Posted on 03/20/2004 6:03:12 AM PST by truthandlife
Judging by most of what you read, Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ is the most dangerous, disgusting movie of all time. Even if you haven't seen it, you know that it's a gore-filled splatterfest with anti-Semitic overtones, that Mel Gibson's father is a flat-out Holocaust-denier, and that Mel himself is a sinister marketing genius.
The movie has been condemned by most reviewers. This paper's Rick Groen said it "comes perilously close to the pornography of violence." Frank Rich, The New York Times cultural writer, has been flaying Mr. Gibson's movie for weeks. "A joy ride for sadomasochists" was among his kinder remarks. The brilliant Christopher Hitchens called it both homoerotic (in a Nazified kind of way) and sadomasochistic. The Toronto Star's Linda McQuaig called it a "torture flick" that will "fan the flames" of anti-Semitism. Commentators of every faith have deplored it as a religious travesty.
So why is The Passion doing such boffo box office?
Because for millions of people across North America, The Passion is a deeply meaningful devotional experience.
"I was profoundly moved," says Ken Godon , who is pastor of Snowdon Baptist Church in Montreal. "It was a very, very emotional experience for me. I saw it twice, and I wept both times. I'm a devout follower of Jesus, and I love him."
The real rift over The Passion is not between the Christians and the Jews. It's
between certain devout Christians and
all the rest of us, especially those of little or no faith. Virtually everyone who mongers opinions in the mainstream media,
including me, belongs to the latter
category.
Rev. Godon is a fine and thoughtful man who counts several rabbis among his friends. His flourishing urban congregation includes Iranians, Filipinos, Africans, West Indians, Chinese and Koreans. Some are converts to Christianity. They feel as he does about the movie. "In the Hebrew scriptures [the Old Testament], there is a chapter which describes what will happen in the future. The Messiah, or the suffering servant, will be marred beyond recognition," he told me. In other words, the gore is precisely the point. "Mel doesn't want people to see a sanitized version of how horrific this was."
In this rendering of Christianity, the suffering is at the very heart of the faith. God allowed His Son to be crushed in our stead. What was done to Jesus is a metaphor for sin. "This is what sin does," says Rev. Godon. "It destroys, it disfigures, it mars. So when you put it all together it becomes a very, very deep reflection. It's a meditation on Jesus and also on my own personal soul."
In the movie, both Jews and Romans howl for Jesus's blood. But Rev. Godon says no Baptist would take a message of anti-Semitism from this. The real message is that we all bear responsibility for Christ's death, and we are all with sin.
In fact, there's no sign that the movie has provoked any upwelling of anti-Semitism. (Some argue that it might be used as a propaganda tool in the Muslim world, but that's another story.) And ironically, the evangelical community is among the staunchest supporters of Jews and Israel. "I have a deep respect for Jewish people," says Rev. Gordon. "I look up to them. I honour them. My faith is connected to their traditions and their scriptures. Everything started with the Jewish people."
He's distressed that some Jewish groups are officially upset by the movie (others are not). "When I look at the film, there is nothing but a profound love for Jesus and a deep respect for the culture from which he came," he says.
Mr. Gibson belongs to a tiny sect of backward-looking Catholics who reject Vatican II and think that everybody but themselves is going to hell. As Andy Rooney said on 60 Minutes, the guy's a wacko.
So isn't it odd that a movie with such wide appeal to Protestants came from him?
"I'm not a Mel Gibson expert," says Rev. Godon. "But I feel reverence oozing out of the film."
Christian evangelism -- which accepts the literal truth of the Bible -- is the fastest-growing brand of religion in North America today. As the grand old edifices of the Anglican and United Churches empty out, the new fundamentalist congregations are booming. It's not hard to guess why. The churches of the Protestant upper classes have neutered Jesus of his terrifying power. They got rid of all the militancy and gore, which were seen as hopelessly primitive. The suffering of Jesus is Christianity's greatest calling card, and they threw it away.
The Jesus I grew up with was a California hippie with a peace symbol. He was gentle, meek, and it never occurred to me that he was Jewish. The revolutionary Jesus condemning sinners to hellfire was nowhere to be seen. Even as I marched up the aisle on the day I was confirmed, it had begun to dawn on me that Jesus was just a metaphor. You weren't expected to take any of this hocus-pocus literally. In which case, why bother?
