"I'm not a Mel Gibson expert," says Rev. Godon. "But I feel reverence oozing out of the film."
Catholic Ping - let me know if you want on/off this list
Is a faint light beginning to dawn? Is the Holy spirit at work in this life? Let us pray.
Though there is still a little trouble when comparing the following statements:
Mr. Gibson belongs to a tiny sect of backward-looking Catholics who reject Vatican II and think that everybody but themselves is going to hell. As Andy Rooney said on 60 Minutes, the guy's a wacko.
Most media folks are proudly secular types who regard openly religious people as distinctly odd. If you're gay, bi, or transgendered, we embrace you. But if your orientation is toward Jesus, you'd better keep it to yourself. We are fairly certain that born-again Christians are bigoted, not very intelligent, and possibly dangerous.
The first statement seems to be a full embracing of the stereotype she castigates her fellows for in the latter. Still, barring Saul on the road to Damascus, it's not expected that one "gets it" all in one shot. I'm happy to take what we can get.
I'm more of a Deist than a Christian, but an honest secular view of Christ's sacrifices and the Christian notion of sin and Christ's sacrifice for the sins of others is still a powerful statement to anyone with a sense of humility.
You won't see this view articulated in the mainstream media. Most media folks are proudly secular types who regard openly religious people as distinctly odd. If you're gay, bi, or transgendered, we embrace you. But if your orientation is toward Jesus, you'd better keep it to yourself. We are fairly certain that born-again Christians are bigoted, not very intelligent, and possibly dangerous. This stereotype is easy to sustain because we've never actually met one.
The honesty is deeply appreciated, Ms. Wente. Most liberal media types aren't nearly so circumspect regarding their own biases towards Christianity. And honesty towards one's own biases is the first step towards bridging differences.
After I talked with Ken Godon, I finally went off to see The Passion. To me, the movie was alternately riveting and revolting, moving and unwatchable. Once or twice it almost touched a chord of rapture in me, the sort of rapture that I vaguely remember feeling as a girl.
I now see where the circumspection comes from, Ms. Wente - you still have a few threads of faith and humanity running through your psyche.
The Passion is on its way to being the biggest hit in movie history. Something's happening here, and we ought to find out what it is.
A smart liberal. I thought they were just about extinct.
Refreshing honesty.
To me, the movie was alternately riveting and revolting, moving and unwatchable. Once or twice it almost touched a chord of rapture in me, the sort of rapture that I vaguely remember feeling as a girl.
Sad and wonderful. God help her.
What a testimony from an outsider (who may be on her way in!).
As my favorite marxist jesuit, Ivan Illich, said, "The gospel is like a joke told to a circle of men. And one man smiles."
Catholic Ping - let me know if you want on/off this list
I always get a kick out of remarks like this.
The media/critics of the film actually think that Mel Gibson came up with the story of the Passion.
Sure I'm a Protestant and I realize there are some scenes that are Catholic tradition versus actual story from the Gospels.
But that doesn't detract from the fact that most of the movie is straight from the Bible.
I was moved by the imagery, even though I know it didn't actually happen.
For instance, when Christ crushed the head of the serpent that Satan had let loose in the Garden, what a powerful symbolic portrayal of the prophetic pronouncement in Gen. 3:15.
At least this writer is intellectually honest in admitting that she knows there must be more to it, since it is appreciated by so many people.
The movie has been condemned by most reviewers.
Flat out not true -- at best the reviews are 50/50 and the more influential ones (including Ebert and Ropert) have approved of it.
Commentators of every faith have deplored it as a religious travesty.
Again, flat out not true -- why is she setting her article up with Jason-Blaire type facts? To make her "big-mindedness" some value?
The real rift over The Passion is not between the Christians and the Jews. It's between certain devout Christians and all the rest of us, especially those of little or no faith. Virtually everyone who mongers opinions in the mainstream media, including me, belongs to the latter
Ahh, the crux of the matter (no pun intended). This is what many of us reading this picked up on -- so we have to ask the question if most of the US is Christian to some degree or other and beter than 80% are religious, then why do we allow the media to not reflect our values?
category.
Mr. Gibson belongs to a tiny sect of backward-looking Catholics who reject Vatican II and think that everybody but themselves is going to hell. As Andy Rooney said on 60 Minutes, the guy's a wacko.
Huh? And double-Huh? Gibson is esssentially the Catholic equivilant of Hassidic (sp?) Jews -- a bit backward looking but no Catholic of any stripe thinks everyone is going to hell but them. Again, why these meaningless and mean assertions?
So isn't it odd that a movie with such wide appeal to Protestants came from him?
No, this is from the same New Testament that all Christians read. The artistic embelishments don't change the basic story, which is agreed upon.
The churches of the Protestant upper classes have neutered Jesus of his terrifying power. They got rid of all the militancy and gore, which were seen as hopelessly primitive. The suffering of Jesus is Christianity's greatest calling card, and they threw it away.
Demeaning and wrong. The reason for the draw is that people see the Liberal Mainstream as devoid of any morals, ethics, or scruples. Christianty and Christ's message of love and sacrifice is a refreshing alternative (although really it is the mainstream and these "do anything I want" types are the alternative).
The Jesus I grew up with was a California hippie with a peace symbol.
Then you never read the bible. This is the 60's JC Super Star Jesus that no Christina recognizies except as a shadow of Him.
He was gentle, meek, and it never occurred to me that he was Jewish. The revolutionary Jesus condemning sinners to hellfire was nowhere to be seen. Even as I marched up the aisle on the day I was confirmed, it had begun to dawn on me that Jesus was just a metaphor. You weren't expected to take any of this hocus-pocus literally. In which case, why bother?
In other words, "you Christians are fools and idiots for really believing a human being could be the embodiment of God."
We are fairly certain that born-again Christians are bigoted, not very intelligent, and possibly dangerous. This stereotype is easy to sustain because we've never actually met one.
No, you know that Christians live based on a Moral Code, there is a Right and a Wrong, and they insist that everyone be held accountable for their actions. This is terrifying to the Liberal Left. How is it possible to have not met one? They represent the bulk of the population of the US?
The Passion is on its way to being the biggest hit in movie history. Something's happening here, and we ought to find out what it is.
ya think? In other words, if this wasn't a success, we could contine to treat the Christians with the distain they so richly deserve. Now, the hands over our eyes and the "nya nya nya" on our lips don't work.
Folks, this is NOT an objective report with refreshing honesty. It is an attempt to innoculate the writer from being like the rest of the idiots in the press and Hollywood in completely missing the fact that they are completely and totally out of touch. The little embellishments I addressed are there so her Liberal friends can nod their head and say "yes yes it doesn't make any sense!"
Probably the same thing that made the music of Bach and Beethoven the most universally respected in history,true inspiration.Their art was inspired by the exact same thing that inspires Mel Gibson.
Anti-Christian critics in their day probably mocked them the same way todays critics mock Mel.
Thank you for posting her article.