I’m a little late in getting onto this thread, buuuuut:
LittleJay - I agree with your concerns about anti-semitism in general. Both Christians and Muslims (and others) have given you guys a raw deal down through the centuries (and still are in many places). However, I don’t see how Gibson’s movie fanned those flames. It showed Jews on both sides of the controversy. I remember a priest yelling something like “this whole proceeding is a disgrace”. And throughout the movie there were shown people who supported Jesus. Certainly there was more time spent showing the ones that condemned him, but that makes sense - because the story he’s telling is about his condemnation and crucifixion.
I also wanted to point out (from a Mormon’s perspective) that any Christian living his religion wouldn’t be participating in any anti-Semitic practices. First because any Christian would recognize that Jews are God’s chosen people - and nothing Jesus taught abrogated that. Also because Jesus’ second greatest commandment was to love each other. He didn’t give any exceptions to that commandment. His parables and examplar life taught peaceful and loving action. The Inquisition and Crusades were aberrations not based on his teachings, but arose from the hearts of evil men.
JayM, Very informative!
TallBaldDave,
It was my impression that in the movie that the Jews who sympathized with Christ became Christians, so they can’t count as positive portrayal of Jews, except for those judges you mentioned. But I thought their main function was to appear for a split second to show how unfair the trial was (and I think the Gospel could imply that they just got in from out of town).
I personally did not think the movie was flagrantly antisemitic. But I thought it was more biased against Jews than it needed to be to be truthful to the Gospels (primarily by including stuff that isn’t in the Gospels, and a maladroit portral of Pilate), and this could help encourage antisemitic elements in communities around the world.
I found an ineresting site. You may want to check it out. It is for “Jews for Jesus”.
http://www.jfjonline.org/
Me Solomon Grundy
From the “Jews for Jesus” website:
Or, in other words, if you don’t accept Jesus, you will be punished for ever, and ever, and ever…
Isn’t that forgiving, in a “Jesus loves everyone” sort of way?
This is why the “Jews for Jesus” really piss us real Jews off! Besides, there’s already a name for these folks…Christians. Why they feel the need to co-opt our tribes’ name is beyond me, other than to use it annoy the hell out of us!
Oh, am I off on another rant again…
Biceps
It’s not his thoughts on Jesus but where and when Jesus comes from.
First of all, I can’t make justice to the book; it has to be read to get all the “finer” points.
The book starts in the future. It’s about a young man obsessed with Jesus; he reads and memorizes everything he can get his hands on regarding Jesus. He even learn to read (and speak) the original languages so nothing is lost in translation.
On day he gets hold of a time machine and travels back to the time Jesus was a young boy. He finds Jesus but it turns out that Jesus is a retard that can’t do anything but sit in a corner and drool!! He decides to take Jesus place and live his life as it’s written in the scriptures. If he doesn?t, what will happen to the world? Christianity will never exist. So the whole book is about his life and problems living as Jesus.
A chicken and the egg story, what came first, Christianity or Jesus??
BTW, just before Jesus dies on the cross he’s calling “It’s a lie, it’s a lie.”
Interesting book, M. Moorcook follows the bible (as far as I know but I’m no expert) but have his own solutions on the miracles Jesus perform.