I guess not but who on earth made this "charge"? I haven't heard Mel Gibson make it.
The Passion has forced upon politically conservative Jews like myself a horrible choice: either betray Jewish interests by pretending that a movie making the charge of deicide
And what movie would that be? If The Passion, against whom is this "charge" made?
or be told that you are endangering Israel by undermining Christian support for the Jewish state.
This is one of the few things surrounding this stupid controversy to which it will be a pleasure to reply:
Mr. Boteach, you can say anything you like about Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ, criticize it, claim erroneously that it "charges deicide" against "the Jews", claim that it stole your gal, claim that it started the great Chicago fire, etc., and guess what? There is no way that you are endangering Israel by undermining Christian support for the Jewish state. Anyone who says so is just plain wrong and is underestimating Christians IMHO; Christian support for the Jewish state is rock-solid - even more so than Jewish support, in many cases - and is not dependent on whether or not you or any other Jew praises Mel Gibson's movie. I'm tempted to be insulted at the underestimation of Christians involved in making this claim (that their support for Israel will vanish if Jews publicly dislike Mel Gibson's movie), but the fact is, I'm only amused. It's truly funny that anyone would think such a thing. :)
Any Christian friend whose support can so quickly evaporate....
He's on the right track. What he's missing is that there are too few such people to matter.
when we object to being falsely portrayed as god-killers
What the heck is he talking about here? "we"? Was Mr. Boteach portrayed as a god-killer in Mel Gibson's movie?
Where is Christian sensitivity to an allegation that has led to the death of millions of Jews throughout the ages?
Where is Mr. Boteach's intellectual ability to determine whether, in fact, that allegation has actually been made in the Mel Gibson film?
what conclusions will the less educated draw as they are shocked by the bloody images of Jews demanding the crucifixion of Jesus?
Us dumb country bumpkins will see images of a small number of individuals doing something in a movie and think "Jews. Them's Jews. That there's what all Jews is like."
People like my friend Mike must now defend a deeply anti-Semitic film
What film would that be?
that portrays his own people as devilish murderers who crucified the Creator
Doesn't the film portray some, like, Roman soldiers crucifying Jesus, or something?
But Mel Gibson, in his wearisome, monotonous, and numbing depiction of endless blood and gore, utterly ignores things like Jesus's beautiful ethical teachings from the Sermon on the Mount, focusing entirely on the horrors of the crucifixion.
Uh well, after all, that is what the movie is about, the blood and gore stuff (it is called "The Passion..." after all, not "The Beautiful Ethical Teachings Of The Christ"). Similarly his earlier movie We Were Soldiers, which was about the Vietnam War, utterly ignored the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake.
Gibson tells us that what made Jesus special was not that he lived righteously but that he died bloodily.
I haven't heard Gibson say this. Cite? I imagine most Christians would say that what made Jesus "special" was that he was the "Son of God" and proved it by coming back to life. I'd be shocked indeed if Gibson were to say anything else.
The Passion is an evangelical tool.
Silly me I thought it was a movie.
Is that really Christianity's central message - not that Jesus lived an inspirational life by which the faithful should be roused but that he died a horrible death for which the sinners should feel responsible?
Actually, I do believe that is *closer* to being Christianity's central message than that whole "inspirational life" thing, yes. But not because this is what Mel Gibson's movie is about, per se.
A person can choose (for whatever reason) to make a movie about a Christian theme and that doesn't necessarily mean that the subject of the movie is the "central message" of Christianity.
Indeed, the only winners emerging from The Passion are Islamic extremists who will no doubt take pleasure in seeing Jews and Christians squabbling at a time of considerable danger to both Israel and the United States.
Well if that's what he thinks then why is he adding to Islamic extremists' pleasure by whining about a movie?
But rather than blame the Jews for simply defending themselves against Mel Gibson's attack,
1. I'm not blaming "the Jews", I'm blaming individuals like Mr. Boteach here. 2. "the Jews" need no "defending" from Mel Gibson. Because 3. there was no "attack".
let's place the blame squarely where it belongs - on Mel Gibson, who could easily have made an inspirational movie about the life and death of Christ
Yes, he could have. He could have chosen to make a movie about a wide array of different things. He chose to make this movie.
without blaming the Jews for Jesus's death
I'm still not sure what movie Mr. Boteach thinks does this...
Will he put some of that money toward educating Jews and Christians about their common heritage and kinship?
1. Us dumb Christians don't know about our common kinship with Jews?
2. I find myself wondering what Mr. Boteach would think of a Mel Gibson-funded program to "educate Jews about the common kinship they have with Christians". Somehow I don't think he'd think too highly of it. Isn't it likely that it's only the Christians he wants to be "educated" with Mel Gibson's money?
I have a hard time understanding the tone of articles like this. Obviously Mr. Boteach is desperately searching for "losers from 'The Passion'", so much so that I wonder who he's trying to convince.