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Gibson Was Right to Shout
Dallas Morning News ^ | 2/25/04 | ROD DREHER

Posted on 02/25/2004 12:47:33 PM PST by Maigret

Gibson was right to shout

By ROD DREHER / The Dallas Morning News

It opens in Gethsemane, with Jesus Christ praying in palpable agony. You shudder. You've said this Sorrowful Mystery on your rosary beads countless times, but here, in The Passion of the Christ, it is as if you're encountering it for the first time.

Soon there is Jesus before the Sanhedrin, overseen by Caiaphas, the chief temple priest. Jesus calls himself Messiah. It strikes you that from the point of view of a Jew like Caiaphas, Jesus is a blasphemer.

You think: Had I been a pious first-century Jew, would I have seen things differently? No, probably not.

Roman soldiers mock and scourge him, tearing Jesus to ribbons with barbed whips. He will not be broken. You think about the effete, middle-class Jesus preached from pulpits today, and you want to weep as the soldiers strip away this false image. Behold, a man! This isn't the domesticated Jesus many of us know from our churches. This is a man worth dying for and, therefore, worth living for.

But you think: Had I been a Roman soldier ordered to beat an anonymous prisoner, would I have resisted? No, probably not.

Jesus stands before Pilate, who doesn't want to crucify the prisoner but is afraid for his career if he doesn't do what the crowd wants. You think: If I were a bureaucrat who wanted to preserve my status, would I have shown mercy to a stranger? No, probably not.

Nearly everybody, Jew and Roman, had his reasons. They all are too human. That's why as Jesus, beaten to a bloody pulp, makes his way to the hill atop which he will die, you begin to understand in your bones the Christian belief that all mankind killed Jesus.

There, dragging his cross and his mangled flesh to Golgotha, goes every slave who suffered a master's lash.

There goes every Christian who perished in Josef Stalin's gulags, every Jew hounded to death on the streets of Nazi Germany.

There goes baby Tyreona Mabry, her broken body found in Dallas last week, allegedly the victim of her parents. Neighbors didn't answer the baby girl's cries.

Neighbors like you and me. We crucify Jesus every day. This relentless film forces us to confront what that means.

With Jesus in his death throes, you wonder: Was it necessary for Mel Gibson to have shown all this gore? "To the hard of hearing you shout," said Flannery O'Connor. Mr. Gibson shouts. In this barbaric world, he's right to.

There is Mary cradling the body of her son in her arms at the foot of the cross, and she's looking directly at you. You can't turn away. Her gaze says, "Look what you did to him. Look what he did for you."

And then, in that awesome moment, with the fear of the Lord upon you, the final lines of Rainer Rilke's poem about the power of art to transform cross your mind: "For here there is no place/that does not see you. You must change your life."

I don't know how non-Christians will see this film. As nothing more, perhaps, than the tale of a deluded sap who got caught up in ecclesial and colonial politics. But for those of us who call Jesus the Son of God, who believe he chose his fate for our sakes, The Passion of the Christ is the greatest love story ever told, and it will radically deepen our conversion. By his wounds we are healed.

"Who do you say that I am?" Jesus asked. There is no middle ground. But, then, he told us there wouldn't be.

