{"id":1326,"date":"2016-09-27T11:15:03","date_gmt":"2016-09-27T17:15:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sixseeds.patheos.com\/watchinggod\/?p=1326"},"modified":"2016-09-27T11:15:03","modified_gmt":"2016-09-27T17:15:03","slug":"what-the-magnificent-seven-says-about-american-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/watchinggod\/2016\/09\/what-the-magnificent-seven-says-about-american-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"What the Magnificent Seven Says About American Faith"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

The Magnificent Seven<\/em> begins in a church. It ends in a church. And even though the actual church building is a burned-out shell for much of the movie, the edifice still towers over the little town of Rose Creek\u2014a charred, broken prophet, its shadow casting judgment over those who pass through.<\/p>\n

Throughout American cinematic history, the Western has long been a lens through which America sees itself\u2014at our best and worst. It\u2019s given us our defining heroes and served as a crucible through which we judge what\u2019s right and wrong. So it\u2019s only fitting that The Magnificent Seven<\/em>\u2014a remake of a fine classic from 1960 and a throwback to the gun-twirling, sharpshooting Westerns of yore\u2014would settle its steely gaze on something else that has helped defined us as a nation: religion.<\/p>\n

From the first shot fired to the closing credits, faith\u2014especially Christian faith\u2014undergirds the story in fascinating, sometimes uncomfortable ways. It shows us how we use and often abuse religion for our own ends. And yet faith is a force for good here, too, enmeshed with themes of sacrifice and redemption and, of course, a bit of terminal justice.<\/p>\n

Click below to see what I mean.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
Photo courtesy Sony Pictures<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bartholomew Bogue<\/strong><\/p>\n

Meet The Magnificent Seven\u2019<\/em>s Despicable One. The wealthy mining magnate (played by Peter Sarsgaard) is determined to yank every last bit of gold there is from these hills, but the good town of Rose Creek is in his way. In the opening scene, we see him barge in on a meeting in the town\u2019s church, striding to the pulpit while one of his lackeys spits tobacco on the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cDemocracy in this country has long been associated with capitalism, and capitalism with God!\u201d He tells them. As such, Bogue insists, he\u2019s doing God\u2019s work\u2014and it\u2019d be a sin if the townspeople didn\u2019t sell him their land for a pittance of what it\u2019s worth. And once he makes his point, he herds the folks outside and lights the church on fire, beating the town preacher for good measure.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf God didn\u2019t want them sheared he wouldn\u2019t have made them sheep,\u201d he later says.<\/p>\n

While The Magnificent Seven<\/em> is mostly a pure popcorn flick, Bogue feels like pointed, timely commentary. For a few decades now, American evangelical Christians could be reliably counted to vote for Republican candidates. And it\u2019s not hard to see Bogue as a caricature of Donald Trump\u2014a man whose stance on abortion has flip-flopped several times and whose commitment to faith can be read (by cynics like me at least) as opportunistic.<\/p>\n

But even if the movie isn\u2019t drawing a dotted line between its main villain and the presidential candidate, the overall critique is still relevant: There are those who use the language of faith to justify their own very selfish actions. They twist Christianity into something it\u2019s not\u2014and in so doing, leave the faith a burned-out shell.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
Photo courtesy Sony Pictures<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jack Horne<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unlike Bogue, you can\u2019t question the sincerity of the bear-like trapper Jack Horne (Vincent D\u2019Onofrio). But his sanity? Yeah, that\u2019s up for debate.<\/p>\n

We see Horne\u2019s well-thrown hatchet before we get a glimpse of Horne himself. It\u2019s embedded in the back of a guy who, admittedly, stole Horne\u2019s gun, thwacked Horne over the head with a stone and left him for dead. Horne kills the guy and his brother, telling a band of curious onlookers\u2014the band of desperados who\u2019ll eventually become the Magnificent Seven\u2014that by \u201cby the Lord and by the Law\u201d he had the right to take their lives.<\/p>\n

Throughout the rest of the film, Horne quotes Scripture, prays and generally utters \u201cthe Lord\u201d whenever he opens his mouth. And yet he\u2019s probably the most frightening of all the Seven, killing with brutal abandon instead of lethal precision. Someone asks him if he still collects scalps.<\/p>\n

