This past weekend, I finally got to watch The Ledge - the movie that has made the rounds as an “atheist movie.”
Wow.
It’s taken a few days to process everything, but my general opinion is that every person in this country needs to watch this movie.
Honestly, parts of it were pretty uncomfortable for me to watch. Joe, the Christian antagonist, sounded exactly like me at certain points in my life. I do think his character was a little over caricatured as a whole, but it was really eye-opening to hear those words and see what they sound like from the other side. It was disconcerting. It was a little embarrassing.
I may have had a little more passion in my eyes when I spewed those words, but I have argued those points many many times in my life.
Now, I see things the way Gavin does. And seeing my old self through those eyes isn’t really pleasant.
The movie isn’t atheist propaganda. Its purpose isn’t to plant atheistic ideas in your head (though if it makes you stop and think, all the better). The tag line of the movie is “What would you die for?” and Gavin is telling his story while standing on the ledge of a very tall building.
People think that just because we don’t have a god in our life that we can’t have meaning in our lives. That we can’t live or love. That we have no convictions or morals. That there is nothing that we believe in enough to die for.
This movie intends to change those perceptions. And I think it does so wonderfully.
