Kirk Cameron's new movie 'Unstoppable' is set to be released in theaters this Fall. The movie takes a Christian perspective on the reality of suffering and death, and the questions that humanity grapples with in the midst of them.
The movie itself has already gotten a lot of media attention due to a temporary Facebook ban, which was overturned by the vast response from both Cameron's team and over 500,000 Facebook fans. There are conflicting reports on why Facebook deemed the 'Unstoppable' trailer content to be "abusive and unsafe," and therefore unfit to display. Facebook's spokesman Michael Kirkland blames the problem on an automated anti-spam system, however Cameron and many other Christian and political groups who claim to have been censored by the social media networking site claim foul play.
For better or worse, the uproar has helped the film to gain attention from audiences who would have otherwise not batted an eye at the production, but now find their curiosity peaked.
Unstoppable asks the question that so many of us wonder at one point in our lives or another; why does God allows suffering when He can stop it? The answer to this is of course free will. Free will is gifted to man because he is a rational creature like God and therefore he is made master of his own acts. Giving man the ability to choose good or evil is freedom in its truest sense and allows him the ability to rely on his reason in making decisions to grow towards goodness and truth or to shape himself in darkness and to embrace death. After a parent has molded their child, they must inevitably allow the child the freedom to make certain decisions on their own. The release of control is done in love and for the good of the child's continual growth emotionally and spiritually. The parent rejoices at the good decisions made and suffers by the bad, just as God does. Unfortunately, as we also well know, many people will suffer by the evil decisions of others born of their free will. This is an unavoidable consequence of man's free will.
The truth is that Christ redeemed suffering when He died on the cross, not in vein but for our good. From that point in history all suffering can be united with His in order to share in His suffering and share in redemptive grace. We will never know how many people in our lives are responsible for a conversion or some grace we have experienced in our lifetime. Was it a grandmother's prayers, a stranger, the person sitting next to us on the plane? The Holy Spirit compels us to pray for others and He uses those prayers as blessings. In the same way we can offer our suffering as prayer, so that it is not experienced in vein, but rather as united with Christ on the cross. In this way we are brought closer to Him through our suffering and not driven further away.
"In illness, man experiences his powerlessness, his limitations, and his finitude. Every illness can make us glimpse death." (CCC 1500)
"Illness can lead to anguish,
self-absorption,
sometimes even despair
and revolt against God.
It can also make a person more mature, helping him discern in his life what is not essential so that he can turn toward that which is."
"Very often illness provokes a search for God and a return to him." (CCC 1501)
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