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Jewish activists: Apologize to Mel
WorldNet Daily ^ | 4/24/04 | Rabbi Daniel Lapin

Posted on 04/25/2004 12:10:28 PM PDT by wagglebee

With perhaps one in five Americans already having seen it, "The Passion" continues to rack up attendance records. Would you like to hear an amazing statistic? In spite of dire warnings by some Jewish groups, no Jews wending their way homewards from the synagogue have been set upon by crucifix-wielding Christians intent on wreaking revenge for the death of Jesus.

I am not being sarcastic. This truly is an amazing statistic. According to Boston police reports, the Oliver Stone-Quentin Tarantino 1994 "Natural Born Killers" inspired several imitation murders, including a firefighter killed by a man who claimed to be fascinated by the film.

Nathaniel White claimed that "Robocop" showed him how to kill five women and one girl in a year-long murder spree. Four young gunmen embarked on a killing spree, murdering four after watching the TV movie "Helter Skelter," a film about the Manson murders. The annals of American crime are filled with instances of the unbalanced and the demented acting out silver screen slashing extravaganzas.

Back in February, when "The Passion" was released, would anyone have been willing to guarantee that out of millions of theatergoers, not one lunatic would emerge with mayhem on his mind? I would have offered no such guarantee. Yet, nothing of the sort happened. What did happen is that several criminals were inspired to confess their crimes and submit to trial and incarceration after experiencing "The Passion."

Even the most hostile critic must concede that just as depraved films stimulate degenerate imitation, so do uplifting films stimulate noble behavior. That is certainly what has been happening with "The Passion." Wouldn't it be uplifting and even noble were the Jewish groups who earlier had insulted "The Passion," its maker, the Gospels that inspired it and indeed all Christians, now to issue an apology?

Wouldn't it be refreshing if those who earlier warned of anti-Jewish violence because "Gibson is spouting classic anti-Semitism" would now say contritely, "We were just plain wrong"? How about a "We're sorry" from those who threatened, "Mel Gibson's mouth has turned into a lethal weapon." Instead, what they are now saying is, "Just wait till those Muslims see 'The Passion.'"

What exactly can we expect now that a few Muslim communities are screening the film? It seems to me that we can anticipate only three possible outcomes.

Possible outcome No. 1 is that Muslim viewers decry the movie for at least two of its premises that flatly contradict Quranic doctrine. The first is that Jesus was crucified. According to the Quran, Jesus was merely a prophet and was certainly never crucified; neither did he rise from the grave. The second is the movie's stubborn depiction of a temple in Jerusalem. Islamic propaganda vehemently denies that any Jewish presence ever existed upon the Temple Mount. It is chiefly for these reasons that the movie is not gaining wide exposure among the world's Muslims. Those that do see it are quite likely to denounce it as sheer fabrication.

Possible outcome No. 2 is that Muslim viewers react to "The Passion" by waving their arms, shooting their Kalashnikovs into the air and yelling, "Yes! We knew it! Those Jews are just no good. Did you see this? They are even implicated in the death of Jesus." Presumably the consequence of this discovery would be that Muslim audiences then shake their heads sadly and say, "OK, that's it! No more mister nice guy!" Does anyone seriously suggest that Muslims in the Middle East were just about to denounce homicide bombings until they saw "The Passion"? Or would all those studious Islamic poetry scholars see the movie, abandon their texts and sally into the streets of Marseilles in order to attack Jews? How could Mel Gibson's movie possibly add to the already frenzied Islamic anti-Semitism?

Finally, we must confront possible outcome No. 3. Muslims experience "The Passion," find it profoundly moving and in large numbers convert to Christianity. Many would consider this outcome to be rather improbable, but they could be the same people who were also wrong in their predictions of how "The Passion" would impact American audiences. In any event, Muslim authorities are not quite as sanguine, which is precisely why so few are allowing "The Passion" into their societies in the first place.

And, should 1 billion Muslims convert to Christianity, I can't help wondering, would the world be a better place or a worse place?


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: apology; daniellapin; islamics; jews; melgibson; passion; rabbilapin
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1 posted on 04/25/2004 12:10:28 PM PDT by wagglebee
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To: wagglebee
And, should 1 billion Muslims convert to Christianity, I can't help wondering, would the world be a better place or a worse place?

The answer to this should be obvious.
2 posted on 04/25/2004 12:16:29 PM PDT by CzarNicky (The problem with bad ideas is that they seemed like good ideas at the time.)
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To: wagglebee
.


