Civil War (2024)

Set in a near-future dystopian America, Civil War follows a team of journalists and war photographers as they navigate a fractured United States embroiled in violent conflict. The country has splintered into warring factions, with rebel groups fighting against an authoritarian federal government. As the reporters travel across the war-torn landscape, they witness firsthand the horrors of a nation tearing itself apart, struggling to document the truth while grappling with their own survival. The film presents a harrowing look at the role of journalism in times of crisis and the fragility of democracy when division turns to war.

In a sense, it feels like democracy is not just fragile. These days we have been convinced of a lie that we are in control of what happens in our country. While the masses may be, in fact, in control, we individuals are not. In some sense, an individual has little more control over a democracy than subjects to a king did. We can be manipulated through this lie if we are not careful.

The idea that democracy gives individuals control is an illusion—especially in large, complex societies where power is wielded by institutions, corporations, and political elites who shape narratives, control resources, and manipulate public perception. While democracy, in theory, empowers the people, in practice, individual influence is often minuscule, drowned out by the machinery of media, special interests, and systemic inertia.

This illusion of control can be dangerous because it fosters complacency. People may believe that simply voting or participating in surface-level political discourse is enough, when in reality, power structures often remain unchanged. Worse, those in power can weaponize this belief, convincing individuals that they are active participants in shaping their world when they are, in fact, being steered toward predetermined outcomes.

This isn’t to say democracy is meaningless, but it does suggest that real change requires more than just engaging in the traditional mechanisms of voting and policy debates. It requires critical thinking, resisting manipulation, and understanding how power actually operates—often behind the scenes. If we accept democracy at face value without questioning who truly holds the levers of control, we risk becoming passive subjects rather than active citizens.

Even more, as believers, we need to resist the tempting lie that we need to march lockstep in a certain way of exercising our citizenship. Rather than “vote Christian” we need to do a good job of living and influencing Christian in our communities. Jesus was not “right” nor “left.” We should not be either. There may come a day when America sees another civil war. That can be best avoided—not by either side wining—but rather by people rediscovering that we have more in common than what divides us, and that which is trying to divide us is actually manipulating us in order to control us.