Faith in conflict

Look, I know what you're thinking:

"This guy gon' preach me 'bout Jesus today NO SIRREE."

I'm not talking about that kind of faith. Well, okay, I will a little, but that's not the point.

In every story, there is a struggle. Either two people, two forces, a people and a force, whatever, are at a struggle with each other. And one has to lose, that is simply how it is. There is a winner and a loser in life. Sorry participation medals, I'm just making a point.



Most of the time, it seems like the person who is more capable is the victor. In a fight, whoever has the most muscle wins, right? Actually, that's probably not true, I like to think speed is more important, have you seen the first four Rocky movies?

I think, though, that as much importance as strength, speed, stamina may have on a conflict, a solid groundwork of belief will pull one through greater than a physical force. I mean, hasn't it always been that way? I mean sure, you can believe all you want in something and that doesn't mean it'll always work out for you, you do have to do some of the work.

But look, where can someone get without a directive, or a motive? You'll never get out of your bed if you don't have a reason to. You'll never eat without a motive, you'll never do homework without a motive (that one's a stretch, I don't do homework anyway...but you should), you'll never, I don't know, run into a burning building without a motive.

Unless you're crazy. But then there are other problems here, aren't there?

No, belief pulls one through.

"Okay, but, how comes in good versus evil it seems belief pulls the hero out of a situation, like a deus ex machina?"

I don't know. The power of God? Depends on the situation. I know for stories like Harry Potter, the Night Angel series and even something like The Maze Runner trilogy, belief in something is quite big. Even if you don't know what is motivating you or what you believe in, you have something to work for.

A goal, a God, a gift, something. The hero always fights for something. It may not even be a good thing. But you're right, Mr. Dialogue, villains do believe in things. Most of them belief in a world that has to go. Some believe that whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you...stranger. Others don't even fight for a bad cause, they just veer off their track and get lost in power.

Yet there is always belief, and where this is belief there is hope, and where there is hope there is a will, and when there is a will...

There is a way.

Ha, cliche points for me!

Faith, though, is not all about having a motive. Like I said, you can pray and pray and pray that you get on that test but, did you study? Do you know the material? You're the one taking the test, there may be a little outside help, but, do you know the square root of 135 (it's not a perfect square, get your calculator and figure that stuff out ASAP, homie). Faith involves work on your end, too.

I'll draw on Rocky once more. Before his big rematch with Apollo Creed, Rocky goes and stops by the church, asking from a prayer from the priest that he stays safe and does well in the fight. Before that we have the best training montage ever (don't dare argue with me). Yet, just imagine if Rocky didn't train beforehand. Sure, he wouldn't have died, but, he would have done horribly in a fight. You get what you give.

In a struggle, it's the same thing. Good versus evil are forever at war, ever since before the dawn of mankind. Unless your a believer in evolution in which case...this is gonna get real awkward real quick.

Everyone knows the Devil was the most beautiful of all the angels. Everyone also knows the Devil is the ultimate source of evil, just in front of Hans from Frozen. But, if he believed in his cause, how come he didn't win the battle against God/ why won't he win the next two battles against God's army of Angels (as stated in the Book of Revelations)?

It is because, in my opinion, belief must be placed in a good cause. You can't have a dark motive and hope for something good to come of it.The battles between Heaven and Hell are battles we see on a much smaller scale in every story, because that battle is the battle of good and evil. Of course, sometimes evil wins, unlike in real life, but, ultimately, at the end of the series and at the end of the day, what happens? The force of evil will lose, even if there is no chance in a million years it can happen. The machines die, the evil emperor's fatal flaw is exposed, the ace in the hole has a change of heart (yeah, those were all huge spoilers for movies that I won't mention).

Why? Because they have faith. You know who had faith? John Connor. And that man changed the future of humanity. Know who else had faith? Every single protagonist you have ever read about. Even the anti-heroes. Batman has faith in the people of Gotham. If he didn't, The Dark Knight would have ended a lot differently. What he says about the people of Gotham able to take a stand against men like the Joker, he doesn't know that. He didn't have a city-wide survey. In his heart and in his soul, he has faith that the people of Gotham will stand alongside justice in the fight against the shadow of villainy thrust upon the city.

Herschel Greene of AMC's The Walking Dead had faith, albeit misplaced, when we first met him (he thought there was a cure, that the walkers were still people). Yet two seasons later, in the desperate hour that is season four, we hear him say, "I still have faith." And what he does in either the episode later or that same episode is nothing short of a pure miracle that really highlighted his character.

Faith defines characters. Neo, from The Matrix, is nothing without believing in himself and in his powers. How else would he have moved as fast as the Agents, or made a really cool exit at the end of the movie? The entire spine of the The Matrix is believing in one's capabilities (they take a leap of faith for crying out loud), and ultimately, that puts man over machine, it puts Neo atop the list of so many sci-fi badasses...probably next to Morpheus but that's not the point.

The point is, a hero has to believe in something in order for him to achieve something. If they have nothing to believe in, nothing to fight for, then, are they really a hero? We can believe in a hero, but, it also takes them to believe in themselves to win the fight, to overcome the struggle, and to prove their might.

See you next time!