by Randall Allen Dunn

Most people love the concept of Robin Hood. Someone who steals from the rich and gives to the poor.

They love it because they don’t consider themselves rich. We tend to think of rich people as those who have immensely more wealth or possessions than we have. Meanwhile, other people who have lost their homes, lost their jobs, or struggle to find enough food to keep their children from starving, would consider us to be the rich ones.

The truth is most of us still have enough to get by. Of course, we would all love to have a better income or a huge windfall to make things easier. We would love to have enough to pay off all our debts and still have enough to buy a nicer car or a nicer house and take a memorable vacation over the summer.

But when we can’t afford to do those things – or can’t afford to do them anytime soon – we start to envy those wealthy people who can afford such luxuries. Those people who don’t have to live paycheck to paycheck or seek a second job. Those people who don’t have to limit their kids to the schools that they can afford. Those people who don’t have to worry about rising insurance or utility rates, rising gas prices, or rising mortgage or rent payments. We start to wonder how we can get some of that money for ourselves. By winning the lottery, winning “American Idol”, or earning a huge tax break.

Then we start resenting the rich, wondering why they should have so much of what we want, when we have so little of it.

We would never call it jealousy. We simply say it’s not fair. We say those rich people don’t deserve to be rich, especially when we’re so poor.

No one considers that if they got all the things they keep wishing for – to get some of that pie for themselves – they would become one of those “undeserving” billionaires they always loathed before. How can it be all right for a poor person to become an overnight billionaire, through little or no genuine effort on their part, if it’s not all right for a billionaire to be a billionaire?

In the film, “The Dark Knight Rises”, superhero Batman (Christian Bale) has quietly retired amid a storm of controversy, after taking the blame for several murders. Murders that were actually committed by celebrated District Attorney Harvey Dent, who went insane after suffering a horrible accident that marred his face. Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) agreed to hide the truth in order to preserve Dent’s heroic reputation, and also to enforce Dent’s policies that helped eradicate organized crime from Gotham City.

Eight years later, a dangerous mercenary named Bane (Tom Hardy) invades Gotham and organizes an army to take control of it. He forges billionaire Bruce (Batman)Wayne’s fingerprints to bankrupt him, then sets off multiple bombs throughout the city. He addresses a crowd of citizens to inform them he will kill anyone who tries to leave Gotham or summon outside help. But he explains he is giving the city to them, having taken it from the corrupt wealthy citizens who had been running it.

To prove his claims, he reveals Commissioner Gordon’s agreement to the conspiracy about Harvey Dent, in order to pass the Dent Act that helped incarcerate several dangerous criminals. He insists that Gordon’s corruption in allowing this demonstrates that the criminals should never have been imprisoned, so he frees them. Those same criminals then drag wealthy citizens from their homes and hold a kangaroo court to sentence them to death for their “crimes”.

Meanwhile, the rest of the citizens – criminals and hostages alike – are free to take possession of the billionaires’ homes. Cat burglar Selina Kyle (Anne Hathaway) has been longing for this moment, to take charge of the wealth and luxury that those billionaires have kept locked away to themselves. But in order to possess it, she had to betray Batman’s trust, letting him be captured and beaten half to death by Bane. Now that she finally has what she wanted, she realizes that this is not the way she wanted to obtain it.

Walking through a trashed house, from which its rich owners had been “evicted” by Bane’s mob, she finds a broken picture of a family. A father, a mother, and their children. She tells her partner-in-crime, “This was someone’s home.”

Her friend replies, “And now it belongs to everyone. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

The family in the picture is made of human beings, just like Selina and her accomplice. The only difference is that the people in the picture are rich, and Selina is one of the thieves stealing from them.

There’s nothing wrong with wanting something more. A bigger house, fancier clothes, a fatter paycheck. But when we want something that belongs to someone else, we’re on a dangerous path that starts with envy and ends with theft.

It’s easy to justify stealing something from people that we think can afford such losses. Or from someone that – in our opinion – doesn’t deserve to have such things.

But it’s no crime to be rich, any more than it’s a crime to be poor.

Stealing, however, is still a crime.

No matter who you’re stealing from.

Find more reviews of “The Dark Knight Rises” at amazon.com!

FAST READ!

The Diamond Goose – a suspense short story

Lester Auger finally found a way to purchase the car of his dreams. He should be careful what he wants …

Lester Auger can’t wait to get his hands on the wheel of a silver Bentley. And he doesn’t. With his success in jewelry store commissions, he can afford to take out a loan from Rico Torriani, a notorious figure with the means to help Lester realize his dreams right away. It’s perfectly safe … until Lester falls behind on his payments. Now Lester’s driven to do something desperate. All he has to do is cover his tracks and trust Mister Torriani to give him a little more time …

 by Randall Allen Dunn

Having grown up with both comic books and movies, I never expected to see anyone make a movie about an entire team of superheroes. I was a kid when moviemakers went to great lengths and plenty of screen time to make moviegoers believe a man could fly in “Superman: the Movie”. It was hard enough to convince audiences that one person could develop incredible superpowers and fight crime. To convince people that several such individuals could exist, it seemed they would have to introduce each of the heroes individually first, one movie at a time.

