From the movie Jumper

[Starwynd]

The movie Jumper is about a guy who can teleport to anywhere in the world and he is not alone, there are others who are hunted down and killed by the Inquisition, who call themselves paladin. The main antagonist is a leader who is named Roland.

Essentially he leads the Paladins in hunting them down, and he kills them because, according to him, that “only God should have that power”.

Personally, I don’t find anything in the bible that would address that particular ability, even though it does address alleged psychic abilities such as the ability to talk to the dead, and calls it Witchcraft and of course “thou shalt suffer a witch to live”.

So, is this action of Rolands’ morally defensible by the Bible? Is it right to kill those people like that?

 

[Jsmith17]

I think, “You shall not kill” might trump, “only God should have that power”.

By that logic, should we then go around killing everyone who uses a magic 8 ball? Only God should have the power to know the future.

 

[BlaineTog]

Absolutely not. The ability is inborn, so simply having it isn’t a sin. Using it may or may not be, but my inclination is to say that it probably is not, since it strikes me as something only God could give. Obviously, though, one could use it for illicit purposes, but those would be the sins, not the ability itself.

 

[Cari]

I would agree with the distinction made between the inborn ability and the ends to which it was used.

Take, for example, artistic ability. One can put that gift to use in God’s service, or one can warp it and use it in immoral ways. Surely then not every artist should be killed? (However, those responsible for most of the junk that comes out of Hollywood are begging for SOME sort of retribution )

 

[Caesar517]

I’m going to add some spice to this thread:

If we were to become technically advanced enough to construct a teleportation grid capable of teleporting anyone, would it be a sin to use it?

Would it be too powerful to control?

Roland believes that all Jumpers go bad eventually, even if they aren’t at the time. If he is right, how far can someone go to prevent crime before it happens?

Is the only reason that “jumping” has corrupting power because the rest of society doesn’t have that ability?

If we were to invent teleportation, it would likely be very expensive; only the wealthy could afford it at first. Would it still have corrupting power?

That should keep everyone busy for awhile.

 

[BlaineTog]

I’m going to add some spice to this thread:

If we were to become technically advanced enough to construct a teleportation grid capable of teleporting anyone, would it be a sin to use it?

Probably not. It would depend on how it functioned, but even then, my guess is it would be fine.

Roland believes that all Jumpers go bad eventually, even if they aren’t at the time. If he is right, how far can someone go to prevent crime before it happens?

When it is imminent. You have to let people choose for themselves.

Personally, I think he’s rationalizing, and more than a bit insane. Then again, it might just be because it’s such a terrible movie.

 

[Charybdis]

Well, if we applied moral theology to new technologies, then we would probably be without half or more of all of our new digital technologies!!!

Technology is good in and of itself (with perhaps the exception of cloning and things like that) but the problems creep in with their use.

for example, the internet is the most amazing communication technology invented, and it serves wonderful purposes for communication, finance, self-help, even spreading the Word of God such as these forums, BUT it is also used for the most vile of sins such as pornography and the spreading of lies, wickedness as well. So, should it have ever been invented? It was invented so scientists could share info between their universities, etc. (NOT by AlGore!)

So, in response to the spicy addition to this thread, I believe that the invention of space jumping is not a sin in and of itself, but let’s face it, it will be put to uses that are not moral. Already I can imagine the person who has the technology to see what they can get away with. Jump into the bank vault, stash the gold and the cash and jump out quickly.

On second thought, what would be the positives of such a power? And who would have it? How does it work?

 

[Starwynd]

Well, according to a show on the history Channel about Star Trek Tech, a teleporter is also a copier. That is, it can make copies of whatever it is it’s teleporting.

So it can make copies of tons of food to feed people.

But in that sense it can also be used as a weapon, in that it can replicate precious metals to the point of ruining an economy.

 

[Meunke]

Seriously??? You’re analyzing the movie “Jumper”? The movie that had, as its “star”, the same pathetic actor that was in Star Wars?

I honestly didn’t know anyone even WATCHED that film.

 

[Caesar517]

Hayden Christensen isn’t so bad.