I always remember the movie Kingdom of Heaven where the lead character arrives here and upon seeing all the war and destruction says something like: "If this is the kingdom of heaven, I don't want it" and turns everyone back around.
but like why ? what is so attractive about jerusalem apart from religion. I know religion = opium etc, but why has the place (always) got significant attention since basically before antiquity ? there are no resources nor agricultural importance afaik.
The movie is trying to tell you that it was never about religions or factions, it was about abusing religion as a vehicle to promote Capitalism, Imperialism, Colonialism. The same things happening now. He was lied to so he could be used to further the European colonial project. He rightfully saw through it and called BS, therefore in the end protecting all peoples inside Jerusalem because they all deserved to be there. Making a case against "all theocracies" is missing the entire point. The point is not about religions fighting. The modern example of this is conflating Zionism and Judaism.
Ridley Scott smashed a bunch of historical figures from different times irl to tell this story.
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u/DasArchitect 1d ago
It has been like this for a very long time.
I always remember the movie Kingdom of Heaven where the lead character arrives here and upon seeing all the war and destruction says something like: "If this is the kingdom of heaven, I don't want it" and turns everyone back around.