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Time to make careful distinctions. The Crucifixion is a central fact of Christianity. All Christians, including Catholics, believe Jesus died because of the sins of all mankind. Christians do not blame the Jews specifically.

There is a need for a certain delicacy in these matters that ADL does not appreciate. Instead it has waded-in theologically on a religious issue of vital importance to Christianity in an attempt to pre-empt a film it perceives might stir up ant--Semitism. It does so by casting doubt on the Gospel narratives themselves and by insisting that Jews played no role in the death of Jesus. This is offensive on a couple of fronts. First, it impugns the veracity of the Gospels which all Christians hold sacred. Second, it suggests that to depict the Crucifixion truthfully is an anti-Semitic act.

This is to start a religious fight with devout Christians in a way that can only harm mutual understanding between Jews and Christians. What's more, by starting this un-nuanced fight, the ADL and others risk undermining the very strong pro-Jewish sentiment that already exists in the Christian community. It is on the face of it outrageous to tell people of another religion what they must and must not believe and depict about their own faith. And it is also the unwisest of all tactics, especially ridiculous since Jewish critics who have actually seen the film insist it is a work of high art and not at all anti-Semitic.