Spoiler Alert: Thanos Has Invaded America

A heavy sadness hung in the air of the theater as I watched the last of the credits scroll past the screen at the end of Marvel's latest movie: Infinity War. We're not used to the bad guys winning. Our hearts were torn over the loss of some of our favorite characters: Spiderman, Starlord, Dr. Strange, Black Panther- and the list goes on.... Never before has a single movie contained an alliance of so many superheroes. Even though the story points out that a grudge had been forming between the Avengers and though many of these headliner characters had never met or interacted before, these fighters all united because they knew this foe would not be defeated unless they all came against him: Thanos. What was so bad about Thanos? Thanos wanted to collect six special stones that would give him the power to eliminate half of the population of the universe with a simple snap of his fingers. But why would Thanos want to do that? Power? He wanted to rule their worlds? Money? He wanted to seize the dead's wealth? Revenge? He simply wanted to see the world burn? Nope. Not according to Thanos. His reason?: Mercy. Thanos explains his reasoning through a previous situation with his home planet Titan: Thanos: Titan was like most planets. Too many mouths, not enough to go around. And when we faced extinction I offered a solution. Dr. Stephen Strange: Genocide. Thanos: At random. Dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike. And they called me a mad man. And what I predicted came to pass. Dr. Strange: Congratulations, you're a prophet. Thanos: I'm a survivor. Dr. Strange: Who wants to murder trillions Thanos: With all the six stones, I could simply snap my fingers, and they would all cease to exist. I call that... mercy. Dr. Strange: And then what? Thanos: I finally rest, and watch the sunrise on an ungrateful universe. The hardest choices require the strongest wills. Who does want to murder trillions? Commit genocide? The story highlighted how a twisted mind can commit horrible atrocities in the name of good. What right had Thanos to decide who was to be sacrificed, whose life wasn't as valuable as others? Unfortunately this foe proved to be too strong, and at a snap of Thanos's fingers, we saw beloved heroes disappear along with half of the universe's population. One by one. Can you imagine a world without Starlord? Spiderman? Black Panther? But doesn't Thanos's reasoning sound familiar? He wasn’t trying to wipe out everyone, just enough to make the universe….sustainable. Certain lives needed to be sacrificed to create a better future for others. Have we not heard similar concerns regarding overpopulation and the means necessary to control it? Some believe that infanticide (aka abortion), euthanasia, and assisted suicide are viable solutions to poverty and disease and a means of creating a better human race. And that is precisely what has happened in our country with our own Thanos: legalized abortion. Sixty million potential future mothers, fathers, children, saints and heroes have been killed due to convenience and at an attempt to make other lives better, control the population, and improve quality of life. Can you imagine a world without some of our heroes from history? Martin Luther King, Jr.? Abraham Lincoln? Mother Teresa? Your mother? Your grandfather? The only difference between Thanos's genocide and abortion's infanticide is that abortion cuts off the life before it has even had a chance to begin. But just because we don't know what we're missing doesn't mean that we aren't missing out on something wonderful. We cried at seeing our favorite superheroes die- but what if they never lived? What if Thanos simply went back in time and stopped Spiderman from ever having been born? Would we be satisfied with that? Of course not! Then Spiderman would have never saved all those people along with the rest of the world so many times! But no matter if someone becomes a superhero or just a beloved dad, it is never right to rob someone of their life in hopes of making a better society or to make life more comfortable for others.

So when will we cry over the lives that have been lost? We, like the Avengers, need to set aside our differences and unite to save the lives of our human race. As Dr. Strange said, the fate of our world is at stake.