I haven’t publicly weighed in on the asinine, anti-semitic, anti-spiritual, aggressive, and agonizing aggravation called “The Passion of Christ,” because so many others have written persuasively on the subject. But, if one is looking for the True Passion, the Box Office By Movie” href=”http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=daily&id=passionofthechrist.htm”>stats sure are telling.
I want so much to talk to someone about this who feels it’s anti semetic. I can’t understand what they see..?
While I’m now a recovering atheist, I grew-up southern babtistesque Christian. When one grows up believing that Jews are all going to Hell, one may find such nonsense in adulthood a good reason to drop it all. When I fell in love however, I found god. But then because of a film that brings to life bible stories I grew up with, realized that Jesus, a jew, was also about love. And his momma was a jew and his lover a reformed prostitute. Hardly the Hell Fire and Damnation I was threatened with as a child.
The story of Jesus, I think, is as much a political story of established doctrine as is the story of Martin Luther and the Catholic church in the protestant revolution.
I wonder if you could enlighten me pleeeeease on how this film is anti-semetic…I just don’t understand it?
Yours,
Sondra
um, what planet is sondra from?
Again, no real response. Is that because my question was poorly articulated? Or do you have no oppinion?
Sondra, I’m not sure who you are addressing. But I think the film is mostly anti-semitic because it shows Jews as the primary enforcers of Jesus’ death at the same time as depicting a weak Roman governance. These are historical distortions used, over the past two thousands years, to demean, kill, and otherwise harm Jews.
I do think you’re right – the story of Jesus is a political story as well as a spiritual one, a fabled one, and a fictional one. It’s an incredibly beautiful and glorious narrative that is most often used to provoke acts of faith not murder. And yet Mr. Gibson’s produced a science fiction version of The Passion.
One reviewer who I read put it something like this, “Nearly all of the Jews in The Passion of Christ are depicted as evil, hook-nosed vermin but Jesus, the Jew, looks gorgeously perfect.” The reason is that Mr. Gibson, like all story tellers, chose to tell this tale a certain way.
Here are a few links to reviews and essays about the film by people far smarter than me:
http://www.ttti.org/senior_rabbi.asp
http://www.bridgecraft.org/Passion.htm
Here’s what I don’t understand. Jesus and his mother Mary, the icons of Christian faith were Jews right? The entire Christian faith is therefore a matter of worshiping a Jew. Based on the writings of Jesus’ apostles who were also Jews.
The matter of worship for me, is about Love. And Jesus taught love and that the way of God is love. It was by that authority that he chose to live his life than that of the authority of humans. It is how he withstood the pursecution. His spirit was gods. As is all of ours when love is the Authority (author) of ones life.
Martin Luther, a Catholic monk, brought about a revolution from the Catholic Church for the very same teachings. The Catholic Church was proclaiming authority over the people and taking advantage of their illiteracy. They could not read the bible so the priests held authority and rule. Martin Luther translated the bible from Latin, using the new technology of the printing press and long story short, the Protestants freed themselves from Catholic rule. And the church was no longer their authority, nor their soul connection to god (pun intended).
Buddah also freed people from the Hindu and yada yada yada. This cycle of authority and mass freedom is perpetuated throughout history politically and in religion.
What is so amazing is this Judaic/Muslim/Christian tree of belief can be traced to the major split in one location on the world map. I am sorry Jews feel this story will create a feeling of distaste for Jews, when it should do the opposite. It shows how we are all from the same family of God.
Jews, Christians and Muslims have suffered persecution and death by and against each other in the name of the same god. This is the saddest truth about humanity.
This is why our founding fathers seperated church and state. Because you cannot vote out of office a member of divinity – therefor we are a free nation.
I think Scorcisi’s (spelling) Last Temptation of Christ is another amazing story. And they are stories….
I looked in the mirror and I said damn!: Jesus is a black man.