British Jews Outraged by 'Passion' Epic

The first UK screening of Mel Gibson's controversial film The Passion Of The Christ provoked a furious response from Britain's Jewish community today.

Many left the Odeon in Leicester Square branding it "disgusting," "deplorable," and likely to incite racial hatred.

Depicting the last 12 hours in the life of Christ, Gibson's blood-drenched epic, which is estimated by its distributor to have made $20 million (£10.74m) in its first day in the US yesterday, had already been accused of anti-Semitism.

It shows Jewish high priests demanding Christ's crucifixion, then looking on as he is tortured and put to an agonising death.

Neville Nagler, director general of the Jewish Board of Deputies, said: "It would have been better if this film had never been made. The glorification of violence and bloodshed and the reinforcement of medieval stereotyping of the Jewish people are extremely dangerous.

"At a time when we are trying to develop co-operation and dialogue within our diverse and multi-cultural society, this film overturns the recent teachings of the Church and is completely unhelpful in fostering closer Jewish-Christian relations."

Lord Janner, former president of the Board of Deputies and now vice-president of the World Jewish Congress, said after the screening: "I hated it. The Jews come out of it as a pretty nasty lot and I believe it could cause very great harm in relations with the Jewish community."

Yitzchak Schochet, a leading rabbi, said: "The cinematography was fantastic, the acting was brilliant - but the content was deplorable in the extreme. It is filled with grotesque blood-letting. Much of it is based on hearsay.

"The idea of the priests standing there smiling as Jesus was crucified is fatally flawed. I hope they ban it, or at the very least edit out some of the scenes… No Christian will walk out of this film without bad feeling towards Jews."

Gibson is a conservative Catholic, a member of a breakaway group which does not accept the Vatican II reforms of 1962 which absolved Jews of responsibility for the crucifixion.

One of Israel's two chief rabbis today urged the Pope to reiterate the 1962 decision.

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger said: "The Vatican and the Pope must explain today ... that the Jewish nation, the Jewish people didn't kill Jesus." Rabbi Metzger said that friends who had seen the film were "deeply shocked by it."

Catholic priests were also among the 800-strong audience at the special premiere, along with members of the media, and their take on the film was markedly different.

Father Mark Hackeson, from Norfolk, said: "I thought it was an excellent and very moving film. I do not believe it is anti-Semitic - Jesus himself was Jewish. Of course it is violent, but the crucifixion was a very violent event.

"The important thing is that the message behind the violence is one of love and forgiveness, not of condemnation."

Joseph Devine, the Bishop of Motherwell, said: "It was stunning. A remarkable achievement."

However not all Christian viewers were impressed: "I've got very mixed feelings about it," said David Lawrence, media officer for the United Reformed Church. "It's very difficult to lose the Monty Python interpretation because the film was so laden with symbolism and the acting was so laboured.

The much-hyped blockbuster drew thousands in early morning screenings in the US yesterday and continued to draw crowds later in the day. It also opened in Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

Some devout Christians cannot see the film. The Mormon church forbids missionaries from watching television or films and discourages its followers from watching R-rated films, of which The Passion is one.

"I don't think our Lord would want me to see an R-rated film about his son," said 20-year-old Shawn Watts, a Mormon missionary, in Salt Lake City.

One viewer reported died after collapsing during the bloody crucifixion scene. The Witchita Eagle reported that the cause of death for Peggy Law Scott, 57 of Wichita, Kansas, was not immediately known.

The current first-day box office record for a film released outside the summer and Christmas seasons is held by Hannibal which took $19.8m in February 2001.

The biggest takings for a film opening on a Wednesday stand at $34.1 million (£18.3m) for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

This is how I can quickly identify the hitpieces:

Gibson is a conservative Catholic, a member of a breakaway group which does not accept the Vatican II reforms of 1962 which absolved Jews of responsibility for the crucifixion.

Vatican II did a whole lot more than that, and there are many people who disagree with some of those reforms even 32 years later. Sentences like the above are (a)designed to deceive an audience ignorant of the scope of Vatican II into thinking it was ONLY about "absolving Jews of responsibility for the crucifixion", and (b) designed to piss off conservative Catholics, who resent the implication that they're anti-semites if they disagree with the results of Vatican II, when they may only miss the Latin Mass.

Btw, I am not Catholic, but I have heard "Vatican II was a big mistake" off and on from Catholics for years, and not once was it because they couldn't blame the Jews for the death of Christ.

Sad that Jesus [Whom I believe was GOD in the flesh] that these leaders were supposed to represent on earth and claimed that they were, rejected GOD face to face. That imo is what today's jewish leaders are really afraid of:

Matthew 23:1
Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples,

Matthew 23:2
saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses;

Matthew 23:3
therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.

Matthew 23:4
"They tie up heavy burdens and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are unwilling to move them with so much as a finger.

Matthew 23:5
"But they do all their deeds to be noticed by men; for they broaden their phylacteries and lengthen the tassels of their garments.

