The Reliant, The Movie

The Reliant Official Novel Trailer from Philip Hunsaker on Vimeo.

The Reliant, The Movie

Miracles from Heaven (2016)

A wholesome film is rare in America these days. I saw the movie, Miracles from Heaven, last Sunday, Easter. It was an uplifting film. I enjoy message movies, especially those which are based on real life events.

The theme of Miracles from Heaven centers on the effects of a devastating digestive disease on the middle child of a family with three girls. The mother passionately tries to do everything physically possible to find a medical solution to her child’s problem (pseudo-obstruction motility disorder and antral hypomotility disorder). The movie reminds me of an older movie, Lorenzo's Oil (1992), in which the parents tirelessly research and seek a medical intervention for their child, who was suffering from adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD).

As the movie unfolds, many minor miracles are occurring leading up to a dramatic event that brings about an earth-shaking change in the girl’s condition. The culminating miracle is only the major miracle in a series of minor miracles. Interspersed within the drama, are moments that will make you laugh as well as touch your heart.

The mother’s faith is challenged during the fight to help save her daughter. She has some support from her husband, however he is extremely busy in trying to keep the family’s head above the water, having just gone into debt opening his veterinarian practice.  The child’s disease comes upon her suddenly, causes her great pain, and stifles her ability to live a normal life. The disease is also very costly and causes a significant financial challenge for the family.

Together the family faces the situation together with love and courage. The movie is a moving account of faith, love and family.

I would give the move ***** out of *****.  The movie is entertaining and inspiring. It is well worth the time and effort to go and see it in the theater or on DVD when it comes out.

History Hollywood has an interesting article about the background of the movie. You can click here to learn more about the movie's characters as well as about the real people on which the movie was based.

Last Ounce of Courage (2012)

Political correctness (PC) seems to be the rule in America today. Thanks for this predicament has to be given to the tireless effort of the current occupier of the White House and his corrupt administration guided by Valerie Jarrett, the President's Senior Advisor (and a major under-miner). Legions of secular humanist elitists in politics, business, the media, academia, and entertainment, etc. also contribute to the erosion of our traditional values. To the Left, PC transcends individual rights including the right to life, religious liberty, the sacredness of marriage, and the inability to even name Islam as the inspiration for the most vicious acts of terrorism in the world today.

politically correct

adj. Abbr. PC

Conforming to a particular sociopolitical ideology or point of view, especially to a liberal point of view concerned with promoting tolerance and avoiding offense in matters of race, class, gender, and sexual orientation.

---

political correctness n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

I was given, as a gift this Christmas, the movie, Last Ounce of Courage, which provides an example of what one individual can do in the face of a society inundated and infected with the PC contagion.

The forces of evil all around us and they include secularism, Islamism, Progressivism all of which are gaining a foot hold in our culture.  The Obama Administration has quickened the effect of these negative influences. All of these forces seem to be working in concert with each other to diminish biblical Christian influence in America. Ironically, it was Christianity that was the midwife in the birth of America. And the tyranny that comes from ideologies like atheism or Islamism is exactly what the early Americans were fleeing when they came and established the United States.

Christmas, recognizing the birth of Jesus, is the ultimate expression or symbol of what it means to be Christian. That could be the reason why Christianity is the target of those who want to remove all the vestiges of Christianity from the public square and everywhere else in this society.

A major theme of Last Ounce of Courage is countering the anti-Christmas, anti-Christian movement. After all, Christmas is a national holiday and is a fixture of tradition in America. The Left wants it gone. Organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Americans for the Separation of Church and State, People for the American Way, Freedom from Religion, American Atheists, and others work endless to rid the nation of all Christian influences. This is what the main character of the movie faced.

The main character, a pharmacist and a part-time mayor of a small town, faces an ACLU type of villain who comes to town after a report was made that a Christmas tree was erected in front of city hall. The anti-Christian lawyer demands that the tree be removed because it violates the separation of church and state law. Nowhere in the constitution is there any basis for this illicit finding.

The mayor resists, and after reflection on the fact that his son had given his life fighting for freedom overseas in combat, he begins to push back against the anti-Christmas, anti-Christian persecution. He eventually loses his job as mayor when the city council gives into the demands of the court, which supports the ACLU representative.

The movie makes one wonder, "What am I doing to reverse the trend to completely remove Christmas and to marginalize or neuter Christianity in our society?" Well here is what I've tentatively resolved:

(1) To support Senator Ted Cruz in any way I can to insure his election as President. He is a courageous conservative, more than in name only. He will contend for what is right. He has proven to do so while serving in public office.

(2) To help elect true conservatives in Congress on the state and national levels.

(3) To pray for revival in my own life and in the lives of all Americans to bring about the restoration of traditional values and principles on which the country was founded.

(4) To be more active on this blog addressing the negative forces that work to intentionally or inadvertently ruin this nation.

I recommend this movie to every Christian, Conservative and Patriot. Watch the movie, get motivated to something, join the fight to stem the tide of anti-Christmas, anti-Christianity, anti-American subversion that abounds all around our society today. 2016 may be our last opportunity to undo the damage perpetrated by the Carter-Clinton-Bushes-Obama regimes and other forces of evil which are hard at work stripping Americans of their God-given freedoms ...

