I just finished watching the movie, and while it was on the inaccurate side of history, it did have a very good message on nobility and the kingdom of heaven.
You see, western dogma has long put forth that the kingdom of heaven is both on some spiritual plain and will only be of this earth when Christ returns.
And yet, crusades were fought to free the holy land of infidels. FYI, for the Christians, infidels meant Jews and Muslims. Actually, during the sack of Jerusalem when the first crusaders took the city, Roman Catholic Priests cheered the crusaders on as they committed atrocities that included rape, murder, torture, leaving not a citizen alive at the end of the blood bath.
This was done in the name of God.
As today, Muslim extremists use terrorism in the name of God.
Not much difference really.
The Prophet Mohammad said that all "peoples of the book" would be welcome in heaven, and as such were children of God.
The peoples of the book are Muslim, Jew, and Christian. The terrorist who kill in the name of Allah or God are committing great sins, actually one of the unpardonable sins.
Hence the problem of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is not some place beyond the world, in the afterlife, nor is it a place yet to exist.
The Kingdom of Heaven is in your heart, mind and soul. A church may be called the house of God, but does that not contradict the statement that our bodies are temples to God? Does God need a house of stone on earth, or does he need a home where his spirit is a part of a persons life?
Men have died in the name of god, not in battle, but for their faith, as martyrs to all faiths. Those who truly die, living the word of God, as a true martyr, put to death for their faith have already seen the kingdom of heaven, they have seen it in their reflection.
How many of us can say that? Do we see the kingdom of heaven in our reflection, or do we see the image of what the material world has made us?