Rod Dreher is an editorial writer and occasional columnist for The Dallas Morning News. His e-mail address is rdreher@dallasnews.com.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: christ; film; passion; review; roddreher; thepassion
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Wouldn't Flannery have loved this?
1 posted on 02/25/2004 12:47:35 PM PST by Maigret
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To: Maigret
So well written, so well said.
2 posted on 02/25/2004 12:54:16 PM PST by WILLIALAL
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To: Maigret
Extremely well written piece, Thank you for posting it
3 posted on 02/25/2004 12:55:36 PM PST by MJY1288 (There's no leaders on the path of least resistance, ask John Kerry, he's been paving it for 32 yrs.)
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To: WILLIALAL
Wow. I've read a lot of commentary on this movie, but this one is the best.
4 posted on 02/25/2004 12:57:11 PM PST by LS (CNN is the Amtrack of news.)
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To: Maigret
THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST
5 posted on 02/25/2004 12:59:54 PM PST by LiteKeeper
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To: Maigret
Without a doubt, this is the most eloquently beautiful piece I have seen written on "The Passion". The writer (and the poster) are to be commended. Thank you so much for posting this.
6 posted on 02/25/2004 1:01:45 PM PST by the lone haranguer
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To: NormsRevenge
Didn't Dreher used to write for the Murky News?
7 posted on 02/25/2004 1:02:12 PM PST by martin_fierro (THERE IS NUTHIN' LIKE A DAME)
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To: dansangel
ping
8 posted on 02/25/2004 1:05:04 PM PST by .45MAN (this page written on recycleable media)
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To: martin_fierro
Didn't Dreher used to write for the Murky News?

If so, its no surprise that he doesn't anymore.

Excellent piece.

9 posted on 02/25/2004 1:08:08 PM PST by skeeter
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To: Maigret
" It opens in Gethsemane, with Jesus Christ praying in palpable agony. "

My Dad's homage to Heinrich Hoffmann's "Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane"

10 posted on 02/25/2004 1:11:19 PM PST by MaryFromMichigan ( "The Passion" If you loved the Book, you'll love the movie)
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To: Maigret
"Who do you say that I am?" Jesus asked. There is no middle ground. But, then, he told us there wouldn't be.

Great review. Thank you for posting it. The gift of salvation has been offered.

11 posted on 02/25/2004 1:11:51 PM PST by Cboldt
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To: martin_fierro
He also wrote for National Review. He is a very gifted writer and an oustanding man, personally.
12 posted on 02/25/2004 1:19:33 PM PST by opinion8r
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To: .45MAN; LadyX; wirestripper; Donaeus; carlo3b; MeekOneGOP; Billie; dutchess; Aquamarine; GailA; ...
Neighbors like you and me. We crucify Jesus every day. This relentless film forces us to confront what that means.

Bump!

13 posted on 02/25/2004 1:29:51 PM PST by dansangel (*PROUD to be a knuckle-dragging, toothless, inbred, right-wing, Southern, gun-toting Neanderthal *)
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To: dansangel

14 posted on 02/25/2004 1:33:34 PM PST by MeekOneGOP (The Democrats believe in CHOICE. I have chosen to vote STRAIGHT TICKET GOP for years !!)
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To: MeekOneGOP
Isn't this great?
15 posted on 02/25/2004 1:34:07 PM PST by dansangel (*PROUD to be a knuckle-dragging, toothless, inbred, right-wing, Southern, gun-toting Neanderthal *)
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To: Eaker
With Jesus in his death throes, you wonder: Was it necessary for Mel Gibson to have shown all this gore? "To the hard of hearing you shout," said Flannery O'Connor. Mr. Gibson shouts. In this barbaric world, he's right to. "WOW" ping
16 posted on 02/25/2004 1:34:16 PM PST by thackney (Life is Fragile, Handle with Prayer)
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To: Tooters
My Dad's homage to Heinrich Hoffmann's "Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane"

My thanks to you and your Dad for the site, this picture hung in both our grandparent's living rooms and hangs in our home now too.

17 posted on 02/25/2004 1:34:29 PM PST by Maigret
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To: Maigret
GOOD ONE!
18 posted on 02/25/2004 1:34:49 PM PST by Cold Heat (In politics stupidity is not a handicap. --Napoleon Bonapart)
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To: Maigret
Read later.
19 posted on 02/25/2004 1:34:56 PM PST by EagleMamaMT
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To: dansangel
Yes, it really is. Especially coming from The Dallas Morning Spews,
a big advocate for Gays and Lesbians ...

20 posted on 02/25/2004 1:41:11 PM PST by MeekOneGOP (The Democrats believe in CHOICE. I have chosen to vote STRAIGHT TICKET GOP for years !!)
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