The up-market liberal churches have pushed God to the sidelines in favour of ecumenism and social justice. He has all but vanished. For evangelicals, God is real. The blood is not a metaphor. The suffering of Jesus is holy, and to contemplate it is to bear witness. "To me, as horrific as it was, the movie was hauntingly beautiful," says Rev. Godon.
You won't see this view articulated in the mainstream media. Most media folks are proudly secular types who regard openly religious people as distinctly odd. If you're gay, bi, or transgendered, we embrace you. But if your orientation is toward Jesus, you'd better keep it to yourself. We are fairly certain that born-again Christians are bigoted, not very intelligent, and possibly dangerous. This stereotype is easy to sustain because we've never actually met one.
After I talked with Ken Godon, I finally went off to see The Passion. To me, the movie was alternately riveting and revolting, moving and unwatchable. Once or twice it almost touched a chord of rapture in me, the sort of rapture that I vaguely remember feeling as a girl.
The Passion is on its way to being the biggest hit in movie history. Something's happening here, and we ought to find out what it is.
Is a faint light beginning to dawn? Is the Holy spirit at work in this life? Let us pray.
Throughout the last half, you feel like crying out "Stop beating him already!" Very moving. This film will be packed again Easter weekend...
Though there is still a little trouble when comparing the following statements:
Mr. Gibson belongs to a tiny sect of backward-looking Catholics who reject Vatican II and think that everybody but themselves is going to hell. As Andy Rooney said on 60 Minutes, the guy's a wacko.
Most media folks are proudly secular types who regard openly religious people as distinctly odd. If you're gay, bi, or transgendered, we embrace you. But if your orientation is toward Jesus, you'd better keep it to yourself. We are fairly certain that born-again Christians are bigoted, not very intelligent, and possibly dangerous.
The first statement seems to be a full embracing of the stereotype she castigates her fellows for in the latter. Still, barring Saul on the road to Damascus, it's not expected that one "gets it" all in one shot. I'm happy to take what we can get.
WELL SAID!
(To God be the glory, great things He hath done......)
I'm more of a Deist than a Christian, but an honest secular view of Christ's sacrifices and the Christian notion of sin and Christ's sacrifice for the sins of others is still a powerful statement to anyone with a sense of humility.
You won't see this view articulated in the mainstream media. Most media folks are proudly secular types who regard openly religious people as distinctly odd. If you're gay, bi, or transgendered, we embrace you. But if your orientation is toward Jesus, you'd better keep it to yourself. We are fairly certain that born-again Christians are bigoted, not very intelligent, and possibly dangerous. This stereotype is easy to sustain because we've never actually met one.
The honesty is deeply appreciated, Ms. Wente. Most liberal media types aren't nearly so circumspect regarding their own biases towards Christianity. And honesty towards one's own biases is the first step towards bridging differences.
After I talked with Ken Godon, I finally went off to see The Passion. To me, the movie was alternately riveting and revolting, moving and unwatchable. Once or twice it almost touched a chord of rapture in me, the sort of rapture that I vaguely remember feeling as a girl.
I now see where the circumspection comes from, Ms. Wente - you still have a few threads of faith and humanity running through your psyche.
The Passion is on its way to being the biggest hit in movie history. Something's happening here, and we ought to find out what it is.
A smart liberal. I thought they were just about extinct.
So violent, that I defaced cornerstones that had roman numerals.
So violent that I no longer eat Roman Bread. So violent that I no longer am a Roman Catholic, just Catholic. Can I be helped?
Refreshing honesty.
To me, the movie was alternately riveting and revolting, moving and unwatchable. Once or twice it almost touched a chord of rapture in me, the sort of rapture that I vaguely remember feeling as a girl.
Sad and wonderful. God help her.
How do you define deism? I ask you this question because I'm curious as to how people really view Deism.
I can recommend "Orthodoxy."
Also, G.K. CHESTERTON, THE APOSTLE OF COMMON SENSE is running on EWTN Saturday afternoons at 5:00 P.M. Don't miss it!
I believe in God but am not certain as to Christ's divinity. Since I was raised an Episcopalean, it was a logical transition.
And no, that doesn't make me Jewish by default.
So as you define deist, you would define it as one who believes in God?
And no, that doesn't make me Jewish by default.
I don't understand? Do some think you Jewish because you're not sure of Christ divinity?
What a testimony from an outsider (who may be on her way in!).
As my favorite marxist jesuit, Ivan Illich, said, "The gospel is like a joke told to a circle of men. And one man smiles."
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