With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: Lessons From Spider-Man

This weekend I went out with my wife to watch Spider-Man 2, a movie I was looking forward to since the original Spider-Man. I'm glad to say the movie did not disappoint.Not only was it entertaining, it also brought forth much thought on what the phrase "With great power comes great responsibility" means. This was something told to Peter Parker by his uncle Ben, and is echoed throughout the comic books, and both films, especially the second movie. It is no secret to anyone who has seen the previews that in this film Peter Parker is frustrated and wishes to give up the mantle of Spider-Man. Who blames him? He was told before he picked up the mantle of the responsibilities entailed in his great power, and once faced with those responsibilities he realizes he preferred the old Peter, and the benefits of just being plain old Peter Parker. How soon he forgets how much he hated that life, as exhibited in the first movie.

I see parallels to America in the struggles of Peter Parker. We are a nation bestowed with great gifts, and power. We are undoubtedly the lone superpower, and I am proud to say with this great power we have excercised excellent self-control. If we look back throughout history superpowers constantly smashed all under foot they came in contact with. The Romans, the Greeks, the Babylonians, the Eygptians, and many others were unrelentless in their march towards more power, and all reached fates that crushed those empires into the dustbin of history. Our end has not been wrote yet, but if we fall we will fall from within. Many tell us they want us to sit back and be peaceful instead of rushing off to defeat terrorism and so forth. They want peace now, and the peace they wish for would be very temporary. Many in the US realize though that with great power does come great reponsibility. We as a nation were given a black eye on September 11th, and we responded. Many hoped we would talk. Sorry, but neither terrorists, nor super villians will negotiate. Ask Peter Parker. Many want us to be isolationists, and I hate to burst your bubble, but neither international issues, nor crime will go away if you give up your role in facing it. It will rise, and it will draw you back. When you know you can solve the problem you will eventually have to suit up and go. Crime and terrorism will not respond to sanctions, nor will any number of resolutions hinder their advances. Sometimes bad things happen, and the strong and brave have to face them with strong wills, not strong words, however fancy they are.

Even in the Christian walk the principle remains the same. We as Christians are given the power of God to spread his word. We still live in fear though, at least I know I myself do at times, and we forget His words and His spirit. That is not how God wishes it to be. He said:

We shirk our responsibilities, like Peter Parker, for a moment of fun and happiness. Indeed, we can have fun and be happy in Christ, but only when we live inside His will. What we forget at times is that our fear and unhappiness is not caused by God, but by our struggles against God. If someone suggests to us how much easier it would be to be away from God we see that and rush towards that ideal, and away from God. This person could be the media, or Satan, or whoever, but it is not Satan's fault if we turn away. He can't turn our head, only we can. God has given us free will, and we will be responsible, not anyone else, for our soul.

Likewise, who will be responsible if we walk away from the war on terror, seeking temporary peace, and lose the peace for good? Only us. We can allow those yelling for peace now to turn us away from a stronger peace later. If we had acted earlier the war would not be as harrowing now, but sometimes the horizon looks dreariest right before the sun rises.

The movie wouldn't work if Spidey quit in the middle and walked off, and neither will the US. We have enemies, and those enemies won't throw away their weapons if we do. That is being naive. Ask Spidey, he quit and crime went up. Sure its a movie, but can you honestly say Osama and others would quit their war on our culture if we quit hunting them down? If you believe that would you believe I can fly?

This weekend I went out with my wife to watch Spider-Man 2, a movie I've been looking forward to since the original Spider-Man came out a few years back. I'm glad to say the movie did not disappoint.Not only was it entertaining, it also brought forth much thought on what the phrase "With great power comes great responsibility" means. This was wisely told to Peter Parker by his uncle Ben, and is echoed throughout the comic books, and both films, especially the second movie. It is no secret to anyone who has seen the previews that in this film Peter Parker is frustrated and wishes to give up the mantle of Spider-Man. Who blames him? He realized beforehand the great responsibilities he would face and carry once he picked up the mantle of Spider-man, and the more he does the job the less he wants to do the job. Not only did he want to quit, but those he loved also wondered why he was always so distant and wanted the old Peter back.`

In Peter Parker's struggles I see parallels with the United States. We are a nation bestowed with great gifts, and with those gifts great power. We are undoubtedly the lone superpower, and I am proud to say with this great power we have excercised excellent self-control. Honestly, if we had not shown great restraint would Fallujah still be standing today? In contrast we see superpowers throughout history destroying all in their path, and rarely bringing better lives to those conquored. Whether it was the Romans or the Greeks they crushed all opposition, and subsequently disappeared into the dustbin of history. While our end has not been wrote yet, I can assure you that if we fall we will collapse from within.

That brings us to 9/11, and our war on terror. On one hand we have people saying to defeat terror we must sit back and negotiate. In doing this we have peace now since we ourselves are not at war. On the other we go to war now, and fight for peace by destroying the terrorist before they do more damage to us. If we look at those seeking peace now we see the peace they seek is very temporary, and is placed in the hands of the terrorists to keep since we are already at peace. If we look at the other group we see them believing that with this great power inherent in the US we have a great responsibility to keep for the good of the world. They see that we as a nation were given a black-eye on 9/11, and if we don't fight back we'll soon be on our back being kicked in the ribs. The differences are whether we talk or fight, and sadly many want us to talk. Sorry, but neither terrorists, nor super villians will negotiate. Ask Peter Parker. Many want us to be isolationists, and I hate to burst your bubble, but neither international issues, nor crime will go away if you give up your role in facing it. It will eventually reach your borders, or your backyard, and destroy the temporary peace bubble you placed yourself in. And while some cry for us to go to the UN I can assure you crime and terrorism will not respond to sanctions, nor will any number of resolutions hinder their advances. The strong and the brave have to face them with strong wills, not strong words, however fancy those words might be.

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

We shirk our responsibilities, like Peter Parker, for a moment of fun and happiness. Indeed, we can have fun and be happy in Christ, but only when we live inside His will. What we forget at times is that our fear and unhappiness is not caused by God, but by our struggles against God. If someone suggests to us how much easier it would be to walk away from God we relent and rush towards that goal.. This person could be the media, or Satan, or whoever, but it is not Satan's fault if we turn away. He can't turn our head, only plant a suggestion. We are the ones responsible for our giving up and walking away. God has given us free will, and we will be responsible, not anyone else, for our soul.

Likewise, who will be responsible if we walk away from the war on terror, seeking temporary peace, and lose the peace for good? Only us. We cannot allow those yelling for peace now to turn us away from a stronger peace later. If we had acted earlier the war would not be as harrowing now, but sometimes the horizon looks dreariest right before the sun rises. To defeat terror one must be willing to suit up and go, not throw away the suit and wax despondant on why the world is so bad. We must be willing to take up the fight for freedom, and if we sit and say those in the Middle East or elsewhere do not want or deserve freedom I will say to them the words of Abraham Lincoln:

Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves.

I think we can look at the notion of fighting for peace with peace by echoing the words of John F. Kennedy:

In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. I do not shrink from this responsibility -- I welcome it.

Like Peter Parker, who realizes his personal war on crime, and defending those he loves cannot be done with his suit in the trash, we must realize our war on terror cannot be fought with our hands in our pockets. It's time to defend freedom. Suit up!

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