And they did. In a long-term endeavor, the Avengers were introduced through separate films, with each one hinting in post-credit scenes that the future Avengers team would be formed. The result was an impressive and entertaining team of characters with very distinct personalities and powers, creating a “star-studded” superhero movie.

Of course, for it to work, these intriguing and powerful individuals had to learn how to function as a team. Which meant letting go of their individual agendas.

When an interstellar demi-God named Loki (Tom Hiddleston) attackes the secret government agency, S.H.I.E.L.D. and brainwashes one of their agents, Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) – also known as Hawkeye – Col. Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) decides to draw together these superheroes for help. Loki intends to take over the earth with an onslaught of alien monsters, once he establishes a portal that allows them direct entry into the human world.

Fury sends another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson) – known as the Black Widow – to recruit one of the most dangerous and reclusive would-be members, Dr. Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), whose anger triggers a transformation that transforms him into the raging monster known as the Hulk. Banner makes it clear that he doesn’t trust S.H.I.E.L.D. or the United States government, whose military have often hunted him down to try to use his monstrous persona as a weapon. But he agrees to come along when he learns that Romanoff wants to recruit him for his scientific expertise rather than his power as the Hulk, so that he can help analyze the tesseract that threatens to open up a portal to Loki’s world.

The government also recruits the self-obsessed, irreverent billionaire Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), whose high-tech flying armor earned him the name ofIronMan.When he sees the potential danger of the threat, Stark also agrees to tag along.

Fury himself approaches Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), who made a heroic name for himself as Captain America during World War II. Having just been revived from suspended animation,Rogersis now trapped in a world where all of his old friends and comrades are dead. All he knows now is his commitment to serve his country in whatever way he can, even if he no longer fits in with modern society.

When Iron Man and Captain America confront Loki, they encounter Loki’s powerful half-brother, Thor (Chris Hemsworth), who insists on dealing with Loki himself. He assures the others that this matter is beyond their ability to handle. But the three of them make a temporary truce and agree to take the captured Loki to S.H.I.E.L.D.

The team’s various personalities and personal goals soon come into sharp conflict. Particularly between the all-business, all-dutiful Captain America and the clownish egocentrism of Iron Man, who finds Captain America’s concepts of self-sacrifice for a greater cause to be old-fashioned and unrealistic.

Even harder to bring together are the Hulk and Thor, neither of whom whish to spend any more time with the group than they have to. Thor has little faith in the team’s abilities, and the Hulk doesn’t trust their intentions or their concern for his own welfare.

Ultimately, they learn that each member of the team has something unique and vital to offer. Banner and Iron Man challenge CaptainAmerica’s blind allegiance to S.H.I.E.L.D., when the evidence shows they are hiding something. This leads Captain America to do some private investigation of S.H.I.E.L.D. and learn that they themselves plan to use the tesseract as a weapon, which the other team members consider too dangerous to be left in any government’s hands.

When the Avengers finally mount a united attack against the invading alien forces, Captain America assumes leadership, using his military strategy to direct each member in using their individual skills to the best effect. Trusting his direction, the other members follow his instructions and repel the invaders.

Even Iron Man, after ridiculing Captain America’s ideas of self-sacrifice, realizes the value of such ideals when he is forced to sacrifice himself. Using his suit’s power, he seals the portal and stops the invasion, but in the process cuts himself off from his own world as he pushes through it to the alien world. Captain America’s noble example led him to understand what it means to make such a hard choice. To be a genuine hero.

Fortunately, Thor uses the power of his mystical hammer to pull Iron Man back from the portal, and the team is briefly re-united before calling it a day, to part as friends and comrades. Despite their differences and individual agendas, they now know they can all work together again if the need arises,

Having great skills and abilities make us each a valued member of a team. But if we can’t also choose to contribute our gifts for the good of our teammates, instead of holding back to benefit ourselves alone, we will never truly be part of that team.

Which means we will never be as strong as we could have been.

Find more reviews of “The Avengers” at amazon.com!

by Randall Allen Dunn

A life without purpose is, by definition, a meaningless life.

Thankfully, every person has a purpose. Sometimes they can’t see what it is. If a person doesn’t know what their purpose in life, it’s hard for them to truly enjoy living. They can’t find any sense of peace or freedom because they don’t know the meaning of their own life. Each individual needs to know what makes them unique, and the individual contribution they bring to others, often simply by showing up.

My own joy, peace and confidence come from my relationship with Christ, who takes care of all my needs. My sense of individual purpose comes through my writing, my encouragement to others, my teaching, and my acceptance and support of people. The way I do each of those things is unique, completely different from the way any other writer, teacher, encourager or friend will do it. Which makes my contribution important. It gives my life meaning.

In Frank Miller’s graphic novel, The Dark Knight, legendary superhero Batman has gone into retirement. He now relaxes in his civilian identity as billionaire Bruce Wayne, occasionally sharing a drink with his old friend, former Commisioner Gordon, and fending off the sarcastic jibes of his longtime butler, Alfred, who criticizes his excessive drinking and other self-destructive tendencies. In the old days, Bruce lived a dangerous lifestyle, putting on a mask and chasing down criminals. Back then, his pursuits had a purpose. Now he’s a thrill-seeker, bent on chasing one destructive activity after another, less for the pleasure of life than for the satisfaction of a glorious death.

