we want to encourage adults and mature teenagers to see The Passion of the Christ.
It is doubtful that anyone reading this note could have missed the fanfare that has surrounded the opening of this
movie, or the criticism of its content.
Detractors have labeled the film as overly violent. They have also accused the film maker of insensitivity towards Jews
by portraying them as responsible for the death of Christ, by showing Judas as inordinately concerned with money, and even
for casting less attractive actors as Jewish and the more attractive as Romans.
To date, the film maker has not given in to the request that he put a disclaimer at the end of the movie urging audiences
to refrain from assumed, inevitable violence resulting from viewing the film.
Still other objectors have piled on by asserting that the film is inaccurate. One critic noted that "Scorseses film"
was a truer picture of Christ. It was no doubt coincidental that this commentator chose not to use the films title, The Last
Temptation of Christ. More than a few Biblical scholars were troubled by that films portrayal of a sinful Jesus.
Could all of this controversy really be motivated by a singular film with subtitles?
It goes without saying that no film based on history has ever been held to the standards so casually demanded of this
film. Only weeks ago there was no shortage of defenders of a film about Ronald Reagan, even though the film portrayed the
former President uttering vicious comments that nobody contends he actually made.
Hatred of a storys central character can certainly get in the way of rationale thought. The Passion of the Christ is violent,
but so was the death of Jesus. And not only does the film align well with the Bible, so does the audience reaction. We were
told that controversy would surround the life and death of Jesus Christ, the son of God.
"The story is not true", "those telling the story are hypocrites" and "the central character
is divisive" are charges meant not only to dismiss a film, but the character of Christ. In the end, each is a futile
attempt to avoid the truth of the most dramatic story ever told.
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