The other night, my wife and I enjoyed an advance of Amazing Grace, a splendid new movie profiling the life of William Wilberforce. It will open in theaters nationwide on February 23 and is well worth taking the time to see. Wilberforce is too-little remembered today, which is another lamentable sign of the facile nature of so much contemporary evangelical political involvement. Those few who are familiar with Wilberforce -- hopefully soon to be joined by millions more if the movie's message enjoys any success -- will know that this year marks the 200-year anniversary of his successful campaign to abolish the British slave trade. Wilberforce's heroic efforts over two decades, in the halls of Parliament and throughout his nation, testify to a remarkable mastery of the craft of politics at its best -- a unique combination of persistence, persuasion, pragmatism, and principle.
Looking back from today we can applaud his success. Yes in watching the movie, one cannot also help but be struck at the contingencies of history. This did take him 20 years, after all, and being on the losing end of countless votes in Parliament. Time and again Wilberforce faced real moments of despair, when by any reasonable standard his quest had ended in failure, and further efforts would be the very definition of futility. And this where his faith in God proved most genuine and most enduring, for only because he realized that politics was just a proximate means in his permanent calling was he able to endure, knowing that faithfulness is its own reward. That, and the love of a beautiful woman helped inspire him to get back in the game, as it were. This is Hollywood, after all, though in Wilberforce's case it also happened to be true to life.
And a word on the money and inspiration behind this movie -- it is the latest labor of love (following "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," etc) from billionaire Phil Anschutz and his capable team at Bristol Bay Productions and Walden Media. Their stated goals are to marry first-rate cinematic production with inspiring, transcendent stories. At least to this viewer, they succeed again. Here's hoping the market and the movie-going public will agree.
St. Andrew,
Thank you for the advanced tip. It sounds great, and if I ever go to a movie theater again, I'll see it. If not, it'll be on the must-rent list.
I enjoyed your description of politics, in addition to the description of the movie. In particular, the line: "persistence, persuasion, pragmatism, and principle". I often wonder when persistence is not pragmatic, where is the line? When do we say 'my time could be better spent doing other principled things'? Why keep fighting a losing fight, when there are some that could be won?
I would be curious about your thoughts, and others', on when we draw the line and choose other dragons to slay--not many are still going after the gold standard after all. When is it time to be "practical" and throw in the towel, and when do we fight on for 20 years of 'no' votes in parliament.
The simple thought would be that if your battle is principled you should never give up. But, in reality, there is only so much time in the day and eneregy in the political arena to accomplish things. If there are 10 principled things, and you can't get them all through, when do you drop one and try the other?
Now, this thought surely crossed Wilberforce's mind: "maybe I should spend my time building hospitals or schools..." But he fought on for 20 years.
Where is that line?
Thomas More
Posted by: Thomas More | February 05, 2007 at 07:20 PM