He feels his life is over and he wants to end it all. To put himself out of his own misery.

Then he considers the state of the world. The way crime has evolved, fostering young gangs who don’t have the slightest regard for life. In the face of such unreasoning evil, what can an old man like Bruce even do?

After a series of events reminds Bruce of his original reason for becoming Batman, to avenge the murders of his parents, he realizes he cannot escape his purpose. No matter how old and limited he becomes, his passion remains the same.

So he dons the mask and cape once more and hits the streets.

This should be agony.

I should be a mass of aching muscle – broken, spent, unable to move.

And, were I an older man, I surely would.

But I’m a man of thirty – of twenty again.

The rain on my chest is a baptism –

I’m born again …

Finding your true purpose brings a fresh energy and passion to your spirit. It brings you back to life. It’s when you fail to find your purpose that the addictions come in. With nothing meaningful to do, people seek escape and comfort. Escape from the pitiful condition of their lives, and comfort within the sad life they have chosen.

It doesn’t need to be like that. Each of us can choose a great life. Every individual has a unique and powerful purpose, if they will choose to believe it, pursue it, and live it out.

Don’t waste your life on lesser things. You were meant for something great. It might mean becoming a great steel worker, a great firefighter, a great housewife, or a great friend. It might mean being a great artist, a great plumber, a great motivator, or a great parent. Whatever it is, it is unique to you. Something no one else can do in the same way or to the same degree that you will. If, of course, you choose to do it.

Find your purpose and fulfill it.

It’s waiting for you.

Find more reviews of The Dark Knight at amazon.com!

by Randall Allen Dunn

The other night at dinner, Nicki wondered if I’m spending more time on writing than I need to, because I’m not spending much time with her and the kids.

Abby immediately piped in. “You’re always working, and you never have time to play with me,” she said. She put up a hand, trying to look understanding, though it felt more like she was patting me on the head. “Now I knooow that you have to do lots of work, and I knooow writing is veeery important … To you.”

It was funny and sad at the same time. Sad because I know it’s true. Over the last two months, Abby has asked me to play with her several times, and I usually tell her I have work to do.

Which is also true. With creating lessons for teaching 6 writing classes a month, my life is busier than it’s ever been. Once I complete all of my reading and researching, I still need to learn how to format e-books for publishing, update the Character Entertainment website, and finally get back to writing new stories again.

But I don’t want to lose the short time I have with my kids. I don’t want to discover one day that twenty years of their lives have flown by, and the only thing I built during my time with them was my own career.

In the film, “Mary Poppins”, Mr. Banks (David Tomlinson) seeks a nanny to look after his children, whose antics have chased away every previous nanny his wife hired. Taking matters into his own hands, he determines to find a nanny that can keep Jane (Karen Dotrice) and Michael (Matthew Garber) in line. The children apologize for their misbehavior, and offer their own suggestions for an advertisement. They want a nanny who is kind and pretty, and ready to sing songs and play games with them. In other words, someone happy and fun!

But the last thing Mr. Banks wants is a “fun” nanny. He tears up their ludicrous “advertisement” and tosses it in his fireplace. But after he turns away, the torn pieces float up the chimney.

A nanny soon shows up on his doorstep, descending gracefully from the clouds as she holds onto an umbrella. A strong wind has just blown away every other applicant, leaving the umbrella-wielding Mary Poppins (Julie Andrews) as the only possible choice. She presents Mr. Banks with the children’s ad, its pieces now fully restored, and reads from it to provide her qualifications. She takes the job and entertains the children with songs, games and outings to the park, including a magical trip into a chalkboard drawing to visit a beautiful countryside populated with animated carousel horses and dinner-serving penguins. The children have more fun with Mary Poppins and her friend, Bert (Dick Van Dyke), than they’ve ever had with anyone!

But they still miss their father.

When Mr. Banks tries to teach the children responsibility by urging Michael to deposit his money into a savings account, the father’s greedy boss (also Dick Van Dyke) frightens the children so much that they run off. Their antics create a panic at the bank that leads to the shaming and firing of Mr. Banks.

At which point, he realizes that his career wasn’t all that important after all. What good was it to chase after his career and to maintain a proper image if it cost him his own children?

For the first time since his childhood, Mr. Banks learns to laugh and play again, and takes his children out to fly kites together. And as Mrs. Banks (Glynis Johns) decides to limit her time spent on political activities, they all decide that they don’t really need a nanny anymore.

Because they have each other.

When our lives get busy, it’s easy to let our busy-ness crowd out time with our kids. A mountain of tasks piles on top of another mountain, until it’s all we can see.

But if I focus only on the mountain, I’ll miss the times I have with my kids for the few short years they’re living at home – times I can never get back once they’re gone.

When I called Nicki from work yesterday, I asked to talk to Abby, who was playing a computer game. On the phone, she gave short answers to all my questions about her day. She finally explained, “I’m having trouble because I’m talking on the phone and I’m playing a game. It’s kind of hard.”

I understood, and we cut our call short. I was disappointed, having really wanted to just talk for a couple of minutes.

