Gibson's
polarizing 'Passion'
By David Elcott, 2/12/2004
[Posted
with the permission of the author.]
I was invited as a guest of Willow Creek Church in Illinois to its viewing of
Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. I hoped to be inspired, yet I
left disheartened.
The movie is not anti-Semitic, at least not directly. Yes, the movie uses
telltale images that historically have been used to attack Jews -- the
hysterical rabble of Jews calling for Jesus' death, a naive and innocent Pontius
Pilate who tries and fails to save Jesus, vicious temple guards sent by a
beady-eyed high priest to arrest Jesus. But the real concern is that the movie
pits Jesus and his immediate followers against everyone else, perfect goodness
against satanic evil. In so doing, "The Passion" has the potential to
challenge the core values of democratic pluralism and mutual religious respect
that undergird our country.
The Passion of the Christ is an R-rated, harsh, and violent account of
the last 12 hours of Jesus' life. In frame after frame, Gibson chooses to focus
on a world filled with hateful, cruel human beings. The movie features a
dark-cloaked, strange human form found nowhere in the Gospels that Gibson later
described as satanic. It would be hard not to experience this as a warning that
we are either one of the followers or an insidious enemy. At the end of the
screening, Gibson spoke to the audience of thousands. His words reinforced the
movie's fundamental point: not that Jesus was a great teacher or moral leader,
but that the world is divided between those who believe and those who deny. The
opponents of Jesus are dupes of Satan, Gibson said. This personal read of the
Passion by Gibson could now become gospel to millions around the world.
Sadly, but not surprisingly, the movie has already provoked people to align
themselves along lines of "them versus us," forces of good versus
forces of evil. Instead of promoting respectful dialogue, this film may
encourage people to delegitimatize alternative viewpoints and in so doing call
up hateful stereotypes. A devoutly Catholic columnist who challenged the movie
received threatening calls, including many attacking him as a "dirty
Jew." On Christian talk radio shows, people call in and equate modern-day
Jews with Christ killers, asking a question not heard publicly in decades:
"Why do they hate our Lord?" My Catholic and Protestant colleagues who
question the accuracy of the movie are assaulted on websites, in print, and on
the radio.
Viewers may legitimately be moved when viewing the movie and its description of
the gift of Jesus' death that redeems the world from sin. But this teaching does
not require that the world be divided between us and them, that ugly stereotypes
be reintroduced, or that those who challenge the movie are dupes of Satan. As a
result of these unnecessary and hurtful choices, this movie has unleashed
gratuitous conflict for which its promoters must take responsibility.
For the past 50 years, religious Americans of good will have reached out to each
other in an unparalleled ecumenical spirit, countering centuries of antagonism
to build relationships and building on those connections to alleviate injustice
and fight for the human and civil rights of all peoples. This sense of
partnership and respect is now under attack here and abroad. Murder in the name
of God and terror and bigotry in the name of religious absolutes travel
infectiously from continent to continent. The blessings of technology and mass
media have too often been hijacked to foment hatred between and among people of
faith. People of good will must be more vigilant than ever to ensure that the
words they preach and the images they offer in the name of God not be used, even
inadvertently, toward destructive ends.
The concern I voice, then, is not just about a movie. It is about unwarranted
polarization that has the potential to turn back the clock on interreligious
understanding. We are united by shared American values: a commitment to
democracy, freedom, and human rights, and a respect for other religious
traditions. The last thing we can afford at this time is to allow ourselves to
be divided by religion or, in other cases, by ethnicity, race, or nationality.
If we do not mobilize on behalf of pluralism and mutual respect, we imperil our
future. The hatred and suffering we engender will be on our heads and on those
of our children.
David Elcott is US director of interreligious affairs for the American Jewish Committee