Tombstone and the War on Terror

One of my favorite movies is “Tombstone” with Kurt Russell playing the part of the legendary Wyatt Earp. Wyatt and his brothers finally come together in search of a normal life in Tombstone, AZ where they can finally live as a family.

Tombstone being born during the rush on silver, there was a law enforcement presence but the town itself was pretty much overrun by the lawless gang known as “the Cowboys”. They carried weapons openly and killed and stole indiscriminately. It seemed they were unstoppable.

Soon there was confrontation between the Earp brothers and the Cowboys when Virgil Earp accepted the job as town marshal after his predecessor had been murdered by one of the Cowboys. Though the Earps did not want to become involved again in law enforcement (they were retired lawmen), Virgil nevertheless felt compelled to take his place out of a sense of both guilt and obligation knowing the town was being overrun by lawlessness without a law enforcement presence. He had determined that if he was going to continue living in Tombstone, there would have to be law and order.

Long story short, youngest Earp Morgan was shot in the back by one of the Cowboys and Virgil was seriously wounded so much so that he could not continue as the town’s marshal, so they decided to leave town. Or so the Cowboys thought.

The rest of the movie is focused on Wyatt Earp and Doc Holloday with some others chasing the Cowboys down and putting them out of business. During one particular gun fight, Wyatt pulled a rather miraculous stunt in which he unnecessarily exposed himself but came out without a scratch. After the battle, Doc was talking to another man about Wyatt’s need for vengeance to which Doc replied, “Make no mistake. It’s not revenge he’s after. It’s a reckoning.”

The word “reckon” has several different meanings and applications but for the purpose of its context in “Tombstone” and Wyatt Earp’s quest against the Cowboys, it was time for the Cowboys to be judged and to “settle accounts” between good and evil. Evil had reigned for too long.

We know, or should reasonably know, that vengeance settles no score. In fact, for the faithful the act of vengeance is prohibited according to the Word of the Lord because man can never truly judge appropriately against acts perpetrated against himself as an individual. The act of judgment rightly belongs to law and the community for the sake of security and peace not for individuals but for community.

The war on terror is not completely unlike the situation which was portrayed in the movie. There are several renegade bands of men around the world who have declared themselves to be Allah’s messengers bent on “jihad”, and they are ruling their own worlds not according to the true teachings of the Koran but according to either what they are being taught or what they want to believe as it suits them and if the community does not acquiesce accordingly, the community is judged and murdered. The only sense of order which exists in this world is the order by which men rule by the edge of the sword.

The Cowboys’ terrorist grip on Tombstone was finally vanquished not because Wyatt Earp negotiated with them or considered their upbringing or their level of education or poverty, and Wyatt Earp did not consider himself to be at fault for the murderous rampages of this pack of wild dogs. Instead, the Cowboys were systematically destroyed by duly appointed law enforcement.

In the movie, Doc and Wyatt were talking about Wyatt’s upcoming duel with Johnny Ringo, the leader of the Cowboys. Wyatt asked what makes a man like Ringo act the way he does and Doc replied, “A man like Ringo has a big empty hole that can never be filled. He can never kill enough or steal enough or cause enough pain to fill it.” All a man like Johnny Ringo wants, says Doc, is revenge for just being born.

Is that all there truly is? Are these terrorists so filled with hate because they hate themselves and their own lives and resent being born at all? Is there such a thing as a level of hatred so profound that the sanctity of life is no longer worthy of consideration? If this is true to any degree, it would seem then that this war is not winnable at all except when civilized nations band together and finally realize that these crazies will not be dealt with except by force, and they cannot be contained within any border as evidenced by 9/11. They must, however, be dealt with and at least controlled.

The world community demands a reckoning; justice itself demands that accounts be settled. These murderers cannot be allowed to perpetrate their goals at the expense of international order and security. Liberty demands that mankind be left to his own devices and his own unalienable rights to live according to his calling without violating the unalienable rights of others. These outlaws (please do not call them practitioners of Islam. They do not worship Allah; they worship death) are looking for trouble, not a deal.