And I realized she was doing the same thing I had been doing. As that endless “Cat’s in the Cradle” song started droning in my mind, I considered what a small thing this was. I didn’t expect her to stop her game so we could talk. But as she grows older, video games will be replaced with sports and parties and other activities, and she won’t have any time to spend with me, the same way I didn’t have time to spend with her. Not because she didn’t want to talk to me.

She would simply be busy.

This morning, I hugged Abby and we laughed and played together. Then I tried to apologize for not spending more time with her lately, to tell her it was wrong and I was sorry. But she was too busy goofing around, hanging sideways from my arms and making silly faces. She didn’t need any apology or explanation. She just needed me to be there.

And I’ve decided I will be.

Find more reviews of “Mary Poppins” at amazon.com!

by Randall Allen Dunn

A lot of people define “freedom” as choosing to do what you want, whatever that may be. In the 1960’s, it went like this: “If it feels good, do it.”

It’s amazing that people still believe that, though they don’t phrase it the same way. Freedom isn’t really about chasing after whatever feels good, as anyone who has developed a destructive habit can tell you. Those people found something that felt good, but ended up trapping themselves in a pit that they couldn’t climb out of. One bad decision for freedom led to another, which led to a worse decision, and finally formed a self-destructive habit. And then they gradually discovered that the “freedom” they pursued had become a cage. They struggled to maintain the good parts of our lives – their relationships with family and friends, opportunities to work and help others, time spent doing something productive or even fun …

But somehow, they couldn’t unlock the doors of their cages to walk out, because those cages had become too comfortable. To break free, they would have to sacrifice their medicating habit.

The two-part Green Lantern/Green Arrow story that started with “Snowbirds Don’t Fly” concludes with “They Say It’ll Kill Me, But They Won’t Say When” – after Green Arrow discovered that Roy Harper (his former superhero sidekick, Speedy) – is a drug addict. As we saw in last week’s blog, Green Arrow didn’t handle the news well. He essentially wrote Roy off, disgusted by what he had learned about him. If Roy was committed to drugs, Green Arrow wanted nothing more to do with him.

Probably not the best counseling approach.

However, it’s a natural reaction for most people when a friend’s nasty habit is exposed. Some people might be forgiving and sensitive to their friend’s problems, but others won’t be. And that addict needs to recognize the damage they’ve done to the people they care about. The loss of respect. Of trust. Of a sense of safety. When someone is addicted to drugs, alcohol, or porn, it’s hard for others to feel safe around them. After their friend has worked so hard to cover up their secret habit, people are led to wonder what other dangerous activities they might be hiding.

So why would someone engage in something so deadly in the first place? Many years ago, an elderly woman at my church stated she doesn’t understand why anyone would want to take drugs (the same question that Green Lantern asks in the story). One of our church members, having abused drugs in his past, told her, “That’s because you’ve never experienced drugs. If you had, you would know how good it makes you feel when you’re doing it.”

I’ve never taken drugs myself, but I believe that. Why would someone do something they know is destructive, if it didn’t feel good at the time? These habits provide a quick fix, making a person feel better about life, for a while. But when the feeling disappears, reality sets in, and that person must try to catch up to their many responsibilities. They might have to do damage control for the friends they’ve hurt, while they were under the influence of something that clouded their judgment. They might have to make excuses and elaborate lies for why they weren’t where they said they would be, or failed to do what they promised they would. They might even have to disguise themselves so that no one can tell they have a problem, downing coffee to sober up fast or wearing long sleeves in the summertime to hide their track lines.

Green Lantern has Roy stay with Dinah Lance (superheroine Black Canary) to stay safe, while he chases after the drug pushers that sold him the stuff. Roy is determined to free himself, to prove his worth and his character to Green Arrow.

And also, to get free.

It’s not easy, going cold turkey. He gets shakes and feels out of control. He’s not used to functioning without medicating himself with drugs. But with Dinah’s support, he gets through it.

Because he knows he has to.

Roy doesn’t even realize that while he’s fighting to get clean, his old drug buddies are shooting up again. Unfortunately, they don’t know how to mix it quite right. One boy’s exciting high ends in a heart-stopping drug overdose, leaving him dead on the floor. His pursuit of so-called “freedom” ruined his life, then took it away completely. He chased down the dream of freedom that many want to chase today, right up to the point that it killed him.

That kind of freedom isn’t really worth pursuing. Addicts are free to do what they want, just like everyone else. But they’re not free to hold down a steady job or get promoted. They’re not free to maintain a solid relationship based on mutual trust. They’re not free to turn their dreams into reality. Not when their real life has become a nightmare, from which they can’t escape.

Real freedom, however, is worth fighting for. Sometimes breaking an addiction is easy; sometimes it’s not. But it’s always worth it.

If you’re struggling to overcome an addiction, keep at it. Do whatever you need to do to gain real freedom! Freedom to live, not just to do what feels good.

Because that kind of “freedom” can kill you.

Find more reviews of Green Lantern/Green Arrow Vol.2 at amazon.com!

by Randall Allen Dunn

Sooner or later, our children are likely to disappoint us. It might be in something minor, like a choice of friends, clothes, or career. Or it might be in something highly significant, when one of our kids pursues a destructive path in life, making choices that we would never have made.

