Conscience over Creed

Many saw evil.
They dared to stop it.

Last week I finally had the opportunity to watch the movie Valkyrie. With three young boys, my wife Cindy and I do not get a chance to watch movies often. I highly recommend that you view this movie.

Valkyrie is a 2008 historical thriller film set in Nazi Germany during World War II. The film depicts the July 20, 1944 plot by German army officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler and to use the Operation Valkyrie national emergency plan to take control of the country. These brave German soldiers could no longer violate their conscience while serving their country.

The film opens with an oath that the adherents to Nazism took while practicing their wicked behavior. In order to accomplish his agenda, Adolf Hitler denied God’s ways and set himself up as the new Lord of Germany. The oath contained the following words:

I swear by God this sacred oath:

That I shall render unconditional obedience to Adolf Hitler
Fuhrer of the German Reich and people,
Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces,

And that I shall at all times be ready, as a brave soldier,
to give my life for this oath…

God has given us a conscience as a guide to witness to what is right and what is wrong. In fact, God writes His laws on our hearts. We should never follow a creed that denies what God teaches in His Holy Scriptures as righteous and just conduct.

Psalm 14:1a says, “The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.”

The root of all deceptive, evil and immoral action is the belief that there is no God. This presupposition causes people to live life without the thought of suffering eternal consequences for bad behavior. There is no absolute standard for what is right or wrong if there is no God.

History has proven two things. First, people consistently deny the reality of God and don’t approach life with a reverence for His commands. Second, God will accomplish His purpose whether we obey Him or not.

The film ends with words on the screen from the German resistance memorial in Berlin. The words on the memorial say:

You did not bear the shame
You resisted
Sacrificing your life
For freedom, justice and honor

Valkyrie is a great reminder that, although people can rebel against the commands of God, there is nothing they can do to ultimately prevent His will from being done on earth. Today, Hitler’s name is remembered in shame and his soul rots in hell forever. Those who resisted this evil tyrant are remembered with honor and dignity for all of eternity.

God is God! Only the fool says differently.