This is a strange moment. Not ten minutes ago,  I watched Rambo IV. There were bodies flying and splaying and exploding in hi-def and hi-rez you'd imagine there were real bloodmarks on your TV.

And just a few minutes earlier I'm copying and pasting articles from the recently created Micah Mandate site for my invigilation reading tomorrow (psst, I'm not suppose to be reading during invigilation, ok? Don't tell my superiors about this...shhh).

So one minute I'm indulging in ultra-violent entertainment (to have some release from the not-even-there-ness of the tiring evening). The next, I'm absorbing writings meant to cultivate justice, mercy and humility in the socio-political arena (to keep my mind awake throughout the 2-3 hours standing around watching students pen their way to glory or gabble).

Personally, I don't think it makes sense telling Rambo he can't kill soldiers who rape, torture and kill for fun. Of course it's not what Jesus would do, but then again:

• Rambo isn't one of Jesus' disciple (and aren't Christians not allowed to judge those outside the faith-community, a'la 1 Cor 5:12?)
• Rambo hasn't been showed the kind of love Jesus expects people to experience from the church
• Rambo is really far braver than most people (even fictional ones)
• Rambo did save lives and risk his own for a friend (John 15:12-13?)
• Rambo could be acting as God's agents against the evil of certain regimes and military leaders
• Rambo doesn't torture people and in this sense his violence is not as gratuitous as one might imagine
• Rambo does not - I repeat, not - glorify violence (maybe the movie does, but not the character); in fact, the man seems constantly pained by it all (a true warrior who wants out but can't seem to stay out)

Having said that, perhaps our world doesn't need a real Rambo (or does it?). That's why Sylvester Stallone still has a job - to give us in motion picture form the fantasy of believing that violent solutions (of all kinds, not just physical) may work.

The thinkers involved in the Micah Mandate have a different view. Their bullets are words of hope and they seek to explode (tiny) bombs of light into areas our society seemed to have forgotten exists (e.g. Goh Keat Peng's article on forgotten fatalities of the National Service program).

They believe that words (of a different sort and spirit of the kind normally used?) and prayer (i.e. a different kind of power?) can create mini seismic shifts in society for the good of all - at the very least, we should pay attention?