Our disappointment often comes from our frustration at being powerless to help them. How can we help when we don’t even understand? When our children act in ways that make no sense to us? The reality is that our children are not carbon-copies of us. As they grow older, they explore different styles, different interests, different opportunities.

They become different.

We can’t expect our children to grow up believing everything we tell them, or agreeing with us on every issue. Unfortunately, some hard truths must actually be experienced before they sink in. We can warn our children of the dangers out there, and advise them how to handle life’s challenges. But we can’t live out their lives for them. They’ll have to make some of those choices on their own, and deal with the consequences.

In the Green Lantern/Green Arrow story, “Snowbirds Don’t Fly”, the heroes chase after a group of drug addicts in an attempt to find their supplier. Green Arrow knows a little more about the drug problems than Green Lantern, immediately recognizing the symptoms of withdrawal from the young addicts, known on the street as “snowbirds”.

He soon runs into Roy Harper, otherwise known as his old superhero partner, Speedy (think Robin to Green Arrow’s Batman). He’s happy to see Roy in his civilian identity, hanging with the addicts, working undercover to break up their racket. Roy doesn’t have much information yet, but his “buddies” are eager to turn in their drug pushers, since they both want to kick the habit.

Unfortunately, they’re leading Green Lantern and Green Arrow into a trap. The pushers attack the heroes and get them high while they’re unconscious, leaving them in an alley for the police to find. Roy arrives in time to lead them away to safety.

When Green Lantern questions why anyone would turn to drugs in the first place, Roy tries to enlighten him, explaining that some kids have needs that go unmet, so they try to meet it with drugs. Green Arrow has no sympathy for Roy’s sob story.

A minute later, Green Arrow discovers Roy himself, shooting up with a needle. His young protégé has become a junkie!

He doesn’t react well. In a rage, he slaps Roy across the room, refusing to hear any of his excuses for his problem. Roy walks out, knowing he and Green Arrow are through.

Leaving Green Arrow alone with his guilty and confused thoughts, wondering the same thing every parent wonders when their kids go astray: “Where did we go wrong?”

Green Lantern later finds Roy in an alley, and flies him to Black Canary’s place to get help. He asks Roy why he chose to take drugs when he knew the dangers. Roy tells him, “I had the sermons thrown at me! But, Lantern, your generation has been known to lie, dig it? You’ve told us war is fun … skin-color is important … a man’s worth is the size of his bank account … all crocks! So why believe your drug rap?”

So often, parents are shocked when their children rebel and take an opposite path in life. Sometimes, it can be trivial, such as choosing a different extracurricular activity, a different career interest, or a different hairstyle or clothes. Other times, it can be something significant, such as hanging out with unsafe friends, planning illegal activities, or starting dangerous habits. If parents major on the minor issues of style and career interests, kids are not likely to listen to them about other issues that will actually matter in their lives.

The problem comes when parents expect their children to think and act the way they do, in everything. We all want our kids to learn our values, about the way to protect themselves and show kindness to others. But we sometimes confuse the issues of style – such as whether your child wants to dye their hair blue – with issues of actual safety – such as whether they want to date a forty-year old they met online. I decided a long time ago that I would rather raise a child with pierced eyebrows and orange hair who shows compassion and kindness, than a well-groomed brat who looks down on others and has no integrity. What’s going on inside matters a lot more to me than the style they wear on the outside.

Roy ultimately overcomes his habit. Green Arrow’s rough treatment encourages him to prove that he can be just as strong, or stronger, than his intolerant mentor.

Once he’s clean, Roy thanks Green Arrow for indirectly helping him … by punching him in the jaw. When Green Arrow asks why, Roy tells him it’s a way of sharing the pain he’s experienced for the last few days. The same pain that a lot of addicts still suffer through. Roy leaves, with plans to help his other friends beat their addictions. Green Arrow watches him go, with a new swell of pride. His former sidekick is not like him, but is growing up to be a man that any mentor would be proud of.

It can be scary to watch our kids make bad choices, especially when we know what they could have done to avoid that pain. Especially when we can’t understand what they’re going through, or why they made that choice.

But in the end, we can’t expect our kids to become like us. We can only guide them in what matters most – things like integrity, justice, compassion, and courage – and help them learn to become responsible, caring adults. Once they achieve this, however they get there, they probably won’t look or act like us.

But hopefully, they’ll gain the freedom to be themselves.

Find more reviews of Green Lantern/Green Arrow Vol.2 at amazon.com!

by Randall Allen Dunn

For over two hundred years, African-Americans were kept as slaves in the United States. It was not until the Civil War that their freedom was gained. And up until the 1960’s, when Martin Luther King, Jr. initiated peaceful protests against it, African-Americans were still treated as second-class citizens, denied the rights of other Americans.

That was only fifty years ago. Many African-Americans today either lived through those times or have family members who did. So naturally, they still feel the sting of racism. Especially when it still crops up in conversations with friends or abusive verbal exchanges on the street. Or when they see disturbing TV news reports of violence against another African-American, sometimes very close to their own neighborhood. Or when someone instantly suspects them of committing some crime or misdemeanor, solely because of their skin color.

