Donipher C.

Billon
BSED-III

Hacksaw Ridge – A Reflection

“I don’t know how I’m going to live with myself if I don’t stay true to what I believe.”
This film is a contemplation on the fundamental struggle between what it is like to have a belief and how
to carry out that belief despite every obstacle the secular world retaliates with. Set against the backdrop of the
ghostly and brutal Battle of War, this film so graphically depicts outwardly, what could be argued is a reflection
of the inner battles that Christians and people of other faiths face. The difference, however, is that Desmond
Doss overcomes all trials as victor. Repeatedly.
Doss was no less human than any of us. His past was riddled with mistakes and regrets but
they shaped him for the better where they would have broken others. A lesson of true repentance is seen in him
consistently setting aside the pain and suffering that the secular world throws at him however: his own personal
fear of not being able to protect himself and even a life with Dorothy, whom he undoubtedly cared so much for.
Even the accusation that his stubbornness manifested pride and not true belief did not ultimately sway him
because his belief in God’s words and commandments were just that strong. Doss didn’t know how to live with
himself other than according to the word of God. Internalizing this, I don’t see how I could ever have done
otherwise myself either. They called Doss “coward”, “weak” for all they saw was a “skinny kid”. But just as
Jesus said:

Blessed are the weak: for they shall inherit the earth. – Matthew 5:5.

There is a power in weakness, something I have always struggled to understand, but I saw it in Hacksaw
– in Desmond Doss.

“Please Lord, help me get one more.”

Doss repeated this line over and over again as he relentlessly ran into the jaws of death at Hacksaw to
save as many people as one man could possibly save. He did not go back into the fire expecting to come out –
nor did he wish or expect to die. It was simply not what was at the forefront of his mind. His calling to save
people came first; death or life was merely a byproduct of this priority. Throughout the montages of him running
back and forth from ridge to battlefield, avoiding explosions, gunfire, Japanese patrols, I kept wishing that he
would just stop, get off the ridge and back to safety. He had done enough, saved enough. But what was enough?
He saved the lives of 75 men – men who were left for dead. Try and internalize this number for as second. 75
men could fill up single bedroom apartment. How many family members were spared the pain? How many
children born because of this act of bravery? Suddenly 75 is a much larger number than one might have initially
contemplated.

When Doss saved people, he saw past race and nationality. This had nothing to do with his love for his
country and his comrades. No one could doubt that he was any less patriotic than the most loyal American
soldier. But when he looked to save the wounded, he saw past the battle, even past the world war. He saw
people: made of flesh and blood: all, God’s creation and children. One man’s life should have been worth nor
should be worth more than another’s.
“I got the energy and the passion to serve as a medic, right in the middle with the other guys. No
less danger, just… while everybody else is taking life, I’m going to be saving it. With the world so
set on tearing itself apart, it doesn’t seem like such a bad thing to me to want to put a little bit of
it back together.”

Desmond Doss saved all those lives without ever carrying a firearm. We all say that we would like the
world to be a better place. Most people want world peace, a world without borders or hatred or racism or sexism
but when faced of violence almost everyone would retaliate with violence. It is a vicious cycle and as if Doss
couldn’t possibly do more than he already has, he leaves the world with a clear message: stand up for what you
believe and do not let anything sway you. Not death, not isolation, not fear of punishment. In saving lives,
Doss fights violence not with violence, but with the strongest of wills to salvage whatever fragments are left of
the shattered tapestry that is humanity during its lowest point.

“Most of these men don’t believe the same way you do, but they believe so much in how much
you believe.”

Peace and love is never irrelevant. It is not to be dismissed in times that governments often deem to be
“states of exception”. In a world where love can be so easily swayed and stifled, what is left? Men and women
inevitably look, whether in admiration or curiosity, to those who believe in God and higher causes because what
they view is a person who sees past the fleetingness that is a human life grounded in only earthly things and if
they cannot believe it for himself, they will believe in those that do. I want to be like Doss not for any type of
recognition or glory. I simply want to follow the path of Jesus with as much strength and courage as he was able
to do and sometimes, all you need is a really great film to nudge you in the right direction.
Hacksaw Ridge should prompt us to ask whether it is more conscientious to be an “objector” than a
“cooperator” with the tragic business of war. In a violent and conflicted world, we must continue to applaud
faithfulness and service. But we must also find ways to champion faithful, courageous, and creative
peacemaking wherever it can be found and fostered.