"Well, I ain't no Christian, but my Mama was."

[T.G.G. Moogly]

Those words were spoken in a 1969 John Wayne movie, "The Undefeated."

Near the end of the movie Wayne and his ex Union soldiers are forced to choose between letting confederate soldiers and their families be killed, or ransoming them with 3000 horses, those horses being their only livelihood.

My question is why the line is in the movie. It is spoken by one of Wayne's men as they are discussing what to do, the obvious implication being the christian choice is to give up the horses to save the lives of their former enemies.

But what is it doing in the movie? It seems so out of place. Any thoughts?

 

[couch_sloth]

Those words were spoken in a 1969 John Wayne movie, "The Undefeated."

Near the end of the movie Wayne and his ex Union soldiers are forced to choose between letting confederate soldiers and their families be killed, or ransoming them with 3000 horses, those horses being their only livelihood.

My question is why the line is in the movie. It is spoken by one of Wayne's men as they are discussing what to do, the obvious implication being the christian choice is to give up the horses to save the lives of their former enemies.

But what is it doing in the movie? It seems so out of place. Any thoughts?

I think I remember the film, Rock Hudson played the Confederate commander... I thought the point of that line was to show that Wanye's men were a little rough-around-the-edges, but they still had hearts of gold (If I remember correctly, Hudson didn't think they'd give up the horses.)
In other words, It was the only justification that character could come up with for giving up the horses. He wasn't sophisticated enough to say something like: I was raised to value the lives of women and children.

 

[ideologyhunter]

The line should probably be the motto of today's "austerity economists" and their tea party fans.