So it should not be surprising that some African-Americans can end up lashing back at their longtime oppressors, even without knowing it. When someone assumes that a white person is exhibiting prejudice, because it is assumed that a white person will think that way. Or that an African-American should be given a job or opportunity instead of giving it to a white person – again, solely because of their skin color.

It’s called “reverse racism”. When it’s no longer permitted to show racism to one group, but it suddenly becomes acceptable to show the same racism to the group that oppressed them.

The Green Lantern/Green Arrow story, “Beware My Power”, introduces us to a new Green Lantern: John Stewart. (The same Green Lantern who appears on the animated Justice League series.) John is bold and outspoken, willing to challenge police officers to their face in order to protect others. Especially when it comes to racial injustice.

But when one of the Guardians instructs Hal Jordan to train John as his back-up – to be ready to fill in for Hal if needed – Hal can’t agree with their decision. The Guardian advises Hal that their choices are not based on a human individual’s race. Hal is offended, assuring him that the issue is not John’s race, as the Guardian assumes. It’s that John is clearly brash and immature, and spoiling for a fight. Hal doesn’t trust John Stewart to wield a dangerous weapon like the power ring. However, the Guardians have made their decision.

Hal introduces himself to John and explains the situation. John casually accepts, thinking it will be fun to play super-hero. After some instruction and training on the use of the power ring, they spot a crowd gathering on an airport tarmac, and stop an oil truck from careening out of control toward them. In the midst of his rescue, John breaches the truck’s hull, “accidentally” squirting oil onto the face of the visiting Senator Jeremiah Clutcher. Flying right up to him, John jokes, “Hey, baby, haven’t I seen you picking cotton someplace?”

Hal confronts him, forcing John to admit that he did it intentionally. “Listen, Whitey, that windbag wants to be president! He’s a racist, and he figures on climbing to the White House on the backs of my people!”

Hal shows no sympathy. Regardless of John’s suspicions, he has a job to do as a Green Lantern. To teach him a lesson, Hal assigns John the task of guarding the senator, leaving John with a final piece of sage advice. “One last thing! Don’t call me Whitey! Something in that reminds me of that bit about ‘he who is without sin’ casting ‘the first stone’!”

When we experience racial injustice – especially at an extreme level – we can become so angry at the people who persecuted us that we blind ourselves to reality. Instead of recognizing those who hurt us, we lump all of our oppressors into one group, condemning them all for the crimes committed by a few.

A few who happened to “look like them”.

In American society, the long, harsh mistreatment of African-Americans has created a natural sense of backlash in some people’s hearts. Many black people feel vengeful, and many white people feel guilty. And many people of various races have the subconscious feeling that it’s now the African-Americans’ turn to treat their racial “enemies” the same way they were once treated. It becomes acceptable to make racial slurs like “honkee” or “cracker” against whites while condemning such slurs against blacks. To rejoice when a white person is shamed or mistreated, thinking it “serves them right”, even though there is no evidence of any wrongdoing. To post banners and bumper stickers promoting “black power”, without realizing that such messages separate us just as much as a sign that promotes “white power”.

That kind of racial retaliation doesn’t solve anything. It simply encourages us to believe that African-Americans should mistreat whites, instead of recognizing that we should all work together to bury our prejudices.

In the end, Hal chases down an African-American gunman shooting at Senator Clutcher, while John leaves, refusing to help. But John doesn’t explain that he’s chasing another shooter in the parking lot, before he attacks a policeman. Before Hal can correct him, John explains that he noticed the same two gunmen from the airport earlier. He exposes Senator Clutcher’s plot to make it appear that he was being attacked, when the shooter’s gun was filled with blanks. Meanwhile, the real shooting of a police officer outside would have people believe that a racial riot had taken place at the senator’s rally, helping Clutcher prove his claims that the African-Americans are dangerous.

Hal ships the senator off to jail, and apologizes to John for his assumptions. Assumptions that might not have been made, if John had less of a chip on his shoulder.

Racism is racism. Whether it’s against African-Americans, whites, Native Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Indians, or any other ethnic group. And revenge is revenge. Even if some people want to wink it away, because they feel that it’s fair for a victim to hit back with equal or greater force. But two wrongs don’t make a right. The fact that someone else threw the first punch doesn’t make it all right to punch back. That only keeps us trapped in the same cycle of bigotry, hating others for their appearance, instead of judging them for their hearts and their character.

Laws were put in place to end racial discrimination because racism itself is wrong. Don’t use your freedom from racial oppression to become a racist yourself. Treat others the way you would want to be treated – even if you don’t like the way they look.

Fight racism, not race.

Find more reviews of Green Lantern/Green Arrow Vol.2 at amazon.com!

by Randall Allen Dunn

It’s surprising how easily we can be taken in. By a rumor, a politician’s promises, a new fad diet. Someone insists that something is true, that some new method is right. And because a friend or a celebrity buys into it, we believe it, too.

But sooner or later, the truth reveals itself, even within the lie, if we actually want to know the truth. Deep down, we instinctively doubt any promises of quick, easy answers to problems that have plagued people for decades. So if we keep our eyes open and remain grounded in the truth we already know, we won’t remain fooled for long.