MEL's -PASSION- sparked by -WE WERE SOLDIERS-

http://www.TheAlamoFILM.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=39081


.
3 posted on 04/25/2004 12:31:04 PM PDT by ALOHA RONNIE (Vet-Battle of IA DRANG-1965 http://www.LZXRAY.com)
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To: wagglebee
Islam is a great puzzle. Why did God permit it to happen? Other heresies had their day and faded away. The Arian heresy swept through the Church and had a huge majority of the bishops under its sway, but as time passed it died out.

The only heresy that succeeded from the beginning and continued to grow in size for 1,500 years is Islam. One reason, paradoxically, is Islam's intolerance. Once a Muslim always a Muslim, or your family and neighbors will kill you.

But the Communist system in the USSR was equally intolerant and all-controlling, and it fell after only 70 years.

It's hard to see how Islam can be defeated now, short of the end of the world or an incredibly huge mass conversion. Small scale conversions won't do, because Muslims have proved themselves to be extremely efficient at exterminating "infidels" in their midst.

Conversion would certainly be the happiest outcome. But only if God wills it.
4 posted on 04/25/2004 12:38:32 PM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: Cicero
This is why their leaders try to keep them so ignorant of the outside world through censorship, etc. They know if most Muslims saw what Western life was truly about there would be rebellion. Even Khomeni's grandson is now opposed to Islamfascism.
5 posted on 04/25/2004 12:41:48 PM PDT by wagglebee
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To: wagglebee
Freedom, democracy, a higher standard of living...these would all radically change Islam. Their leaders know that.
6 posted on 04/25/2004 12:55:10 PM PDT by maro
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To: maro
Yes, and the Muslim leaders have that and want to keep it for themselves.
7 posted on 04/25/2004 12:57:45 PM PDT by wagglebee
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To: Cicero
It is not just up to God's will. God has already shown us His will is for salvation of man. That was the whole point of His Son's sacrifice.

We have free will. It is the choice of each man and woman. God's will and love remain steadfast. The deciding factor rests in humanity - our free will.
8 posted on 04/25/2004 1:04:52 PM PDT by ValerieUSA
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To: ValerieUSA
A valid point. God governs history with His providence, yet at the same time allows us free will.

But it's hard to resist the idea that when you have a Great Awakening like the one that took place in America in the 19th century or in England at the time of John Wesley, God has decided to touch people with His grace in greater measure than usual.

The grace that surrounded the apparition of the Virgin of Guadalupe converted millions of Indians in Latin America, and changed the culture from aboriginal cruelty and superstition to Christianity in a fairly short time. Each convert made his own decision, but it was an altogether remarkable change from the culture that preceded it.

But for 1,500 years Muslims seem to have been immune to such divine grace. And Muslims do NOT believe in any least degree of freedom of the will.
9 posted on 04/25/2004 2:27:45 PM PDT by Cicero (Marcus Tullius)
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To: CzarNicky
And, should 1 billion Muslims convert to Christianity, I can't help wondering, would the world be a better place or a worse place? The answer to this should be obvious.

Yes - if they took it to the same extremes that they've done with islam then we'd have to worry about the Crusades being perpetrated all over again.

10 posted on 04/25/2004 2:30:11 PM PDT by solitas (sometimes I lay awake at night looking up at the stars wondering where the heck did the ceiling go?)
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To: wagglebee
And, should 1 billion Muslims convert to Christianity, I can't help wondering,
would the world be a better place or a worse place?


To paraphrase Churchill, this is the sort of question that only an intellectual,
university professor, or mainstream journalist would either answer
"can't tell" or "worse place".
11 posted on 04/25/2004 2:33:34 PM PDT by VOA
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To: wagglebee
Wouldn't it be uplifting and even noble were the Jewish groups who earlier had insulted "The Passion," its maker, the Gospels that inspired it and indeed all Christians, now to issue an apology?

Well, it would be all of those things. But it would also be unthinkable. Plus, those bozos are too busy trying to get Kerry elected to issue an apology.

12 posted on 04/25/2004 2:36:24 PM PDT by Skooz (My Biography: Psalm 40:1-3)
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To: CzarNicky
Islamofacists want to keep their flock:
Barefoot, and pregnant...With Burqas.

13 posted on 04/25/2004 2:40:55 PM PDT by Smartass (BUSH & CHENEY 2004 - THE BEST GET BETTER)
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To: Cicero
I guess we could ask that about any evil.

And in my mind, Islam is evil. One of the reasons it was able to get going, however, was that it took Jewish ritual practice and adherence to a law that governed both religious and social behavior, and combined it with Christian proseltysing. However, it was a parody of both, using an insane, run-amok, mongrel "law" in place of the genuine Law of Moses, and bloody conquest in place of the Christian preaching and martyrdom (of the preachers, not of innocent bystanders) that spread Christianity.

