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Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ" Brings Out a Bigoted Response
Movie Guide (CBN) ^ | 1/26/04 | Dr. Ted Baehr

Posted on 01/26/2004 6:26:06 AM PST by truthandlife

Recently, our friend Robert Knight chastised another friend David Horowitz for writing an article contending that Christian theology doesn’t classify homosexuality as a sin. Knight pointed out that both the Old and the New Testament treat homosexuality as a sin, and that it was bigotry for Mr. Horowitz to be lecturing Christians on their theology. David may not have considered the implications, but he reacted with a more strenuous broadside demeaning Christian theology.

Another kibitzer in the Los Angeles Times Book Review insisted that Christians remove all references to Jews in the New Testament. In a USA Today Op Ed, Rabbi Gerald Zelizer complained that Christian leaders "are too facile in generalizing their criticism about Hollywood’s portrayal of God and faith" after taking Christian comments out of context and denigrating Christian theology. He then prescribes what Christians should believe.

Surely this contributing writer would be upset if Christians started criticizing Talmudic theology. Furthermore, it’s hard to believe that he would take statements by renowned Christians out of context, and then criticize them on theological grounds that he does not understand since he is not a Christian. The Bible clear that "the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Corinthians 2:14) The matters that Rabbi Zelizer is talking about concern a movie made by Christians treating issues from a redemptive perspective.

Shortly thereafter, the Los Angeles Times ran an opinion piece by two people from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a worthy Jewish organization dedicated to helping people remember the evil slaughter of millions of Jews in the Holocaust in World War II. The men cautioned Mel Gibson about the possible depiction of Jewish leaders in his new movie about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, The Passion of The Christ.

Apparently, these men get very upset, as we have and they should, whenever someone tries to revise the holocaust history by questioning minor historical details about Hitler’s horrible genocidal program. Then, they contradict themselves by wanting to revise the historical record by hiding the truth about the religious leaders who were involved in the trials that resulted in the death of Jesus. As these men say, it was Pontius Pilate who ordered the crucifixion, but they leave out the fact that it was religious leaders who incited the mob into demanding the crucifixion.

Telling Christians what to think about their own faith has become the fashion in the media, but that does not make it right. It is a base form of religious bigotry and exposes the agenda of the bigots who want to eliminate Jesus, the Bible and Bible-believing Christians from the marketplace of ideas.

The persecution represented by the crucifixion of Jesus Christ led to brutal persecutions of the apostles and thousands of Christians throughout the Middle East and in Rome. Only the peaceful martyrdoms and loving actions of Christ’s followers stemmed this bloody tide of terror. Regrettably, the persecution of Christians was renewed in the 20th Century, which saw more than 100 million Christians persecuted and martyred in Africa, Asia and even Europe. Today this persecution continues unabated in the Sudan, Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

Now in the United States, some intolerant people are effectively calling for the exclusion of all things Christian from public discourse. These revisionists want to remove all the voluminous historical evidence about Jesus from schools, government, and the mass media. For these intolerant people, all speech is acceptable, except references to Jesus Christ and the Bible, which they have forbidden in their politically correct purge of all public discourse. In their attempt to revise history and erase the historical record, they are effectively crucifying Jesus Christ once more, though subtly than those who incited the mob before Pilate to yell, "Crucify Him!" To which Pilate replied that Jesus’ crucifixion was upon their heads (see Matthew 27:15-25).

If we fail to remember this history, we will be doomed to repeat it. Don’t let the kibitzers take away your freedom to think about God in a historically accurate way. If they can let Martin Scorsese defame the real Jesus by producing The Last Temptation of Christ in the name of the First Amendment, surely they can let Mel Gibson release the kind of movie about Jesus he wants to make.


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1 posted on 01/26/2004 6:26:08 AM PST by truthandlife
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To: truthandlife
Did you catch the Actor that played Jesus on Hannity last FRI?


He was struck by lighten during the shooting of the film.