In the Green Lantern/Green Arrow story, “A Kind of Loving, a Way of Death”, Green Arrow’s girlfriend, Black Canary, joins the team. (Green Arrow had only started partnering with Green Lantern a couple of issues prior, but Green Arrow and Black Canary had become such an inseparable superhero couple that her arrival seemed long overdue).

But when she is attacked by a gang and left unconscious in a ditch, then rescued by a mysterious stranger, Black Canary is not the same woman that Green Arrow remembers. When Green Arrow and Green Lantern find her, she tells them that she now follows the teachings of Joshua, the man who restored her to health. A man who Green Arrow believes is running a strange cult of blind followers, all willing to do Joshua’s bidding without question. Instead of returning with Green Arrow and Green Lantern, Black Canary insists on following Joshua wherever he leads, but she gives no explanation for her sudden devotion.

When the heroes reluctantly leave, Black Canary is uncertain, having remembered her past life with Green Arrow, and wondering whether she really wants to abandon it. Joshua encourages her to forget them, and provides her with a handgun, explaining that it will help their “holy cause”. She resists the idea, until Joshua issues further commands, somehow hypnotizing her.

Green Arrow later spies Black Canary in a line with other cultists, taking target practice with their guns in preparation for some violent attack. Joshua and Black Canary later find Green Arrow wounded, and Joshua orders her to slay him. Thankfully, Green Lantern arrives, ready to blast aside Black Canary’s pistol with his amazing power ring.

But when he notices Black Canary hesitating, he decides to hold back. He’s terrified of the possibility that she could kill Green Arrow, but he knows that if he pulls off a quick rescue, she’ll always wonder whether she would have pulled the trigger. Grimacing, Green Lantern determines, I’ve got to gamble Green Arrow’s life against Black Canary’s soul.

As Joshua demands that Black Canary murder Green Arrow, she becomes confused and frightened. She cannot believe it is right to kill someone – especially the man she once loved – in order to promote a message of peace and enlightenment. At the same time, she remembers Green Arrow’s bravery and kindness, and she refuses to kill such a man.

Joshua shows his true colors, preparing to finish Green Arrow himself, until Green Lantern traps him with his ring, ending the fight.

But for Black Canary, the fight ended when she resisted his command to destroy a friend. Not only a fight for her life, but a fight for her soul, the part of her that serves as an inner moral compass to find the truth, no matter what some deceiver tries to tell her.

It’s easy to be duped. Sooner or later, we all start to believe something that doesn’t really make sense. But we can always test it out, by comparing it against what we know and have witnessed to be true – tested wisdom, proven friendship, experienced leaders. Before you buy into “new truth”, compare it against the “old truth” you have learned over the years. By focusing on the truth we already know, and surrounding ourselves with wise friends, we can avoid blindly following dangerous trends and dangerous people.

Find more reviews of Green Lantern/Green Arrow Vol.1 at amazon.com!

by Randall Allen Dunn

Our passions can sometimes blind us to the error of our ways. Some people become so consumed with the cause they’re pursuing that they stop listening to other people’s advice. If someone criticizes their methods, these “radicals” act as if the cause itself is being insulted, and that they are being attacked. They conclude that the reason for their frustration is that they are being persecuted, and those who disagree with them quickly become labeled as enemies. If these people’s egos remain unchecked, they can start equating their level of “suffering” with that of Jesus Christ.

It never occurs to them that all those critics might be right. Or that they might stand to learn something from people with more wisdom and experience.

Having noble goals does not guarantee that a person is on the right track. Regardless of the intent, passionate people who refuse to listen to sound advice simply deceive themselves. They imagine they’re on a crusade, performing a great service to mankind. But if they snub the opinions of everyone else, they’ll usually end up pursuing a dangerous course of action. One that could do harm to others and to themselves.

When the Green Lantern/Green Arrow comic series started in the 1970’s, it started a revolution in the comics industry. For the first time, superhero comics dealt with relevant social issues, including poverty, racism, and even drug addiction. The 1960’s had been a time of social upheaval, causing people to question everything they had been taught in the past. Young people were encouraged not to trust anyone over 30 years old, cementing the generation gap. A civil war of social values had started, and the 1970’s was a decade of trying to adjust and understand how American society had changed. Green Lantern and Green Arrow represented these conservative and liberal values, respectively, and partnered together to fight injustice and try to reach a better understanding of what was happening to society.

One story addressed the issue of pollution, through a radical environmental activist known only as Isaac – a man whose likeness and story bore an unsettling similarity to that of Jesus Christ.

Only it’s not Jesus. It’s Isaac, a scientist diagnosed with a corrupting lung disease that is exacerbated by polluted air. Determining that he can’t escape the pollution, any more than anyone else can, he chooses to fight against it. He acts as “nature’s Robin Hood”, attempting to preserve the land into which he has retreated, while attacking polluting corporations. He sneaks into Ferris Industries and applies sewer refuse to their office walls, leaving a note that says: “The Ferris Gang has been pumping poison into our air and water. I merely returned the compliment.”

While Green Arrow applauds Isaac’s radical actions, Green Lantern is less impressed. Green Arrow assumes it’s because Green Lantern’s girlfriend, Carol Ferris, runs that company, but Green Lantern insists that Isaac could make his point some other way.

