Highly Recommended

The other night Daron and I watched the movie Arranged on the recommendation of his parents. It is about two first year teachers at a public school in New York City who, despite their differences in religion (one is Orthodox Jew and the other is Muslim) become friends. They find that they are both experiencing having their future marriages arranged by their parents. The movie depicts their struggles through the process of not only dealing with the arrangements, but finding the need to defend their faith.

There is a strong theme of striving for world peace in the movie, which is important, but truly the religious aspects is what impressed me the most. As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I have often found myself in the same predicaments as the two main characters. Like the Orthodox Jews and the Muslims, we live by strict moral laws. We don't drink alcohol, coffee, or tea; we don't have intimate relations before marriage; we don't smoke; we dress modestly, etc. Many of these things are looked upon as being restrictive and not allowing us the freedom to have fun or live life to its fullest. I choose to follow what I've been taught. I find freedom in choosing to follow God's commandments. There is joy and peace in doing so that I will never find elsewhere.

Granted, these are fictitious characters, but there are people like this out there. I just wish that more people would stand up for what they believe and not be afraid to follow their religious convictions - even if it means standing out like a sore thumb. What a better place our country would be!

Well, I digress. It was a wonderful movie and it was definitely worth watching. Let me know your thoughts. We found it on YouTube, but I'm sure you could get it from NetFlix, your local library, etc.