It will be replayed today some time today.

http://hannity.com/

2 posted on 01/26/2004 6:30:37 AM PST by OXENinFLA ("A free Iraq will help change a neighborhood that needs to change." GWB 1- 22-04)
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To: OXENinFLA
I posted an article on it:

Gibson's 'Christ' Details Crucifixion Scenes, Reveals Conversions

3 posted on 01/26/2004 6:32:26 AM PST by truthandlife ("Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." (Ps 20:7))
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To: truthandlife
I guess you did =)

Thanks for the link.
4 posted on 01/26/2004 6:36:06 AM PST by OXENinFLA ("A free Iraq will help change a neighborhood that needs to change." GWB 1- 22-04)
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To: truthandlife
Anyone catch Mark Mullen's spot on Gibson on the Today show this morning? Mullen referred to Gibson as a member of a Catholic "splinter group" that rejects modern "reforms" to the Catholic church. So apparently being a devout Catholic now makes one a member of a "splinter group". Charming.
5 posted on 01/26/2004 6:40:59 AM PST by mewzilla
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To: mewzilla
So apparently being a devout Catholic now makes one a member of a "splinter group". Charming.

Jesus was part of a splinter group. Look what they did to him!

6 posted on 01/26/2004 7:08:34 AM PST by Only1choice____Freedom (The word system implies they have done something the same way at least twice)
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To: truthandlife
>don't let the kibitzers take away your freedom to think about God in a historically accurate way. If they can let Martin Scorsese defame the real Jesus by producing The Last Temptation of Christ in the name of the First Amendment, surely they can let Mel Gibson release the kind of movie about Jesus he wants to make.

Why is Scorsese OK but Mel Gibson is not? Why was The Gospel of John not greeted with a preemptive campaign of antisemitism charges like they did with The Passion?

The post-modern theologians and faithless, liberal Catholic bishops have two Jesus'. The Jesus of the Bible and the historical Jesus. The Jesus of the Bible is merely a character in text which they ignore at will because they claim it was written a 100 or even hundreds of years after Jesus. (The actual record of manuscripts point to the earliest dates as the true time of authorship of the Gospels, not the later dates. The disclaimer before the movie The Gospel of John takes this approach of erroneously claiming a very late date of authorship.) The historical Jesus is the Jesus of the DaVinci Code or the Jesus portrayed in The Last Temptation. There is no evidence at all for this Jesus but theologians put more stock in this one than in the Jesus of the Bible because it fits with their program of denigrating Jesus.

Either approach is an attempt to destroy Jesus as Messiah.

Yes even the Jesus of the Bible (or more precisely the Jesus of the post-modern Text) is an attempt to blunt the effect of the Gospel message. That is why after the reading the Gospel in a Catholic Mass the reader is prohibited from saying 'the proclaimation of the Gospel.' Instead they must say 'the Gospel of...' The Gospel is not the proclaimation of a text or an edifying story but the record of the Messiah on Earth.

Mel Gibsons' Jesus is not the Jesus of a distant text but Jesus unambiguously shown as Savior. That is why so many people must hate this movie.

7 posted on 01/26/2004 7:11:40 AM PST by Dialup Llama
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To: All
It looks like the naysayers are looking to crucify the movie!! Shame shame.
8 posted on 01/26/2004 7:12:59 AM PST by cousair
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To: cousair
>It looks like the naysayers are looking to crucify the movie!! Shame shame.

Buy tickets in advance as soon as they are available at the theater. Large advanced sales will mean even more screens will open with The Passion.

9 posted on 01/26/2004 7:15:21 AM PST by Dialup Llama
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To: Dialup Llama
Mel Gibsons' Jesus is not the Jesus of a distant text but Jesus unambiguously shown as Savior. That is why so many people must hate this movie.

Bingo!

10 posted on 01/26/2004 7:20:14 AM PST by truthandlife ("Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." (Ps 20:7))
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To: Dialup Llama

To Order Advance Tickets
please call:
(888) 227 - 1152
OR ORDER ONLINE

IT'S OFFICIAL! You can now buy advance tickets to see Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ". Icon Productions has set up a toll-free ticket hotline for your ordering requests. The best way now to show your support for the film is to buy tickets. This sends a clear message to theaters across the world that people really are interested in seeing this film. Advance tickets are currently only available for the UNITED STATES.(Canada are other countries will be available soon). Find more details here. The film opens nationwide in the US on February 25, 2004.
 
