Benedictine monks dedicate their lives to serving both God and their community. In the movie, Of Gods and Men, the nine monks have dedicated their lives to Trappist practices and serving the poor community surrounding the monastery. The monks provide their community members with medical care, a place to work, and products to buy in the market. The monks have established themselves as a necessity for the community. When the Islamist rebel group shows up to the monastery, the monks struggle to decide whether to stay or to leave. The monks question how far their duty to the community and their duty to God reaches. Is their faith and involvement in the community worth the possibility of death? When given the threat of death, the monks do not simply gather their things and flee. The monks want to think through their decision thoroughly and make sure it is the correct decision to make for both their faith and the surrounding community. Throughout the movie, we see the monks have multiple meetings to discuss what should be done about the threats to the monastery. Every monk is given a chance to input their opinion and give any arguments or reasoning for whether to stay or leave. This type of decision making closely follows the Benedictine practice of communal discernment. …show more content…
The monks decide that their duty to God and their community goes beyond their fear of death. The monks dedicated their lives and future to God and will continue to do so even in the face of death. As one of the monks, Christian, says, “If I become a victim of terrorism, remember that my life was given to God and this country…” The monks lived a monastic lifestyle, their lives revolved around serving and praying to God. If they decide to leave the monastery, the monks felt that it was like they were turning away from God. Their decision to stay came after the conclusion that their faith in God is stronger than fear and will last for