, but the fundamental knowledge of his existence must be altered. Malcolm is able to accomplish this by discovering the cause of what created these terrible creatures that plague the universe. In the movie you hate the character because he is crazy and his irrational behavior is so focused and fixated on the capture of River and her brother that hating fanatics comes up naturally. I can’t imagine living during the time of the Spanish Inquisition and thinking what they did was alright. Killing people because their beliefs are different from yours appalls me and makes me sick. Perhaps I am a product of my generation, we are so eager to please and be politically correct, always making sure not to offend too many people. When I encounter these people who shove their religion in your face and profess to you all that you need to change about your life, I feel annoyed, exhausted, and guilty. From what I know of my religion, what these people are doing is exactly what I need to be doing. Sometimes I am plagued by this awful feeling that I do not care for my friends because I do not stress the need for them to accept Jesus to go to Heaven with me, but then I remember the certainty of my own future is pretty pathetic. I feel guilty that I haven’t tried to convert them but I feel unworthy to press my half-hearted beliefs onto someone else. I want so badly to believe but the requirements to live a good life and preach to everyone I meet keep me from fully accepting the responsibility of my faith so that I may be solid in my belief that I will receive the final reward. Its that generation thing again though, I know that if I were to become what I know I need to become I won’t be liked by as many people or accepted into as many groups, and honestly maybe that’s for the better but when I’ve spent my whole life needing to be reaffirmed by the affection of others I feel completely lost to the pressures of being liked.