The film will be playing in over 2,000 theaters throughout the US! This is great news! So you can feel confident that a theater will be carrying the film. Have more questions? Call the toll-free number and ask them for details and to find out if it will be playing near you. If you still have questions after calling the toll-free number, feel free to e-mail us at: tickets@passion-movie.com.
 
Please be patient as there will hopefully be an overwhelming response to purchase tickets. You may have to hold for a short time when calling. Large groups may eligible for quantity discounts (the more the better!). MORE DETAILS COMING SOON!
11 posted on 01/26/2004 7:21:02 AM PST by truthandlife ("Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God." (Ps 20:7))
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To: truthandlife
Another kibitzer in the Los Angeles Times Book Review insisted that Christians remove all references to Jews in the New Testament.

What then? Are we Jews monotheistic descendents of Shem any better off? No, not at all; for I have already charged that all men, both Jews monotheistic descenents of Shem and Greeks, are under the power of sin, as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one;

12 posted on 01/26/2004 7:24:19 AM PST by reed_inthe_wind (I reprogrammed my computer to think existentially, I get the same results only slower)
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To: reed_inthe_wind
i LIKE your tag-line!

;-)

Tia

13 posted on 01/26/2004 7:43:09 AM PST by tiamat ("Just a Bronze-Age Gal, Trapped in a Techno World!")
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To: truthandlife
I hope sales go well there...probably the ONLY way there is a chance we will see this movie in any military theater overseas.
14 posted on 01/26/2004 7:50:59 AM PST by Shery (S. H. in APOland)
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To: tiamat
Tagline? I thought someone would notice that Shem (shem + ite = semite)was the righteous son of Noah and therefore they might question the meaning of the quoted scripture. But, when a tree falls in the woods, is it ironic?
15 posted on 01/26/2004 7:58:42 AM PST by reed_inthe_wind (I reprogrammed my computer to think existentially, I get the same results only slower)
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To: reed_inthe_wind
When a tree falls in the woods, it CAN be ironic, but we are all too cool to notice!

;-)

No, seriously, I am just watching this thread because stuff like this fascinates me.

and it Is a good tagline!

Tia

16 posted on 01/26/2004 8:02:46 AM PST by tiamat ("Just a Bronze-Age Gal, Trapped in a Techno World!")
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To: tiamat
thanks
17 posted on 01/26/2004 8:04:42 AM PST by reed_inthe_wind (I reprogrammed my computer to think existentially, I get the same results only slower)
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To: reed_inthe_wind
I am sure they would like us to replace "The Jews" in the New Testament and insert the Muslims.....

With the exception of Orthodox Jews these Jewish folks are speaking as secularists who are trying to fool peoplemthat they have an idea about the Holy Bible.

Funny thing when I watched the movie "ROOTS" I never felt like my life was in danger... maybe I should of asked the producers of that movie to put in Indians instead of my heritage...;-0
18 posted on 01/26/2004 8:05:49 AM PST by missyme
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To: Dialup Llama
Actually, there is evidence that some of the early versions (the Aramaic gospels) were composed as early as about 60-70 AD. And it is widely accepted that Emperor Severus Alexander, the youngest ceasar ever to rule the Roman Empire, from AD 222 to AD 235, had a few extra statues in his private chapel, in addition to the Roman gods.

One of Abraham.

One of Jesus, the Nazarene carpenter.
19 posted on 01/26/2004 8:16:11 AM PST by djf
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To: missyme
Funny thing when I watched the movie "ROOTS" I never felt like my life was in danger...

Excellent point!

Are these the same folks that tell us violence in movies will not affect children? After all it's just a movie.

However, they believe TV/Movies can be used as a tool to influence human behavior. They say with just one viewing of "The Passion of The Christ" that the film will turn all of us into Antisemitic maniacs ready to punch the first Jew we can find right after we come out of the theater.

WOW! what a movie. That would make the "The Passion of The Christ" the most mind controlling movie of all times.

In closing, I think all of the rhetoric is just a publicity stunt.

20 posted on 01/26/2004 8:49:32 AM PST by Major_Risktaker (Oderint dum metuant)
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