'Passion' shakes North Jersey clergy to the core
Sunday, February 29, 2004
By JOHN CHADWICK and BRIAN KLADKO
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One Catholic priest in Morris County was so appalled by Mel Gibson's "The Passion of The Christ'' that he described the film as "religious barbarism.''
But a Protestant minister in Harrington Park was so moved that afterward he drove to a park, where he prayed and sat silently for almost an hour.
Meanwhile, a rabbi from River Edge said the movie could bring Jews and Christians closer, despite the film's insistence that it was the Jews who pushed for the execution of Jesus.
Arriving in theaters last week on Ash Wednesday, "The Passion's'' harrowing vision of the final 12 hours of Jesus' life has struck a nerve in the landscape of American faith, inspiring countless believers, polarizing others, and giving fresh focus to interfaith activism.
The bloody, two-hour movie has outraged some Jews with its portrayal of the Jewish high priests as vicious, scheming power barons. And it has turned off some Christians who believe the film's sole focus on Jesus' violent death misses the essence of Christianity.
The film has also delighted millions of conservative Christians - who showed their growing clout by packing theaters coast to coast, helping make the movie a box-office bonanza.
Yet among clergy, the movie's supporters and critics can't be neatly divided along denominational lines.
The Rev. Jack Lohr, a pastor in Franklin Lakes who preaches a liberal brand of Christianity, said the movie startled him personally and raised fundamental questions for all Christians.
"For us who claim to have taken up the cross to follow Jesus, the film challenges any convenient or comfortable reading of the cost of discipleship,'' said Lohr, of the Presbyterian Church at Franklin Lakes. "I shall never again be able to sing the sweetly sentimental lines of 'The Old Rugged Cross' without a dreadful sense of irony.''
And the pastor at one of the most progressive parishes in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Paterson said the film woke him up to the realities of Jesus' death in a way that trumped years of Bible readings.
"It made me realize I've had a pretty sanitized view of what Christ did for me,'' said the Rev. Kevin Downey of St. Mary's in Pompton Lakes. "I've read the story so much, and felt I knew the story so well, that after a while, you take it for granted.''
One thing's for certain, "The Passion'' isn't going away. The movie took in $23.6 million on opening day, a box office showing that suggests the film could wind up in the same esteemed league as such screen classics as "Ben-Hur'' and "The Ten Commandments.''
But unlike those earlier religious blockbusters, "The Passion'' draws razor sharp theological lines that attract and repel.
The movie dwells almost entirely on Jesus' torture and execution, emphasizing that he chose death on the cross to bring salvation to mankind. The movie's violence is now notorious. Jewish leaders call for his death, mocking and spitting on him. Then Roman soldiers take over, whipping him over and over until the flesh is ripped from his back. Finally, his hands and feet are nailed into the cross.
The Rev. Kenneth Lasch, a veteran Catholic priest, said he was repelled.
"I saw it as religious barbarism ... in my opinion, God did not send his son to die,'' said Lasch, of St. Joseph's Church of Mendham. "God sent his son to live, to be faithful. And in being faithful, it cost him his life.''
Lasch, who saw the movie Thursday, also said the film's uncompromising, in-your-face approach reflects a growing divisiveness and belligerence within the major religions.
"As I was sitting at the end of movie I thought, 'This is not bringing us together,''' he said. "This is increasing the separation.''
Others share his fears.
Rabbi Neil Borovitz said he couldn't help but think about "Fiddler on the Roof,'' the classic musical about life in an Eastern European shtetl. The show, which had a revival open on Broadway the same week "The Passion'' reached the theaters, ends tragically with pogroms against the Jews.
"It was the claim of the Jews killing Jesus that inspired people to slaughter thousands of innocent people,'' said Borovitz, of Temple Sholom in River Edge. "I think Mel Gibson has taken a similar approach in this movie, and it's very bothersome.''
But Borovitz also holds out hope. He attended the movie Wednesday with Catholic and Protestant clergymen that he has known for years. And he points to a fresh round of interfaith activism in Bergen County that will make "The Passion'' the main topic of conversation. On Thursday in Teaneck, for example, two scholars, one Catholic and one Jewish, will speak to religious educators and clergy on the complexities of the crucifixion story and how to explain them to students and other lay people.
Borovitz said he respects the story of the Resurrection as the central narrative of Christianity. But he said Gibson has told the story in a provocative, manipulative, and mean-spirited way.
"I feel much more comfortable with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops or the National Council of Churches teaching this story than I do with Mel Gibson,'' Borovitz said. "But Mel Gibson is going to reach more people than they will, and that's what concerns me.''
Many pastors found the movie so compelling they're seeing it again.
The Rev. George Kaden, of Community Church in Harrington Park, saw the movie Wednesday and drove to Van Saun Park in Paramus for 45 minutes of reflection. He is seeing the movie again today with his family.
"It's a film that challenges us to look in our own hearts and ask ourselves about our relationship with God,'' Kaden said. "Each person has to come to grips with what they are seeing and what they are wrestling with in their personal life.''
Others said the movie is transforming the season of Lent, the period of introspection that began on Ash Wednesday and culminates on Easter Sunday.
The Rev. Steve Giordano will preach about the movie in his sermon today. Giordano, of Clinton Avenue Reformed Church in Bergenfield, cited the movie's opening scene in which Jesus decides to face the cross rather than run from it.
"That's the same question that we face at the beginning of the Lenten season,'' Giordano said. "Are we going to accept the challenge of making a significant spiritual season, or is it just going to be business as usual?''
This article contains material from The Associated Press.
