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Jews and Gibson's Passion

Posted on 12/29/2004 11:35:51 PM PST by allymillie

I truly do not understand why these detractors will not let up. Michael Medved accurately pointed out that the REACTION towards Gibson's film, rather than the film itself, would lead to antisemitism and I agree. These protests and denouncements have gone from offensive to downright annoying/obnoxious. I read that Tom O'Neil, another fool who makes inane points about the film, say that the Academy, which he points out is heavily Jewish populated, were cussing and swearing throughout a screening for the Academy Awards. I am very irritated that Bill Donahue got flack for candidly discussing the prevalance of Jews in Hollywood. Political correctness can hinder honest discourse. Weren't these the same people who were screaming "Artistic freedom" for "The Last Temptation of Christ"?? Some Jews need to learn to respect the Christian faith. Also, Rabbi Boteach needs to stop being such a hypocrite. He complained that Christians should "Get a life" instead of protesting the satanic marks and grafitti on the nativity scenes but also declared in the same breath that destruction to synogogues would be wrong. What is the difference? People like him and others are only preventing interfaith communication and respect - not Mel Gibson. Please don't censor this message - i would like to have an honest discussion on this.

Why 'The Passion' still troubles me By ABRAHAM H. FOXMAN

It is now some 10 months since Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ opened in the United States, and a week since its opening in Israel.

It is a good time to look back at the controversy surrounding the movie, which may be revived surrounding the lead-up to the February Oscar Awards.

We need to distinguish between the movie itself and its impact.

In its depiction of Jews and how it attempts to turn back the clock on the many positive changes the Catholic Church has made in the last half-century, the film could not have been worse.

Gibson not only blames the Jews for the persecution and death of Jesus, but along the way he plays into and reinforces the stereotypes of Jews that have haunted our people for two millennia.

At the core of anti-Semitism, and what makes it different from other forms of ethnic or religious hatred, is the image of the Jew as alien, conspiratorial and mystically all-powerful.

This is the thinking behind medieval charges of Jews poisoning the wells and causing the plague, of the infamous Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, of Hitler's and Goebbels' propaganda.

In his depiction of the Jews as representing the devil, as being more powerful, somehow, than the Romans themselves, Gibson is doing exactly what the Vatican has been trying to get away from.

This is no accident since he is well known for opposing the major changes in Catholic teaching that emerged from the historic Vatican II meetings in the 1960s.

Gibson may well have the modern Vatican as his primary target but, as is often the case, the Jews pay the price.

So the film is what is.

I think it is useful for Jews, including in Israel, to see the film – despite the understandable feeling of not wanting to contribute to Gibson's overflowing coffers. Only by viewing it can one understand how offensive it is.

AS TO its impact, I never predicted that the film would lead to pogroms, of which I have nevertheless been accused.

I did express serious concern – especially at a time when anti-Semitism in the world was surging and where even in the United States one quarter of Americans held Jews accountable for the death of Jesus – that Gibson's movie would reinforce and rationalize old views about Jews that legitimize anti-Semitism.

I am thankful that there were few anti-Semitic incidents in America following viewings. It is rare, particularly in the US, where people are bombarded with untold numbers of cultural images, for any one event to set off bigoted or violent behavior.

The truth is that American attitudes toward Jews have significantly improved. Still, as I repeatedly said throughout the 1990s, when many people were challenging ADL's continuing focus on anti-Semitism as a potential threat, there is no reason to be complacent.

IT HAS been said that Gibson's film represents the greatest tool for evangelization that has ever existed. Indeed, more people will see it than all the passion plays from the Middle Ages to today.

With the release of the DVD, potentially millions of schoolchildren will – through the years – be exposed to the film's vile notions of Jews surrounding the death of Jesus.

Should attitudes toward Jews harden, which has happened before, the impact of the film could play a part.