Later, when a drainage rig collapses, nearly crushing Carol herself, Green Lantern determines that it was caused deliberately. He finds Isaac, who has just made Green Arrow into his newest “disciple”, and confronts him with the crime. Isaac insists that he only tampered with a machine, not living creatures. Green Lantern rebukes him. “Didn’t it occur to you that ‘living creatures’ might suffer as a result of your meddling?” Isaac confesses: “N-No … it didn’t!”

When Green Arrow prevents Green Lantern from arresting Isaac by firing a gas-laden arrow, Isaac leaves, viciously rejecting Green Arrow after seeing him pollute the air, too. He chains himself to one of the Ferris airplanes, telling the workers that they can’t remove him from their “pollution machine” without tearing off his arms.

Frustrated at how Isaac has hurt their jobs and productivity, the angry crew decide to leave him hanging up there over the weekend. Assuming Green Lantern and Green Arrow were both helping him, they chain them up as well. Unable to survive hanging so long from the plane, due to his lung condition, Isaac dies before Green Lantern and Green Arrow can save him.

Isaac had a noble and worthy cause. But his approach – unlike that of Jesus – was to attack, rather than challenge people to new ways of thinking. Revolutionaries throughout history have had far more success in changing a society’s attitudes when they made peaceful demonstrations, and listened to the wisdom of other supporters. Even to the wisdom of critics.

When you set out to serve a higher purpose, be ready to be corrected. No matter how noble your goal might be, no single individual has the perfect plan for carrying it out. The best leaders – even the best revolutionaries – gather good friends and counselors around them, to help them determine the best course of action.

Before you assume your motives and methods are beyond reproach, ask yourself if you’re willing to listen to wise advice … even if it’s critical.

Find more reviews of Green Lantern/Green Arrow Vol.2 at amazon.com!

by Randall Allen Dunn

A common war strategy tells us that we should know our enemy. That is, we should know their strengths, skills, and mindset in order to defeat them. Knowing what they’re capable of and what they’re likely to do gives us an advantage over them in battle.

However, this does not necessarily constitute knowing your enemy. It simply involves knowing about them, like a fan who stalks rock stars and knows the musician’s birthday, favorite ice cream, and brand of toothpaste. This is information about a person, but it does not necessarily show that you know them. The rock star’s next door neighbor might not know any of those details, but they probably know the person far better than the obsessive fan who is studying their life.

We can think that we know someone who has become our enemy. We figure out what to expect from them and how they think, so that we can outsmart or outfight them. But in all of our evaluation, we can easily forget that our “enemy” is still a person, with hurts and fears just like ours.

The film, “How to Train Your Dragon”, shows a village in crisis, where Norse Vikings are constantly under attack from bat-winged, fire-breathing dragons who steal their food. The Vikings have been at war with these various kinds of dragons for years.

One young Viking, Hiccup, shows little promise for ever developing the strength, skill or brainpower to slay a dragon, despite his many attempts and inventions. He’s a joke to the village community and an embarrassment to his dragonslaying father, Stoick.

Until one day, when one of Hiccup’s inventions succeeds in wounding a dragon, laying him flat on the ground. And not just any dragon, but a Night Fury, the most dangerous of them all, never even seen by another Viking.

Finding it, Hiccup prepares to run it through with his sword, to claim his well-earned glory among the community. But, seeing the dragon’s wide eyes, he hesitates. Then he decides, instead, to release it.

Soon after that, he invents a balancing tail fin to attach to the dragon, to replace the one it had lost in its fall. He soon finds that the dragon needs more than just the fin to fly again. He needs Hiccup to ride atop him and guide the fin. Hiccup soon becomes the first Viking to ride one of their feared enemies!

When the dragon, whom Hiccup nicknames “Toothless”, carries him away to a high mountain, a few baby dragons approach them. Giving them some food, Hiccup soon finds himself petting a small dragon, as it nuzzles happily against him like a pet dog. He is stunned to find that he has nothing to fear from the creature. “Everything we know about you guys is wrong,” he realizes.

Hiccup eventually discovers that the dragons are enslaved by a monstrous dragon ten times larger than the others, the “queen bee” of the dragon’s nest. It is this dragon that demands an endless supply of food from the dragons, causing them to fly off and steal from the Vikings.

But when Stoick learns that Hiccup has discovered the dragon’s nest, the secret lair the Vikings have been seeking all along, he captures Toothless and forces him to lead their ship to it. He refuses to listen to Hiccup’s arguments that the dragons themselves are not the problem. He has fought dragons for too long to believe that they could be an innocent party.

Hiccup leads his friends and a band of other dragons to rescue Toothless and fight the monster dragon, finally bringing peace back to their village, where dragons are now welcome.

When Hiccup’s friend, Astrid, asks why he refused to kill Toothless the moment he found him, he confesses,  “I wouldn’t kill him because he looked as frightened as I was. I looked at him … and I saw myself.”

Perhaps your “enemy” is not so different from you as you think. Consider things from their perspective, and you might find a new sense of compassion, and even appreciation, for someone you presumed was standing in your way.

When you learn to truly know your enemy – instead of just knowing about them – you might discover a new friend.

Find more reviews of “How to Train Your Dragon” at amazon.com!