Sound of Freedom: A QAnon Conspiracy?

In recent weeks the movie "Sound of Freedom," which exposes the horrors of child sex trafficking, has become a huge sensation in the United States.  Filmed in 2018 with a budget of $14 million, the filmmakers made a distribution deal with 20th Century Fox in 2018.  However, the movie was shelved after the Walt Disney Corporation purchased 20th Century Fox and refused to release the film.  In 2023, after years of legal wrangling, Angel Guild acquired the film and with the use of crowdfunding, raised $5 million to market the film to the public.  In less then two weeks, the film broke all expectations, grossing nearly $50 million.  Yet despite this unexpected success and vastly positive reviews from audiences, the movie has found itself being attacked by some mainstream media networks such as CNN, Rolling Stone, & The Guardian.  

"Sound of Freedom" was inspired by the actions of Tim Ballard, a former Homeland Security Agent who later founded "Operation Underground Railroad."  A number of mainstream media networks have accused Tim Ballard and the actor who played him in the movie, Jim Caviezel, of being linked to QAnon conspiracies.  While acknowledging that child sex trafficking is a real problem in the world, they accused the movie of greatly exaggerating the number of children who fall victim to this practice and claiming that the movie tries to cater to the "Far Right."  

However, the reality is that none of these accusations are true.  Human trafficking is the second biggest illegal enterprise in the United States, second only to the drug trade.  At times the movie does show that law enforcement agencies face bureaucratic obstacles when trying to break up trafficking rings, but political viewpoints are not the focus of this movie.  In fact, politics is not mentioned at all.  In truth, even religious viewpoints are hardly mentioned.  Though the main protagonist in the movie states on several occasions that his main motivation is the belief that "God's Children are not for Sale," he makes no mention of being an adherent to a specific faith nor does he make any reference to any particular religious faith.  The movie further shows that the protagonists who work to help break up child sex trafficking rings come from various nations & backgrounds, that each are motivated for various reasons to fight this evil, and that those who engage in the evil of child sex slavery come from various areas of the world.  Thus the purpose of the movie is not to push any political or religious agenda, but to show that child sex trafficking is a worldwide problem and that to effectively right it requires a worldwide effort.  So now the question must be asked: Why did so many mainstream news networks come out hard against this movie?

There may be a number of answers to this question.  One being is that our nation is aware of what is going on.  In the year 2000 the U.S. passed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act and numerous law enforcement agencies have become better trained in fighting the epidemic.  However, many in the U.S. do not want to accept the reality of how widespread this is, and this movie forces us to face a reality that we do not wish to confront.  This has happened in with the publishing of the famous anti-slavery novel "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in 1852 which forced the U.S. public to confront the terrible reality of slavery.  Likewise, photos of the lynching of Emmett Till in 1954 forced the American public to confront the horrible reality of the deeply ingrained prejudice that African Americans dealt with in the Deep South.  

The same was true with Holocaust.  During the war numerous reports came out of Nazi-occupied Europe detailing the horrific fate befalling the Jews, Poles, Gypsies, & so many others, but the world refused to believe it, they couldn't believe that people would do things like this.  It wasn't until the Allied Armies broke through the walls of Hitler's Third Reich that they were forced to confront the reality that these reports were not exaggerated.   If anything, they were understatements.  Many in our society don't want to acknowledge realities like this, and seek to downplay or minimize them because for many, the reality is too horrible to accept.  

Sadly, the horror of the reality is not the only thing that one must consider.  Politics is another.  In 2014 many mainstream news networks acknowledged the work that Tim Ballard was doing and praised him for it, and this was before anyone even knew what QAnon was.  The following year, Tim Ballard testified to the realities of human trafficking to Congress, so why would the media give him far praise less then 10 years later?  The answer is politics.  During the movie there was a scene of a trafficker caught by ICE agents transporting a child (Miguel) across the Mexican-American border to sell into sex slavery.  Over the past few years, ICE has become ridiculed by the Left who have long advocated open borders between the two nations.  

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They have tried to depict ICE as cruelly separating parents from children and believe that all should be able to come into the U.S. unhindered.  This scene shows that not all children who come across the border come with people who are their relatives, but with traffickers, which shows why an "open border" is not any option.  However, this is a reality that the Left refuses to accept.  Moreover, Tim Ballard briefly appointed by former President Trump to the White House Public-Private Partnership Advisory Council to End Human Trafficking in 2019, though the council folded a year later.  For years, mainstream media has sought to discredit Donald Trump in every way conceivable, so it cannot be surprising that anyone linked to Donald Trump during his administration will become targeted by the mainstream news.  

The final reality that we have to confront is that Pedophiles are seeking to infiltrate our nations governing bodies and exert their influence.  At a Human Trafficking Conference at Georgetown University in 2019 former FBI agent Bob Hamer (Featured Left) spoke and confessed that spent nearly 20 years working as an undercover agent.  During his time as an agent he confessed that he infiltrated NAMBLA (North American Men Boys Love Association) which seeks to de-criminalize pedophilia both in the U.S. and around the world.  He confessed that there were members from all walks of life (white collar, blue collar, teachers, etc.) and that they are pushing both the media and therapists to declare that pedophilia is a natural sexual orientation and that it should be decriminalized.  

Bob Hamer further stated that for years pedophiles have sought to infiltrate the LGBTQ+ movement which pushed for Gay and Trans rights, and they in turn want the movement to start pushing for what they claim is "Minor Attracted Persons (MAP)" Rights.  While it cannot at this time be proven, or even assumed, but there may be those within the media who are supportive, or at least sympathetic of the "MAP" campaign, and they may fear this movie will galvanize the public against their campaign.  For as Bob Hamer stated, Pedophiles are from all walks of life.  

Despite the reasons behind the accusations of some mainstream media networks on this movie.  It is very clear that it has nothing to do with QAnon.  Other mainstream sources such as USA today have ardently denounced this accusation, and those who have taken to watching the film with an open mind can plainly see that there is not even the slightest reference to QAnon anywhere in the film.  The film is based on the true story of the life of Tim Ballard and it's purpose is to raise awareness of how widespread child sex trafficking is, and how people from around the world must work together to stop it.  The purpose of the film is not to capitalize on conspiracies or politics, but to raise awareness of a very real and very disturbing problem that exists in our world and to deliver a simply, yet powerful message:

Sources:

Cava, Marco Della.  "Why 'Sound of Freedom,' Jim Caviezel's Controversial Child Sex Trafficking Film, is a Hit."  USA Today.  July 12, 2023.  Accessed from

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2023/07/12/sound-of-freedom-movie-controversy/70405543007/

"Media Outlets Ripped for 'Sound of Freedom' Criticism."  Fox News.  July 10, 2023.  Accessed from https://www.foxnews.com/video/6330928406112.

Murray, Connor.  "Box Office Hit 'Sound of Freedom' Controversy-Including QAnon Ties and False Claims Theaters are Sabotaging Screening-Explained."  Forbes.  July 11, 2023.  Accessed from https://www.forbes.com/sites/conormurray/2023/07/11/box-office-hit-sound-of-freedom-controversy-including-qanon-ties-and-false-claims-theaters-are-sabotaging-screenings-explained/?sh=73a294d4688c

Tracy, Marc.  "A Film About Child Trafficking Takes on Summer Blockbusters."  The New York Times.  July 11, 2023.  Accessed from https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/11/business/sound-of-freedom-trafficking.html#commentsContainer