Hacksaw Ridge is doomed, like Doss himself, to be unpopular. The film's heart-wrenching violence is unpalatable, but even more off-putting is the tacit indictment offered by the quiet courage of men like Doss to a generation wringing its hands over pronouns, gluten, and microaggressions. Had he come of age today, his homespun background and obsession with the Bible would have secured for Doss a place at the bottom of the nation's "basket of deplorables." As the world darkens again with the gathering strength of barbaric enemies, we had better hope there will be enough faithful deplorables like Desmond Doss to save us.
It is one of the wonders of God, in His creation of mankind, that there are always a few who run to the sound of gunfire and not away. Just as there were men who went up the stairs on 9-11, there will be men who show up when we need them to fight off the barbarians.
They are only waiting for the call.
Desmond Doss was not concerned about being popular. What
he did was above and beyond human ability. He called upon
Almighty God for help. I’d read about Desmond; but haven’t
seen the movie. (We haven’t been to a movie in years. Have
rented a few and hope to rent “Hacksaw Ridge” to watch at
home.)