The movie 'Kingdom of Heaven' is a story of Balian, who was a lord ruling in a small region of Jerusalem. In the 11th century, there was the Great War between Europe and Islam to retake Jerusalem. All parts of Europe became one while shouting, "God wants it.", and Islam became one while shouting, "Allah is the greatest.". Islam regarded all of Europe as their enemy, and Europe regarded all of Islam as their enemy. Now, the war is called the Crusades, but at that time the war was called the Holy War by both sides. The war lasted for 200 years.
  The movie shows us a peaceful land called Ibelin where Muslims, Christians and Jews lived together, and they believed in their own gods without any disturbances. They even cooperated with people of different religions for cultivating their farms. Under the rule of Balian, people living in Ibelin lived peacefully together without discrimination of differences.
  The small land, which existed in the 11th century, gives us a meaningful lesson which still applies now. Islamic people and Christians did that in the 11th century, and  we are still discriminating against people because of differences. Even in today’s age,  small and big conflicts still remain and occur around the world due to differences of culture, religion and race. We don't properly know each other. We still lack understanding of others who are different from us. Some of us may exclude people from different cultures.
  In the last scene of the movie, Balian addressed the people living in Jerusalem about protecting Islam. "Which is more holy? The wall? The mosque? The sepulcher? Who has claim? No one has claim. All have claim. We defend this city. Not to protect these stones but the people living within these walls."
  What do you think when you meet people from different cultures? Do you think they are inferior or unclean compared to you? You may have those prejudices about people from different cultures. This movie is saying to us, "We are the same people and we are equally precious."

By Kang Ill-gu
ig33@cbnu.ac.kr