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Daniela Zavala
Jesus Christ and the New Evangelization
March 13, 2015
There's No I in ISIS
Perhaps facing oppression and prosecution is a type of "hazing" for world religions. Early
Christians faced being singled out, tortured, and killed for simply believing one in God instead of
the many pagan gods that were worshipped at the time of the Holy Roman Empire. It has since
then been widely accepted and now is a major world religion. In the 1930s and 1940s, Jews were
kicked out of their own homes and rounded up by the masses; millions and millions of Jews were
killed in concentration camps. Muslims, another major world religion, Islam, nevertheless, have
also been pushed out of their homes for what they believe in. Between 1490 and the 1600s, under
the command of King Ferdinand, Muslims were from Spain. However, now they are still facing
persecution, in its homeland and in America. As a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, many
American Muslims as well as Muslim American citizens have since then been treated differently,
unequally. There is a lot of hate directed toward Muslims, because it is the popular belief that
Islamic beliefs were what perpetuated two men to act and cause this tragedy. However, while
these two men, who are radicals and not Muslim, acted on seemingly Muslim beliefs; they were
not. These beliefs were simply similar to Islamic beliefs, which are similar to Christian beliefs,
and communicated in the same language as Islam, Arabic. It is like if Christianity was compared
to the Westboro Baptist Church. While the movement is seemingly noble to a certain group of
people, to take on the responsibility to right every single evil in the world by ridiculing the
sinner, as well as many of the time being mistaken by what evil is and is not, such as evil not
being a summer music festival or the funeral of a Star Trek actor, to it is irrelevant and

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unnecessary. It is also mainly communicated with in English, like Christianity, which can also be
translated in other languages. To lump these two religions together would not be a precise
assessment of these practices. It is evident that generalizing similar practices together is
inaccurate and unfair to the true and noble causes. While the film, American Sniper, perpetuates
the ignorance of mistaking ISIS as being an Islamic group, it simultaneously does spread part of
the Gospel so subtly and eloquently, as Jesus has taught us to do.
The film, American Sniper, introduces Chris Kyle as its very macho, Texan protagonist,
who loves both God and his country. Before he became a sniper for the United States Navy, he
thought we was a cowboy. When he realized that he could use his talents and rigor for guns to
help defend his country instead of riding untame horses, he became completely immersed with
using his gun to kill anyone who stood in the way of that, which he thought was the civilians,
who just happened to mostly be Muslim, since he was placed in an Islamic state. The way that
the film was portrayed, through the director, anyone who is an inconvenience to the military is
the antagonist. This further perpetuates the marginalization of all Muslims, because now a box
office success glorifies the killing of and utter disrespect of Muslim citizens. In one scene of the
film, Kyle refers to not only the enemies that he is fighting against savages, what he refers not
only the enemies that he is fighting but also the "inconveniences" of the rest of the mostly
Muslim population. Kyle does not take the time to understand the culture of the land he is
invading. While he is on duty and not vacationing, it is important to know or at least understand
the basics of the culture, whose home is being invaded. In Muslim culture, respect is a very
important virtue that is heavily valued. Another important aspect of Muslim culture is the respect
and acknowledgement of the head of the family, which is usually the father. During a house raid,
Kyle, who is not authorized to lead the raid or be in the squad at all for that matter, goes to the

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father in the house and throws him onto the ground, screaming at him. The father's child is left
there watching as the head of the household he belongs to is beaten brutally and shown no mercy
before even being asked for the refugee. This complete disrespect for the culture shows how
unfit Kyle is to be residing in the area, where the population is mainly Muslim. Of course,
according to Muslim culture, responding to violence with violence is unacceptable, so the father
does not try to fight back a stranger barging into his house and shoving him to the ground.
Objectively speaking, the movie, itself was very well produced. The casting and the
acting was chosen perfectly. Bradley Cooper portrayed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder very
accurately and the supporting characters, his war buddies, definitely stimulated the plot. Their
insight on the destruction of humanity through war and their deaths added dimension to storyline
of the film. Kyle's own insight on the fact that he thinks that his friends died because they did
not enjoy being a part of the war further shows the destruction of humanity caused by the war.
While the war has directly caused the deaths of thousands of innocent citizens, the internal war,
the propaganda that perpetuates hatred and ignorance against Muslims, which is thinly veiled as
patriotism or nationalism, has also had a huge affect on the deaths of innocents. This blind and
unjustified generalization of Muslims with the radicals causes people to want the war to continue
and to want and root for the eradication and assimilation of Muslims.
While the film projects Islam as a threat to America, it effectively does address another
world religion, Christianity. Kyle is shown at the beginning of the film going to church. When he
is asked what he loves, he responds with both his country and God. Throughout the film he
professes his faith and he has a nuclear family to go to in between his tours. Despite his deranged
outlook on the war, Kyle has deep rooted familial values and cares very much about others,
especially his family, which is what may have led him to the digression from his family during

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his tours. However, he finally does return to his family for good and really embraces establishing
a healthy relationship with his children.
An Oscar-nominated film, American Sniper was a box office hit and millions of
Americans fell in love with it. Its far-reaching influence, while effectively addressing certain
Christian beliefs and practices, ironically propels the already rooted ignorance of Islam and it's
association (or its lack of) with ISIS.

Works Cited
American Sniper. Dir. Clint Eastwood. Warner Bro. Pictures. 2014. Film.
Farhad Mawazeb. Personal Interview. 3 March 2015.