In addition, its message was not to turn the other cheek and conquer by being gentle and law-abiding, but to attack and collect booty and slaves, because Allah was on your side and blood should flow if people didn't agree.

That's why it appeals to our prison population: it tells the weak and dysfunctional that they are strong and meant to be in charge, not because they are good or smart, but simply because they are more ruthless. And it tells them that their reward will be all the "things" they have ever wanted: riches and sex.

Islam arose at a time and in an area where Christianity had been severely weakened by Arianism (which was a quasi-Unitarianism that made it very easy for heresy-influenced Christians to accept Islam) and the Church had lost much of its control. The Jews had fled long before, although there were many colonies still living in the area; however, they were powerless. And the Roman Empire and its few remaining vestiges of order and authority had been gone for some time, permitting little warring tribes to seize power throughout the area.

But the long and short of it is that Islam is evil, and the Devil like a roaring lion goes about seeking whom he may devour. Islam has been knocked back several times, but not without effort. But in our modern, naive society, where Christian orthodoxy is weakened, Europe has almost vanished, and the United States itself is undermined by doubt, the Devil (aka Islam) finds a lot to devour.

14 posted on 04/25/2004 3:03:38 PM PDT by livius
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To: wagglebee
A pungent polemic, well conceived and deftly executed.
15 posted on 04/25/2004 3:18:26 PM PDT by beckett
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To: livius
Actually, the Eastern Church in the year 600 was weakened not by Arianism, but by Monophysitism.

Syria and Egypt were heavily Monophysite when the Muslims invaded. They converted to Islam. Arians did not believe in the Trinity. They rejected the divinity of Christ. Monophysites believed solely in the divinity of Christ and completely rejected his humanity. Mono Physis. One Energy. One Divine Energy in Christ.

The Egyptian Copts today are Monophysite.
16 posted on 04/25/2004 4:51:43 PM PDT by Sam the Sham
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To: Cicero
re: Islam is a great puzzle. Why did God permit it to happen? Other heresies had their day and faded away. )))

Since you ask a religious question, you might read in Genesis the account of Cain/Abel, Isaac/Ishmael, and Jacob/Esau. These are three sets of brothers with father issues, and "God" issues. This motif is repeated in various ways even up to the Prodigal Son--and I believe it may figure in a cosmic way over the question of Free Will and the Problem of Evil.

Sarah shouldn't have gotten impatient, and should have trusted to God's promise of a child in her old age. She "jumped the gun" and handed over Hagar for Abraham to impregnate, but this set up a big domestic and spiritual conflict when Sarah herself bore Isaac . Hagar found herself and her child rejected, exiled and "unchosen", so her son got a consolation prize , a promise of her own from God--to bear an enormous nation, a huge population, and to be an eternal menace and a force for irrationality.

The Mohammed.

17 posted on 04/25/2004 4:55:25 PM PDT by Mamzelle (for a post-Neo conservatism)
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To: wagglebee
"And, should 1 billion Muslims convert to Christianity, I can't help wondering, would the world be a better place or a worse place?" ... This was a good article, but it ended poorly; satan would release Islamic minds sufficiently for so many to be saved from among his staunchest adherents. But, then again, The Truth--Jesus, and Him crucified--has to be more powerful than Satan, so maybe the author has a point?
18 posted on 04/25/2004 5:01:02 PM PDT by MHGinTN (If you can read this, you've had life support from someone. Promote life support for others.)
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To: Sam the Sham
That's true, but...

Arianism had already been rejected, technically speaking, more than a century earlier. However, it had laid the groundwork for the "Jesus as prophet" theory, and in addition, had seriously disrupted Rome's control over the areas where Islam had actually developed.

Once Islam was full-blown, it was easy for it to conquer other areas that were non-Trinitarian and not united with Rome/Constantinople.

Islam always knows how to seek out its advantage.

19 posted on 04/25/2004 5:23:40 PM PDT by livius
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To: livius
No. I disagree.

Arianism was Greek in its roots. It was strong in the West, not the East.

Monophysis was the extreme opposite of Arianism. While Arianism argued that Christ was some kind of a mega angel, not one in being with the Father, made not begotten, Monophysis argued that Christ WAS the Father and that he did not suffer on the cross.

Islam argues the opposite of Monophysis. That Christ was simply a man. Nothing more.
20 posted on 04/25/2004 5:31:16 PM PDT by Sam the Sham
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