Matthew 23:6
"They love the place of honor at banquets and the chief seats in the synagogues,

Matthew 23:7
and respectful greetings in the market places, and being called Rabbi by men.

Matthew 23:8
"But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers.

Matthew 23:9
"Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.

Matthew 23:10
"Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ.

Matthew 23:11
"But the greatest among you shall be your servant.

Matthew 23:12
"Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.

Matthew 23:13
"But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.

Matthew 23:14
["Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense you make long prayers; therefore you will receive greater condemnation.]

Matthew 23:15
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

Matthew 23:16
"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.'

Matthew 23:17
"You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold?

Matthew 23:18
"And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.'

Matthew 23:19
"You blind men, which is more important, the offering, or the altar that sanctifies the offering?

Matthew 23:20
"Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it.

Matthew 23:21
"And whoever swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells within it.

Matthew 23:22
"And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

Matthew 23:23
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

Matthew 23:24
"You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

Matthew 23:25
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.

Matthew 23:26
"You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also.

Matthew 23:27
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness.

Matthew 23:28
"So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Matthew 23:29
"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and adorn the monuments of the righteous,

Matthew 23:30
and say, 'If we had been living in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partners with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.'

Matthew 23:31
"So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.

Matthew 23:32
"Fill up, then, the measure of the guilt of your fathers.

Matthew 23:33
"You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?

Matthew 23:34
"Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city,

Matthew 23:35
so that upon you may fall the guilt of all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah, the son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.

Matthew 23:36
"Truly I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation.

Matthew 23:37
"Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling.

Matthew 23:38
"Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!

Matthew 23:39
"For I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, 'BLESSED IS HE WHO COMES IN THE NAME OF THE LORD !'

Here's what I posted in my blog immediately after seeing the movie last night:

The Passion, and Why You Should Brace Yourself
Anyway, I just got back from seeing Gibson's The Passion (actually, we went to Waffle House first, but that's beside the point). It was an incredible experience. You may have heard some reviewers taking it to task for its violence--not that they would complain if it were Freddy Kruger carving up some kids. Well, they're right. It was a horribly violent movie. It had to be. It was about a horribly violent event.
Beth spent most of the movie curled in a ball and covering her face. Steve claims to have cried. I don't know about Kenny. I was fairly impassive throughout, but that's just the way I react to stuff like that.
Maybe my viewpoint was different. Most people will watch Christ's suffering and cringe and weep at the torture of a seemingly helpless man. But that's the point to me; He wasn't helpless. There were a couple of statements Jesus made that didn't appear in the movie that came to mind.
The first was, "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down, and I have the power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father" (Jn. 10:17-18).
The second He said to Peter: "Or do you think that I cannot now pray to My Father, and He will provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?" In my mind's eye, I can see those twelve legions standing on the hill just across from the Cross, waiting for the word to be given.
So no, Jesus wasn't helpless, He wasn't at any man's mercy, and He was no one's victim. He was more like a warrior going into battle, willingly suffering grevious wounds and death to win the victory. It was an act so brazenly courageous that one marvels at the honor of it, and yet so intimitely tender amidst the splatter of blood that it makes your heart ache with love. Even streaked in mortal wounds, hunched over from pain and weariness, body tormented beyond the ability to move another step, Jesus fixed His accusers with a kingly eye that commanded either a love and respect that made one want to bow and salute Him for His terrible nobility, or fly into an envious rage at meeting one so far above.
There were times that tears did sting my eyes for His pain, but that awful courage in the face of His Enemy deserved so much more.
Those who accuse this movie of anti-semitism don't know what they are talking about, or else they are so filled with fear at such a marvelous representation of Christ's great work that they will grasp at any straw to discredit it. We see both Jew and Roman condemn Christ, mock Him, and strike Him--and indeed, the greatest sadism was that of the Roman soldiers. Yes, we see the Jewish Sanhedron falsely accuse and condemn Him, but we also see those with the courage to speak in His favor even there. We see Simon the Cyrene, a Jew, carry His cross and support Him up the slope to Golgotha. We see His mother and other followers--Jews all--at His side as they are able, weeping for Him, and even moping up His blood. For the Gentiles, we see only the roughest of mercies from the Romans: Pilate sparing Him no pain to save His life, a centurion stepping in to keep Him from being beaten to death, another allowing Mary to approach the cross.
No, nobody comes out clean in this movie save only the Lord Himself, but the Jews are definitely not maligned as a race or nation any more than the Gentiles were. All are simply human, coming in all shades, with the only dividing line being in their ultimate reaction to Yeshua and His suffering on their behalf.
I think everybody over the age of 18 should see this movie, and many teenagers as well, but I think you need to be properly braced. It is gory and violent in the extreme. But it is also undoubtedly destined to become the defining film for the life of Jesus Christ for our generation, and I pray that God will bless Mel Gibson for his courage in making it as He blessed him with the vision.

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