The supreme poet and father of the Italian language, Dante Alighieri, in his master work, “The Divine Comedy,” wrote that “the darkest places of hell are reserved for those who maintain their neutrality in times of moral crisis.”
That’s what came to mind after watching the movie that currently ranks in first place across theaters in the United States, “Sound of Freedom,” produced by the prolife Mexican actor, Eduardo Verastegui. The movie awakens the audience to the intrinsically evil reality of child trafficking, which continues to be a multi-billion-dollar industry ($150 billion) in the 21st century. The narrative of the film is based on a true story in which two children are taken from their home and sexually exploited at the hands of a network of child traffickers. Many have referred to this crisis as the “elephant in the room” that is being avoided or ignored by different media outlets.
Without getting into the details of the heart-wrenching story, the dramatic rescue of the children by Tim Ballard, an ex-CIA agent, sheds light on the indifference of so many which, in turn, allows evil to flourish in our society — often in the most remote and forgotten corners of our world — thus affecting the most defenseless within the human family.
Nevertheless, as the storyline develops what comes to forefront is the collective heroicness of a group of people that are determined to put up a fight to make sure that goodness prevails. They are determined to do anything in their power to “love God above all things and their neighbor as themselves’” by way of their communal effort to eradicate the sacrifice of children upon the altars of perversion.
The phrase uttered by Caviziel during the film, “God’s children are not for sale” has gone viral on social media and has become the motto for anyone who wishes to see this tragedy of child trafficking come to an end. The phrase harkens back to and affirms the sacredness with which every human life is imbued. This, in turn, acts as the foundation of our Christian anthropology and is the bulwark of human rights.
The film has great Christian undertones — thanks, in no small part, to the profound faith that animates the life of its producer, who is well known in Catholic circles for his work in defense of life and religious freedom. During a few interviews, Verastegui has described the production as nothing short of a “miracle from God” because it was completed despite countless obstacles and death threats.
Verastegui and his team, which includes Jim Caviziel, the actor who played the role of Jesus in Mel Gibson’s famous movie “The Passion of the Christ,” attribute the success of the movie to God’s providence and the herculean effort done by so many who are actively fighting against this evil that enslaves more than 27.5 million victims worldwide, of which 20 percent are estimated to be children (U.S. Department of State, United Nations).
After watching the movie, one easily concludes that goodness (as well as evil) can never grow in isolation, thus proving true that which Dante wrote more than 500 years ago. Sooner or later, every person must choose a side since remaining neutral before an intrinsically evil situation makes one an accomplice of these crimes that destroy lives, tear apart families, and leave deep and lasting wounds in the lives of the victims.
If you haven’t had the chance to catch the movie: Go watch it! For anyone who is unable to afford doing so, one need only request a free ticket using the following link: www.angel.com/pay-it-forward/sound-of-freedom