The other day, my friend Tony Quinn called me up after he’d
watched Mel Gibson’s
”
The Passion of the Christ.
”
Tony’s film review was classic:
”
the best movie entirely done in the Aramaic language that I’ve
ever seen.
”
The other day, my friend Tony Quinn called me up after he’d watched Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ.”
Tony’s film review was classic: “the best movie entirely done in the Aramaic language that I’ve ever seen.”
He also described it as one of the most physically violent films he’s ever gone to. Except for a few minutes in the Garden of Gethemane at the movie’s start, the film graphically depicts non-stop the excruciating tortures suffered by Jesus of Nazareth. It shows various tormehts including harsh flailing of the skin by brutal Roman soldiers and the agony of Jesus’s crucifixion.
“Definitely not a date flick,” Tony said.
The San Jose Mercury News called the movie “a religious snuff film” in its review. It gave the film one and a half stars out of a possible four stars.
Today being Good Friday, this is a fitting time to discuss history’s most dramatic act of capital punishment and its impact on our lives. Our world would be vastly different if the Jewish carpenter from Galilee had never been nailed to a cross.
That barbarous public execution took place outside the walls of Jerusalem one spring morning 20 centuries ago. It marked a turning point in human history.
Out of that single act of violence sprang a new religion. And with the spread of the Christian faith also came the rise of political power for the Church and many of its religious leaders.
Unfortunately, political power without compassion has a nasty tendency to corrupt those who hold it. The faith conceived by a man who taught universal love has resulted in some of the most brutal atrocities ever conceived by the human species.
Among the savagery done in the name of Jesus Christ we must list the series of Crusades to vanquish the Islamic empire during the Middle Ages, the exploitation of various peaceful cultures such as the native inhabitants of the two American continents, and the Inquisition’s attempt to quench “heretical” views that threatened the Church’s power.
But those events happened long in the past. Christianity has vastly improved since then, some people might say.
If only that were the case. Consider the violence in Northern Ireland which only ceased being an issue a few years ago.
Also consider one of the last century’s most horrendous acts of violence – the Holocaust. More than 12 million people were murdered – six million of them were Jews.
As distasteful as it is to consider, the Holocaust was fueled by centuries of bigoted teachings by leaders of the Christian religion. And there’s real concern now Mel Gibson’s “Passion” film might fuel more hatred and prejudice against those who follow the Jewish faith. I believe it’s a justified worry among Jews.
Adolph Hitler, the architect of the Holocaust, was partly inspired in his hatred against the Jews by watching the 1930 performance of the famous “Passion” play in Oberammergau, Austria.
Jesus of Nazareth’s message is one of forgiveness and love for all people. But the horrible irony of history is that those who claim to follow him have, over the centuries, twisted his teachings so that they come to seek vengeance on the “Christ killers” and others who don’t choose the Christian religion.
On a more upbeat note, Christianity has also contributed its share of healers and peacemakers. St. Francis of Assisi and Mother Teresa stand out in their true passion to Jesus’s calling. Many other believers in Christ, through acts of compassion and charity, have devoted themselves to the benefit of mankind in service to the crucified carpenter.
During this holiday season, Christians honor both Jesus’s crucifixion as well as their belief in his rising from death. Whether the resurrection of Jesus is interpreted as a literal or symbolic event, Easter Sunday is the celebration of a miracle.
Good Friday and Easter represent the extremes of humanity. We as humans like to hide away from the nasty shadows of our true nature. And maybe that’s why grocery stores and supermarkets now stock cuddly merchandise such as Easter bunnies, chocolate eggs and jelly beans. We feel a whole lot more comfortable focusing on the pleasant props of this religious holiday rather than the barbarities that manifested it.
We are the most blood-thirsty of animals, torturing and destroying our own kind with the most malicious of prejudices. But we can be the most loving of creatures, too, sacrificing our very lives for the good of others.
The story of the crucifixion of a man we call Jesus Christ tells us what’s beautiful and also truly monstrous in our human nature. It is a story that has had a major impact in the last two millenniums because it contains a profound message: No matter how brutal people might act in their treatment of others, love is always more powerful than hate.
Martin Cheek is the author of ‘The Silicon Valley Handbook.’