Meanwhile, the vast majority of American clergymen chose not to speak out about the way Jews were depicted. I understand the reluctance to criticize a movie which deals with Christianity's sacred event, but I am far less patient with the absence of empathy for Jewish distress considering the history of Christian anti-Semitism.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1104291022893


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: foxman; gibsonjewspassion; thepassion
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1 posted on 12/29/2004 11:35:51 PM PST by allymillie
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To: allymillie

ABRAHAM H. FOXMAN is the Jesse Jackson of Jews

IMO


2 posted on 12/29/2004 11:45:16 PM PST by joesnuffy (Moderate Islam Is For Dilettantes)
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To: joesnuffy

Nah, Jesse Jackson isn't even that bad


3 posted on 12/29/2004 11:48:20 PM PST by allymillie
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To: joesnuffy
Consider now the words of Justin Martyr 160 AD one of the foremost authorities in the Church of his day. "For the prophetical gifts remain with us, even to the present time. And hence you ought to understand that the gifts formerly among your nation (Israel) have been transferred to us (The church.)

Speaking to the head of a Jewish Synagogue in Rome Justin Martyr is saying that this transference of the Holy Spirit ie the gifts of the Holy Spirit; tongues, healing, miracles, prophecy, etc. from Israel to the church is one of the most important signs that God has rejected Israel and taken for himself another people – the church. Say what you will but since John the Baptist and Jesus Israel has had no prophet. This has continued for over 1970 years. Israel has had no King from the tribe of Judah for well over 2100 years. And has had not temple for over 1930 years.

When you look at those things and then Christ and the how the church flourished -- is it any wonder that they would rail against such a film.

The Document cited is Justin Martyr's Apology to Trypho a 117 page defense of Christianity and the most complete study of Old Testement Porphecies concerning Christ coming and his second coming.

4 posted on 12/30/2004 12:07:15 AM PST by Rocketman
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To: Rocketman

Yeah that is true. interesting points. What kills me is the hypocrisy of many of these Jewish detractors. Boteach's cry that we should "get a life" when we protest offensive markings towards the baby Jesus but that graffiti in a synagogue is wrong is immensely hypocritical. this is the case of the boy who cried wolf. antisemitism cries are going to be examined more carefully from now on.


5 posted on 12/30/2004 12:18:51 AM PST by allymillie
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To: Rocketman; allymillie; Just mythoughts; Calpernia

Christians need to be more sensitive to that fact that "The Passion of The Christ" serves as a painful reminder to Jews that the Savior of the world walked among them preaching the Word of God. The Crucifixion of Christ was a major world event, culturally and religiously, that has impacted the lives of billions of people, in every corner of the globe, for generations. It happened in their presence.........but the learned rabbis and the Jewish people in Jesus' time failed to recognize its significance, and have a problem acknowledging it, even to this day.


6 posted on 12/30/2004 1:06:10 AM PST by Liz (Wise men are instructed by reason; lesser men, by experience; the ignorant, by necessity. Cicero)
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To: Liz

"Christians need to be more sensitive to that fact that "The Passion of The Christ" serves as a painful reminder to Jews...."

I think that Jews needed to be more sensitive towards the Christian faith. A lot of Jewish people i know still will not acknowledge that there was no jewish backlash created by the film. the only backlash that i have heard of stems from the unfair and disgusting reaction to the film and its supporters. I lived in New York City when the film was released and there were literally signs from Jewish groups that screamed that Gibson was being "historically inaccurate." These people fail to realize that calling the film historically inaccurate = calling the Gospels and the Christian faith as being historically inaccurate. What INFURIATES me is that the same people who protested the Passion were arguing for the artistic freedom in "Last Temptation of Christ." This is hypocrisy at its highest level. Rabbi Boteach and his continued disrespect of the Christian faith and the Gospels are insulting - what is so wrong is that if someone had flipped it and insulted the Jewish faith, he would be angered. I truly believe that the unfair and downright ridiculous reaction towards Gibson and his film and those who supported it created far more antisemitism. Remember when Gibson appeared on the Tonight Show and got a standing ovation? i heard Jewish co-workers denouncing the studio audience, calling them "anti-semitic." RIDICULOUS


7 posted on 12/30/2004 1:46:42 AM PST by allymillie
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To: Liz

They were wrong and they cannot accept it.


8 posted on 12/30/2004 1:56:27 AM PST by jazzlite (esat)
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To: allymillie
Does this guy realize that Jesus was a Jew??

