August 1, 2023
The Sound Of Freedom – Part 2
By: James Wilson
The film is unapologetically Christian in outlook; the characters and their real-life counterparts are foursquare and upfront about the source of their inspiration and their courage. The attacks cited above are to be expected – because it is a Christian production daring to enter the public square – and so it would be shocking if attacks did not occur. (Leftists are too morally and intellectually bankrupt to do anything but mock what they cannot comprehend.) But this film does more than assert God’s boast, “I got this.” It depicts redemption of the bankrupt when they are willing to confront what is really real, such as the character of Vampiro, played by character actor Bill Camp.
Although some details were altered to facilitate cinematic feasibilities, Vampiro is based on a man – a former money launderer for the Cali Cartel – who did virtually everything attributed to him in the film, albeit in multiple locations and timeframes. Vampiro’s crisis comes when he realizes he has two choices left. Holding a .45 to his head he chooses between calling on God or pulling the trigger. He chooses God and begins to live a life more dangerous – but infinitely more real – in service to His new Lord and Messiah. Vampiro is not the only person I have personally encountered for whom Jesus was the sole alternative to a bullet in the brain. He can be an even more profound character touchstone than Ballard if we allow him into the depths of our own need for redemption.
Getting the movie made at all was a miracle. In an age when blockbuster films cost upwards of one hundred million dollars Sound of Freedom came in at $14.5 million, while having the look and feel – not to mention the performances – of the latest Indiana Jones vehicle it skunked at the box office. (This speaks as much to the commitment of cast and crew as it does to God’s favor.) Speaking of Indiana – a Disney property – the next miracle was escaping the giant squid Disney has become. Owned by 20th Century Fox when it was completed in 2018, Sound was shelved when Disney bought the studio, and all the rights that went with it. Somehow Angel Studios – producers of The Chosen – acquired the film early this year and began the search for theatre screens willing to air it. Sound of Freedom opened on a mere twenty-one hundred screens July 4 – a mere four months later – and found its reach boosted 50% by its third week out. More importantly, this cultural phenomenon has taken the American people – and much of the media that is not openly serving evil – by storm to an even greater degree than did its brother phenom – The Jesus Revolution – a few weeks earlier.
So the movie is made; it is a triumph of the Spirit and it is performing as God intends, to raise the consciousness of Christians and non-Christians across the country and – one hopes – the world. But what about the Church – and I mean the Church of two billion individual persons – as opposed to the corporeal reality of the Body of Christ? Will we rise up as one body in the wake of experiencing this film, or will we experience a moment of righteous indignation and then go back to sleep, confident the film’s success signals the end of modern slavery?
But what, we ask, can we do, other than pray and urge others to see the movie? First, prayer is a big plenty all by itself. There is no way the Ballards and the Vampiros of this world survive their missions without being upheld on a foundation of concerted, sustained, and repentant prayer assaulting the throne of Heaven from many directions. But there is more the average Christian can contribute? There most certainly is.
Each of us can speak up when we hear people badmouthing the film and the human sacrifices that went into making and distributing it. It is not necessary to debate the merits or demerits of Q-Anon. We need only ask a scoffer, “Excuse me, is it your position that this kind of trafficking does not really happen, or is it at an acceptable level if it does?” The issue with the film is not what we believe or disbelieve about the heroics attributed to Ballard and the other rescuers – I believe them all, by the way – but about the monstrosities those rescuers address. We can encourage people to major in the majors.
Another issue each of us can address is the close proximity – conceptually – of pedophilia and child sex trafficking to the whole gay and transgender political agenda of the Biden Administration and the woke Left. Ballard makes the point with an explicit disclaimer that he does not know if the connection is deliberate or coincidental; he simply states the fact that pedophiles and wokists share belief that, 1. Parents are a bad influence on children; separate them. 2. The state knows best. 3. Sexualize kids; let them see pornography, as it is good for them. 4. Take God out of education; He just gets in the way of progress. 5. Children are mature enough to consent to anything; they should be voting at twelve and deciding for themselves at a much younger age what “feels good,” and “feels right.” Ballard had to study these materials and he said at one point, “Now what am I seeing here…It’s the woke left agenda.” He argues forcefully that both transgender activists and pedophiles claim children can give informed consent to destructive and sexualizing acts.
Finally, each of us can approach pastors and other church leaders, sharing in the authority of what we have learned – about our world, our selves and our God – from Sound of Freedom, expecting action. It’s time to fish or cut bait.
James A. Wilson is the author of Living As Ambassadors of Relationships, The Holy Spirit and the End Times, Kingdom in Pursuit, and his first novel, Generation– available at Barnes and Nobles, Amazon, or at praynorthstate@gmail.com.
