Dissent because of Love

I recently read something interesting about some parallels between Vladimir Putin's leadership of Russia and the leadership of Christianity's leaders. You can read it here. After talking about Russia's increasing success and Putin's suppression of opposition, this writer says, "The church, I think, is willing to sacrifice basic human and civil liberties for good and noble results. We prefer success or even just stability to freedom of expression. Freedom of expression is messy and unmanageable." He claims he is a dissenter because he loves the church.

Tonight I watched a movie about another person who was a dissenter because he loved the church. The movie is called Luther. Believe it or not, it's about Martin Luther. He stood up to a corrupt church that was taking away people's freedom and abusing its influence to make money. One thing I didn't realize before is that Luther also stood up to his own supposed followers who used violence to oppose the Catholic church.

This is one of several movies I've seen that makes me wonder how willing I would be to stand up to oppression (religious or not). Would I do it if it meant giving up a good job? If it meant losing friends and dividing my family? If a friend or family member was the oppressor, would I still be willing to oppose them, even if it led to some pretty bad punishment for them? Would I be willing to oppose my church and lose their approval? Would I be willing to die? Or would I keep doing what I'm doing because I think standing up to oppression would never work? Would I wait for someone else to stand up for the oppressed?

Some other movies that prompt thoughts like this, each in their own unique ways, include The Lord of The Rings series, Star Wars Episode 3 (Revenge of the Sith), and The Last King of Scotland. Are there any other movies that get you thinking about things like this? More importantly, what do you think might stop you from standing up to oppression? What might your excuses be?