Mel Gibson Defends 'The Passion' [NOT a duplicate]

NewsMax ^ | 6-13-2003 | staff

[Notwithstanding]

Gibson said: "If the intense scrutiny during my 25 years in public life revealed I had ever persecuted or discriminated against anyone based on race or creed, I would be all too willing to make amends. But there is no such record. ...

... We regret that this situation has occurred and offer our apologies," Mark Chopko, general counsel for Conference of Catholic Bishops, said in the statement. "I have further advised the scholars group that this draft screenplay is not considered to be representative of the film and should not be the subject of further public comment. When the film is released, the USCCB will review it at that time."

[Asclepius]

I'm waiting for the major studio release of a ruthlessly accurate docu-drama on the life of the Prophet and his caliphs. I would entitle it "THE ULTIMATE BUZZKILL".

[longtermmemmory]

(s) how to deal with the 5 year old wife? (/s)

[Ol' Sox]

Gibson's troubles may not lie with his interpretation of the Biblical account of the death of Jesus, which his film closely mirrors.

As it turns out, the "scholars" who have criticized his film are feverishly working on a rewrite of the New Testament. These scholars claim that the Gospel writers -- Matthew, Mark, Luke and John -- wrote the New Testament Gospels to curry favor with the Roman authories that ruled the known world at that time. They are unhappy the Gibson stuck to the original text.

Scholars writing the "New and Improved" New Testament, huh? The closer you get to portraying the truth, the more they squirm. Rats in the corn.

[AgThorn]

As it turns out, the "scholars" who have criticized his film are feverishly working on a rewrite of the New Testament. These scholars claim that the Gospel writers - Matthew, Mark, Luke and John - wrote the New Testament Gospels to curry favor with the Roman authories that ruled the known world at that time. They are unhappy that Gibson stuck to the original text.

That caught your eye too, eh? Fascinating ... let's "rewrite" the Gospels, attempt 4,623,729.

Stick to the script, Mel, and you will do well .... ignore all the Pharasees of today's religious sect.

[longtermmemmory]

didn't these same "scholars" rewrite the bible to exclude masculine language? (moral relativism strikes again)

[LiteKeeper]

SPOTREP

[lilylangtree]

"The group of scholars convened via email and the Internet had intended to read the confidential script in order to request revisions of the film that conform to their ideas of history and theology."

What ever happened to the 10 commandments that these religious leaders ascribe to: THOU SHALT NOT STEAL!

"As it turns out, the "scholars" who have criticized his film are feverishly working on a rewrite of the New Testament."

After 2,000 years, these scholars are going to spoonfeed the world what they think the gospels should be? I don't think so. Keeping in mind that the apostles were beheaded, crucified, disembowled (to name a few) for their beliefs. Their writings don't need revising. These scholars scare me and should scare others too. These scholars are no different from those people who believe and say the Holocaust didn't happen. They're revising history for their own means too.

[Notwithstanding]

It seems that the lefties get nervous when someone with traditional ideas has influence and popular acclaim in the arts and media.

Horrors! People might be introduced to such ideas through the manipulative use of the arts and end up believing them.

(they don't like it when they are in the back seat)

[Notwithstanding]

Sadly, rumors are that Gibson's dad is one of the holocaust deniers - which does not mean Mel shares that view.

Is there any way to confirm this, or is it simply another fabrication of the NYTime('s Up) ?

[AzSteven]

That caught your eye too, eh? Fascinating ... let's "rewrite" the Gospels, attempt 4,623,729.

Is that the version where I Corinthians is replaced by 'The Book of Hello Kitty, Volume 1'?

[Question_Assumptions]

I don't think that one needs to "rewrite" the Gospels but I think the Gospel text, itself, suggests that the Romans had as much to do with his death as the Jews. That Jesus rode into Jerusalem as a King, that his followers were armed in the garden, that soldiers accompany those who come to arrest him, that Pilate asks him, "Are you the king of the Jews?", that he received a public political execution, and that his cross called him "King" all suggests that a lot more may have been going on here than just a religious spat among the Jews. If Jesus and/or his followers were calling him "King", that was a potential threat to Roman rule over the region. I also think there could be more to Barabbas, since the Bible explicitly names him, that would explain more about the choice that Pilate gave the crowd (since history presents Pilate as much more of a bastard than the Bible does) if it had been written down. None of these points really contradicts the text but it does put a spin on it. And none of it changes the important bits.

Regardless, though, I do think it is as absurd to blame "the Jews" or "the Romans" for Jesus' death as it is to blame "the Whites" or "the South" for American slavery and as absurd to hold modern Jews responsible for the death of Jesus as it is to hold modern whites or white Southerners responsible for paying reparations for slavery.

[longtermmemmory]

remember the hissy fits the left had with the FICTION of the "patriot"? Children with guns, Father setting bad example, etc.

the left just does not like anything that contradicts their world view. It diminishes their evil and they hate it.

[MHGinTN]

Are some of these 'scholars' the demonspawn who promote the ideas that Jesus didn't die on the Cross, that Jesus was a homosexual, that Jesus had a family and moved to the region North of the Black Sea? That such demonspittle spews forth only reinforces the likelihood that Gibson has done an accurate job.

[Richard Kimball]

If only it were just the leftists. The gospel of Christ is a stumbling block, and I dare say that just as many Freepers are offended by it as DUers.

[Grand Old Partisan]

Sticking to the facts about Francis Marion, instead of making up all that stuff in The Patriot, would have made for a much better movie.

[KneelBeforeZod]

there is rewriting and there is REWRITING.

even bible scholars will admit the bible has changed a few times depending on current political climates...Im talking 500, 700 years ago, not "the sixties"

did anyone catch nancy pelosi miqouting the bible. "suffer little children" not only does she get the quote wrong, she gets the meaning of it wrong.

semi unrelated: has anyone ever watched Mysteries of the Bible on history chnl or discovery or whatever channel that is? great show.

[livius]

It doesn't sound to me as if Gibson "blames" anyone. Remember that to the Romans, Jewish squabbling over "blasphemy" (a charge against Jesus), etc. would be as if our troops in Iraq suddenly had to intervene in disputes between Sunnis and Shiites - and put to death the losing party.

Wherever they went, the Romans established what was, in many ways, the first secular state, generally letting the natives of a region practice their religion, but depriving religious law of secular power and particularly of the power to impose capital penalties. The Jews, however, were functioning on the basis of an older law that was both religious and political, much like Islamic "law" today.

I think perhaps Gibson is portraying this accurately, as it is accurately depicted in the Gospels, but since history has been conveniently forgotten, including by the bishops, this is a shock to the collective system.

[rogerthedodger]

did she believe that "suffer" was being used as in to "feel pain"?

[Grand Old Partisan]

Yeah, that History Channel programming on the Bible is great, as are similar shows on the Discovery Channel. It's thrilling to know that modern archaeology is confirming so much in the Bible.