What would Obi-Wan say to Captain America and Iron Man?
My friend at Russelling Reviews just gave 5/5 stars to Captain America: Civil War.
Without spoiling anything, in the movie, Captain America and Iron Man disagree over a key moral fact. Is the Winter Soldier a good guy or a bad guy?
The Avengers have to choose. They're either for him or against him. This divides the Avengers - Team Captain America versus Team Iron Man.
In Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, Obi-Wan Kenobi has a similar choice. Is Anakin Skywalker a good guy or a bad guy?
In a key moment, Anakin says to Obi-Wan, "If you're not with me, then you're my enemy."
But Obi-Wan replies, "Only a Sith deals in absolutes." This is the proof that Anakin has joined the dark side.
This is because Obi-Wan believes in moral subjectivism - "Moral facts are subjective. I have my truth and you have yours."
Anyone who believes in absolutes - moral objectivism - must be from the dark side!
But in Captain America v Iron Man, the two Avengers are disagreeing over an objective moral fact - "is the Winter Soldier a good guy or a bad guy?" - not each other's subjective state.
A key moment is when Black Widow has to choose for herself who is right and who is wrong. Either Captain America or Iron Man is right. But they both can't be right - "Captain America has his truth and Iron Man has his."
Similarly, Jesus calls himself "the Truth".
A key moment in our life is when we have to choose for ourselves if Jesus is right or wrong.
Is he the Truth or not? Is he the Way to know God or not? But it can't be "he has his Truth and I have mine."
We're either for him or against him.