To hate all Jews .. we would also have to hate Jesus

All Gibson did was retell the story of Jesus' last days and his death
9 posted on 12/30/2004 2:05:04 AM PST by Mo1 (Should be called Oil for Fraud and not Oil for Food)
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To: allymillie
I just read Michael Medved's autobiography Right Turns from start to finish. What an amazing guy. He used to be on the Left, then moved to the Right. First time he voted Republican was for Ronald Reagan. He met him along with David Horowitz of Frontpage.com fame in 1986. He points out that Hollywood which is filled with secular liberals both propagates negative stereotypes of Christianity while looking in dread at films with a positive depiction of Christian life like in Mel Gibson's The Passion. I think if Mel knew what it was really about, he would never have put himself through the grief. It was never about anti-semitism; the movie was a really a full-press body slam against non-judgmentalism and moral relativism. And since those are things liberals hold dear, its no surprise they ultimately reacted as they did.
10 posted on 12/30/2004 2:20:05 AM PST by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: allymillie
Sorry,

Jews+Passion of the Christ = Boring.

Who cares what CERTAIN jews (ie. a small and extreme minority of the jewish community) think of POC? It's earned $1 billion dollars.

The whole reaction of CERTAIN jews (ie. a small and extreme minority of the jewish community) to this movie was frankly insane. After a while, talking about mental illness is frankly a little tiresome.
11 posted on 12/30/2004 2:27:32 AM PST by rcocean
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To: Hildy; goldstategop; Mo1

I will not make this into a Jewish versus Christian/Catholic thang.
Hildy, my best friend here, is Jewish and she loves Christmas,
even attended church on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.



12 posted on 12/30/2004 2:28:09 AM PST by onyx (A BLESSED & MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.)
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To: onyx
I have nothing against Jewish people and their beliefs .. never have and never will .. in fact my brother inlaw is also Jewish .. his parents have celebrated holidays with my family and my family has done the same with his

I guess it's the way I was brought up .. but I don't really get why folks judge a person by their religious beliefs

I suppose it's the way I was brought up ... I was never taught to judge a person by their faith .. I judge them by their actions and who they are as a person

Besides .. we are all God's children .. some just have a different way of thinking .. but we are all still God's children

13 posted on 12/30/2004 2:40:21 AM PST by Mo1 (Should be called Oil for Fraud and not Oil for Food)
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To: Mo1

I agree.
I just hate their majority's politics,
but even that is changing, now that the
old folks are dying.


14 posted on 12/30/2004 2:41:40 AM PST by onyx (A BLESSED & MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL.)
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To: Mo1

Ok .. my sentences are repeating themselves .. a sign that it's my bed time

Sweet Dreams all


15 posted on 12/30/2004 2:41:45 AM PST by Mo1 (Should be called Oil for Fraud and not Oil for Food)
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To: jazzlite; allymillie
In a poll taken after The Passion debuted, 71% of American Jews said they thought The Passion was anti-Semetic, leading to the conclusion that 71% of American Jews dislike Christians. Interestingly, that was almost the exact percentage that voted against Bush.

Here's how their 71% anti-Bush vote looks like on a 2004 election map.

Election 2004 united Christians as never before.(MAP UPDATE: Bush won Iowa, Ohio, and New Mexico later.)

16 posted on 12/30/2004 2:43:11 AM PST by Liz (Wise men are instructed by reason; lesser men, by experience; the ignorant, by necessity. Cicero)
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To: Liz

Great graphic.


17 posted on 12/30/2004 2:46:37 AM PST by Petronski (Thank God I'm only watching the game....controlling it....)
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To: Mo1; onyx

The first (secular) Christmas cards in my mailbox are always from Jewish friends.

I usually send religious Christmas cards to everybody on my list.

One year, a very dear Jewish friend apparently couldn't take it anymore and said to me ----very testily---"Why do you send me religious cards, you know I don't celebrate that day?"

I replied, "I was hoping that as my friend you would share with me a day that is very meaningful to me, that's why."

She replied, "Oh."


18 posted on 12/30/2004 2:52:59 AM PST by Liz (Wise men are instructed by reason; lesser men, by experience; the ignorant, by necessity. Cicero)
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To: Petronski

A picture is worth a thousand words.......ancient Chinese saying.


19 posted on 12/30/2004 2:54:14 AM PST by Liz (Wise men are instructed by reason; lesser men, by experience; the ignorant, by necessity. Cicero)
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To: Petronski

A picture is worth a thousand words.......ancient Chinese saying.


20 posted on 12/30/2004 2:54:14 AM PST by Liz (Wise men are instructed by reason; lesser men, by experience; the ignorant, by necessity. Cicero)
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