The Dawn Treader

Thoroughly entertaining.  Non-stop suspense and drama.  I enjoyed the rush.

Here are some random worldview-ish thoughts, FWIW.

One of the main aspects of anyone's worldview is deciding what is right and wrong.  The characters in the show are constantly doing that.  When is it okay to lie, when is it not okay to lie, for example.

Senator Palmer and his family wrestle with the ethics of lying and deceit through out season one.  Palmer makes good ethical choices (in regards to telling the truth) and takes a stand for the truth.  He is rewarded by the voters (apparently).  His wife's relentless pragmatism and utilitarianism are punished in the end.  I was cringing when Palmer met his secretary (who was acting on orders from Palmer's wife) in the hotel room for an apparent tete-a-tete.  What a relief to hear him utter, "You are fired!".  A true Donald Trump moment.  It was only topped by the delicious scene in which Palmer disses his meddling and power hungry wife.

Jack's decision to lie, break rules, and violate protocols through out the show is part of what makes it so fun.  Sometimes it is appropriate to lie.  The Hebrew midwives, for example, are praised for the fact that they lied to the Egyptians.  Rahab, the Jerichoan prostitute, is praised for lying about her knowledge of the whereabouts of the Hebrew spies.

When is lying justified?  Answer: when there is a sufficient moral reason for lying.  What qualifies something as morally sufficient?  The weightiness of the moral principle.  For example, human beings are image bearers of God and therefore all human life is precious.  The pointless taking of innocent human life is wrong.  Also, it is virtuous to tell the truth. We ought to do it.  What happens when our ethical principles collide? You choose the one with the greater weight.  Who sets the scale of weightiness?  God.  He set up moral laws just like He set up physical laws.  We ought to align with His design.

Here are just two interesting ethical situations in season one.  There are several to choose from.

Situation One: the second failed assasination attempt on Palmer. Jack insists that Palmer lie to the media and have his press secretary tell the public that Palmer was killed by the bomb.  Palmer agrees and has his press secretary lie to the public so that the terrorists think their target is dead.  Was Palmer wrong?  No.  The lie bought Jack time to try to rescue his daughter.  What was more important?  Protecting the life of Jack's daughter, or telling the public that Palmer lived through the assassination attempt?  The life of Jack's daughter was.  Incidentally, Palmer gets on television later and says that it was a mistake that his staff reported his death.  Another lie.  Oh well.

Situation Two: The safe house gets hit and Jack's wife and daughter flee for their lives.  George (Jack's superior) at CTU knows this, but refuses to tell Jack that his wife and daughter are once again in danger.  George tells Tony and Nina to lie to Jack and say everything is fine.  Was George wrong?  This one is tougher.  I say George was wrong.  George should have come clean and told Jack the truth.  George's motive for lying to Jack was to keep Jack focused on the job of investigating the terrorist plot.  We could have a good discussion about this one, and it is not as obvious to me as situation one.

The other really interesting worldview topic that the show touches on is justice.  The show is all about payback ... revenge.  Jack ends up whacking Victor Drazen in the end ... with about five rounds to the chest at point blank range.  Be honest ... it felt good to watch him blow away Drazen.

What does true justice look like in God's economy?

Is justice a euphemism for revenge?

Actually, a Biblical worldview of justice goes beyond giving someone their due.  For one, it includes the notion of restorative justice. That is, we are supposed to pay back for the wrongs we have commited ... remember Zacchaeus paying back four times the tax money he wrongfully collected.  But it goes beyond restorative justice ... in God's economy, justice includes defending the defenseless and providing for widows and orphans.  It is just to do this ... and it has nothing to do with payback.  Prison Fellowship has done an excellent job of exploring the topic of justice.  Here are some good sample posts: Rescue The Perishing, Care For The Dying and Restorative Justice.

Was Jack wrong for blowing away Drazen at the end?

What say you?