As such, there\u2019s an uncomfortable dichotomy in play with Horne\u2014a man who follows the Prince of Peace but so clearly is at home in the world of war. We know he\u2019s not alone: Religion has been used to motivate passionate, sometimes unhinged people to do some terrible things. And while Horne uses his bloody skills in a more positive direction this time (at least according to the movie\u2019s bloody frontier logic), we know the guy\u2019s always walking on a hatchet\u2019s edge.<\/p>\n

Caution: Spoilers are coming.<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
Photo courtesy Sony Pictures<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chisolm<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unlike Horne, this warrant officer (Denzel Washington) and unquestioned leader of the Magnificent Seven never really talks about his faith. It\u2019s only at the very end of the story that we see that Christianity means something to him.<\/p>\n

The climactic battle is over. Dead litter the ground, and Chisolm and Bogue face each other, the burned-out church looming over the both of them. Chisolm shoots Bogue in the leg: Bogue falls to the ground and crawls into the church, saying a prayer as he goes\u2014using religion as cover to the last.<\/p>\n

Chisolm hesitates in the doorway and takes off his hat, seeming uncertain whether he should finish Bogue off in a holy place. Indeed, the showdown takes us back to the movie\u2019s very beginning, when the preacher tells Bogue and his men that \u201cthis is the Lord\u2019s house\u2014no place for guns.\u201d So it\u2019s interesting that Chisolm strides into the church and instead seems determined to strangle<\/em> Bogue to death.<\/p>\n

\u201cPray with me,\u201d he tells a terrified Bogue. \u201cAsk for forgiveness.\u201d And in this moment, it seems as though the movie paints Chisolm as an angel of death\u2014a man serving as God\u2019s righteous fist, coming down on hard on someone who so richly deserves retribution. The fact that the last scene takes place in the church\u2014the church Bogue himself burned\u2014serves to cinematically sanctify the act.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an interesting scene, but one I can\u2019t personally accept as just. I have a hard time seeing God\u2019s hand in such a torturous scene, no matter how much Bogue might seem to deserve it. It\u2019s easier for me to see the beauty of faith not in taking a life, but in giving it \u2026 as we\u2019ll see on the next page.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Photo<\/a>
Photo courtesy Sony Pictures<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Goodnight Robicheaux<\/strong><\/p>\n

Robicheaux (Ethan Hawke) was a sharpshooter in the Confederate army\u2014a guy so cool at the trigger that he truly was called the Angel of Death. But so much killing robbed Robicheaux of his cool. He\u2019s terrified of dying and plagued with visions of his own demise. And the night before the climactic battle, he rides away, turning the Magnificent Seven into just the So-So Six.<\/p>\n

But Robicheaux returns, warning his mates of a grave danger. He takes up a post\u2014up in the church\u2019s steeple\u2014even though he knows full well he\u2019ll probably never make it out alive.<\/p>\n

Robicheaux, a bad man and cruel killer for most of his time on earth, decided to use his skills for something better: He stood shoulder-to-shoulder with his brothers in arms. And together\u2014Robicheaux, Chisolm, Jack Horne and the rest\u2014they all risked their lives for the lives of others. Or as we are told in the coda, \u201cThey fought for the souls who couldn\u2019t fight for themselves, and died for them, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGreater love has no one than this,\u201d we read in John 15:13, \u201cthat he lay down his life for his friends.\u201d Even though The Magnificent Seven<\/em> has some dubious theology connected with it\u2014sometimes intentionally, sometimes not\u2014this last comes across well and true. And it gives this problematic movie a satisfying ending.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Magnificent Seven begins in a church. It ends in a church. And even though the actual church building is a burned-out shell for much of the movie, the edifice still towers over the little town of Rose Creek\u2014a charred, broken prophet, its shadow casting judgment over those who pass through. Throughout American cinematic history, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2036,"featured_media":1332,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[52,455,193,456],"class_list":["post-1326","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movies","tag-christianity","tag-magnificent-seven","tag-religion","tag-western"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat the Magnificent Seven Says About American Faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Magnificent Seven begins in a church. It ends in a church. 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