After 16 long years in a "House of Refuge," Amsterdam has returned to the Five Points to hunt down his father's killer. His target is William Cutting AKA "Bill the Butcher" (Daniel Day-Lewis), who has since become the merciless new leader of the neighborhood, a Nativist who detests the newly arrived immigrants and is determined to fend off all so-called "foreign invaders." Each year, on the anniversary of Priest Vallon's death, the victory is commemorated with a celebration - with invitations handed out only by way of the Butcher. Amsterdam's plan is clear: to lie in wait and slay his father's killer on this, the annual night when the Butcher celebrates his great victory with a roll of the drum and a sip from a glass of fire. As Amsterdam articulates, "when you kill a king, you don't stab him in the dark. You kill him where the whole court can watch him die."

The issue here is Revenge

“I can forgive, but I cannot forget,” is only another way of saying, “I will not forgive.”
--HENRY WARD BEECHER (1813–1887)

A man who studies revenge keeps his own wounds green.
--FRANCIS BACON (1561–1626)

By taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing over it, he is superior.
--FRANCIS BACON (1561–1626)

Living well is the best revenge.
--GEORGE HERBERT (1593–1633)

Revenge is a confession of pain.
--LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA (C. 4 B.C.-A.D. 65)

When we “get even” with someone, that is literally what we are doing—becoming even with them, that is, descending to their level in vengeance and losing whatever moral advantage we may have had.
--SYDNEY J. HARRIS (1917–1986)

In the young, unfinished City, it was a time of ruthlessness, intolerance and fear. But it was also a time of extraordinary bravery, as those pushed to the edge fought for the freedom of future generations.

The issue here is Freedom

Free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata—of creatures that worked like machines—would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for his higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they must be free.
--C. S. LEWIS (1898–1963)

Freedom does not mean I am able to do whatever I want to do. That’s the worst kind of bondage. Freedom means I have been set free to become all that God wants me to be, to achieve all that God wants me to achieve, to enjoy all that God wants me to enjoy.
--WARREN W. WIERSBE

He that is good is free, though he is a slave; he that is evil is a slave, though he be a king.
--SAINT AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO (354–430)

From the Handbook of Bible Application on Freedom
BIBLE READING: John 8:30-47
KEY BIBLE VERSE:
If the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free. (John 8:36, TLB)

Knowing Jesus is knowing real freedom. Jesus himself is the truth that sets us free (8:36). He is the source of truth, the perfect standard of what is right. He frees us from the consequences of sin, from self-deception, and from deception by Satan. He shows us clearly the way to eternal life with God. Jesus does not give us freedom to do what we want, but freedom to follow God. As we seek to serve God, Jesus’ perfect truth frees us to be all that God meant us to be.

Knowing Jesus is freedom from the power of sin. Sin has a way of enslaving us, controlling us, dominating us, and dictating our actions. Jesus can free you from this slavery that keeps you from becoming the person God created you to be. If sin is restraining, mastering, or enslaving you, Jesus can break its power over your life.

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Gangs of New York © 2002 Miramax Films. All Rights Reserved.

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