American Sniper (2014), a Review

 

I’m very selective as to the movies I watch and especially those that I pay to see in a movie theater. I saw American Sniper last evening upon the ‘recommendation’ of movie critic and obese movie maker Michael Moore. If that radical leftist didn’t like the movie, then it surely must be a good one. It was.

The Saturday prime time movie crowd filled the theater to 90%-plus capacity, as it has all over the nation. The movie is quite riveting and realistic, maybe too much so  in parts. Violence and sailor language permeates the movie. However, that is an accurate reflection of military life. The movie is definitely meant for adults.

The movie gives the viewer a peek at the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It follows the life of a famed Navy Seal sniper, Chris Kyle. The movie alternates between shots of him a home in the United States and him at work in Iraq. A couple particular moving events in the movie are when he is faced with having to shoot a young boy and his mother who are on a suicidal mission to destroy U.S. Marines with a grenade.   He reluctantly had to decide whether to shoot them or not. In another similar incident he held his fire until a young boy dropped a rocket propelled grenade laucher (RPG) that he picked up after Kyle killed the Islamist terrorist who was about to shoot at a Marine convoy.

Another series of scenes that stuck out to me was the battle within a battle between the ace Islamic terrorist sniper and the American sniper, Kyle. Over the course of much of the movie the battle plays out with the Islamist sniper getting the best of Kyle for the most part.

In his four tours of duty Kyle had some serious ups and downs at home relating with his wife and children. A lot of trouble came from his inability to leave Iraq mentally and emotionally. He was driven by some degree of revenge for what the Islamic terrorists did to some of his fellow combatants.

Kyle’s life was forever impacted at the end of the movie by a troubled veteran, who Kyle was trying to help.

Clint Eastwood directed and produced the movie. He is one of my favorite actors and he does a great job with this movie. The acting of Bradley Cooper as Kyle was also commendable. The movie is a five-star movie. I would recommend it for every adult citizen.

It is more educational than it is pure entertainment. It is educational as far as portraying with historical accuracy and graphic representation what America and the entire Western world facea in dealing with the corrupt nature of Islam and its most ardent and observant followers.  It delves into the life of a patriot American, who is willing to sacrifice his life and all that is important to him to preserve the freedom for which America is known and admired.

Gimme Shelter

Unstoppable

Education Reform: Right Ahead or Left Behind?

There was a recent article on Alternet.org, on my ‘favorite’ left-wing website, “Public Schools, Billionaire Agendas: The Threat of the 'Parent Revolution' Campaign The "parent-trigger” movement is being heavily financed by the conservative Walton Family Foundation, one of the nation’s largest anti-union organizations,” that caught my attention. This article caused me to reflect and to react by making the following comments. I repeat them here:

In writing about anyone (including a large majority of American parents and the legions of taxpaying supporters of parental choice and rights in matters of education) who may be opposed to keeping the status quo of our failed government indoctrination centers their reform movement is referred to pejoratively as “seemingly populist crusade.” The children-ignoring teacher unions seek to preserve the status quo. They only seek more union dues and oppose ANY infringement or possible infringement on their gravy train.

Does it matter that the Walton family or anyone of lesser means seeks to support reform for reforms sake? Yes, to Democrat politicos, the NEA, AFT those monopolistic goliaths who rule and ruin he education system. I see nothing wrong with lessening the influence of the tyrannical teacher union and their thuggish tactics (like the Wisconsin teacher protests http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...

The author wrote that the film “Won’t Back Down” ”largely depicts the teachers’ union and school bureaucracy as opponents of change.” That description is more typical, not only in Pittsburgh, but many schools across this country. I just took the time and watched that movie. It was a powerful demonstration of the very thing that parents desire for their children. They do not want the union-first, kids-last mentality that currently runs rampant in our nation.

Instead of putting down the Walton family sponsorship of the reform movement, watch the movie quoted in the article, and see if real change is definitely what is needed today. ‘School Choice’ should be the cry across the U.S., not ‘Keeping the Status Quo’! 

Thank you, Gary Cohn (article's author), for mentioning the movie in your article, with which I otherwise disagree. I had never heard of the movie before. I give it ***** stars. I recommend it to all Alternet.org readers to watch it and weep …

The movie, “Won’t Back Down” captures essence of the problem with our failed education system so well. Here is a brief synopsis of the movie from the movie’s website (click on the link above):

The Story

Maggie Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis play two determined mothers; one a teacher, who will stop at nothing to transform their children's failing inner city school. Facing a powerful and entrenched bureaucracy, they risk everything to make a difference in the education and future of their children.

The film is inspired by the work of dedicated parents, teachers and advocates across the country.

The movie should inspire all Americans, but especially parents, grandparents, taxpayers, conservatives, Christians, and all others who love this nation and what it stands for to take action to fix the dysfunctional public education system. If the system is so badly flawed, then maybe it is time to scrap it and start over again with an entirely new approach.

The best method to deal with our broken education system is to let the private sector, the free market, compete without restriction directly with the current system. The current system will either die or improve.

Before you watch the movie I suggest that you also check out the YouTube video, "Wont Back Down Featurette," which highlights the movie and offers some additional insight from the actors and actresses.