“Shall we say, then, let’s keep on sinning so grace might increase?” (Romans 6.1)
For this week’s movie, we need to take a trip back in time for context. Let’s set the dials for the mid-Seventies. The scandal of Watergate has caused Richard Nixon to resign from office (to avoid impeachment), and sixty-nine people were charged with related crimes. Before that, the Pentagon Papers had been published by the New York Times and The Washington Post revealing that not only had the scope of the Vietnam War been larger than reported, but that the President had lied to the American people and to Congress. If that weren’t enough, the economy was struggling through an oil crisis and stagflation.
It’s probably difficult for any of us to imagine the distrust people felt in their government (particularly the Executive branch) at that time. But, as much as you can, try and think how you’d feel in an era of such deception, dishonesty, and distrust.
Capricorn One was a 1977 film written and directed by Peter Hyams (who would go on to direct 2010:The Year We Make Contact,the a sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey). It stars James Brolin, Hal Holbrook, and a whole host of others (even Telly Savalas makes an appearance, as does a certain ex-football star).
A three-man crew is set to launch on the first mission to Mars. But with just minutes to takeoff, they’re rushed out of a capsule, onto a plane, and flown across the country to a warehouse at an abandoned military base. Dr. James Kelloway (Holbrook), director of NASA, tells them that the life support on their vehicle was faulty and would have killed them not long after reaching orbit. So, they were pulled out and brought here so the launch could go forward. And now they have to convince the world that their mission was a success.
The movie was successful upon release; though, reviews of it were mixed at the time, which makes sense. Capricorn One is half-good in that its first hour is well-paced and interesting. It’s second hour is way too long. It’s knowledge of spaceflight is lacking (the Saturn V rocket and Apollo-era command module and landers would not be capable of making it to Mars), but it’s not trying to present any sort of accurate account. The film is about the conspiracy and those it ensnares.
I’d heard of and seen scenes from the movie over the years, and one of my big questions was why the crew went along. The answer was that they didn’t, at least not without duress, which involved a threat to their wives and children. They wanted no part of this scheme. Brolin’s Commander Brubaker is the most vocal. When Dr. Kelloway tells him what all is riding on the success of this ruse, that it’s what will keep the space program alive Brubaker responds that if “the only way to keep something alive is to become everything I hate, I don’t know if it’s worth saving.”
The ends, so the saying goes, justify the means. Lying to the American public about Vietnam was justified by the, supposed, ends of the conflict. There were ends that, in the 2000s, justified the Bush administration’s lying about WMDs in Iraq. And you can probably think of a few ends some in Congress are arguing that justify the actions of the current administration: on everything from building projects, to wars, to economic and immigration policies.
Scripture never specifically uses any variation of the idea that the end result is always worth whatever path is taken to get there, either in support or critique. But it’s difficult to defend that idea when considering the stories within the Bible. David ordering Uriah’s murder as a means to hiding his action is a prime example.
And perhaps it’s Paul’s words that sum up best. Should we sin so grace will increase? His words are a rhetorical turn against those who have seen the freedom of life in Christ as a license to do as they please, but they carry the subtext that comes with the question of ends and means: do we justify wrong actions on the promise of a good outcome?
To respond in Paul’s words, of course not. But it’s not simply about the wrongness of the action, it’s about what it does to us. It’s, as Brubaker says, becoming something we hate. It is losing a part of ourselves that we can’t regain.
The truth about the deception in the story of Capricorn One does come out. The fallout of that truth is left to our imagination after the credits roll. And while my own cynicism about the state of things today makes me skeptical that any of those characters faced punishment, I know that none of them were left unchanged. No matter what was said or done, gained or lost, all of them—like David, like the members of the Johnson and Bush administrations, like some of those in power today—know that part of themselves were lost because of the choices they made.
And what we’re left with is the question of what we might do when we’re tempted to go along with deception, lies, or worse: is it worth becoming something we hate?
Jesus, you came amongst us to show us how to be the people we were created to be, living with integrity, honesty, and compassion. Help us choose our actions to bring us more in harmony with our true selves. Help those who lead our cities, states, and nations to do the same.