Truths Revealed In Gibson's "The Passion Of The Christ"
Today I was watching Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ," a movie with its share of critics for its supposed anti-semitic content or implications, but one that is fairly well-done in terms of the production and ability to keep the attention of the audience.
There is a sequence of scenes leading up to the scourging of Christ where the Sanhedrin are bringing Jesus before the various authorities to have him condemned. Today, as I was watching these scenes I realized that the "religious right" were those that condemned Christ.
Now that may seem like an outrageous statement to some, and I can imagine the howls that many of our ultra-conservative pundits and entertainers will offer, but it struck me as the truth. These folks were rigid in their interpretation and understanding of the "law," the Scriptures, and were more concerned with the outward appearance of adhering to God's word than offering compassion, forgiveness, assistance, or even acknowledging that the teachings of Christ were an advancement of the "law" by insisting that love, hope and charity be instilled into the law.
The Sanhedrin were more concerned with the politics of the teachings of Christ than the meaning of those teachings. These folks were entrenched in an ideology and had long surrendered the faith. Christ's own words chastised them over and over in each of the Gospels, decrying their hypocrisy, judgementalness and politicalization of the faith.
In my view, that is exactly the set of dynamics we see with the ultra-conservative Christian Right. Entrenchment in an ideology, perversion of the faith, legalism in terms of worship, judgementalness, and hyprocrisy abounds among the ultra-conservative religious right... If we need any examples, all we have to do is look to the web sites or do a Google search on any of the renowned religious leaders from the right side of the political spectrum. The words of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Jim Baker, Charles Colson, Dr, Dobson, Tim and Beverly LaHaye, et al, all reveal these dynamics and characteristics.
If you doubt my assessment, take a look at the film, compare it to the passages in Scripture, and assess the matter for yourselves.
There is a sequence of scenes leading up to the scourging of Christ where the Sanhedrin are bringing Jesus before the various authorities to have him condemned. Today, as I was watching these scenes I realized that the "religious right" were those that condemned Christ.
Now that may seem like an outrageous statement to some, and I can imagine the howls that many of our ultra-conservative pundits and entertainers will offer, but it struck me as the truth. These folks were rigid in their interpretation and understanding of the "law," the Scriptures, and were more concerned with the outward appearance of adhering to God's word than offering compassion, forgiveness, assistance, or even acknowledging that the teachings of Christ were an advancement of the "law" by insisting that love, hope and charity be instilled into the law.
The Sanhedrin were more concerned with the politics of the teachings of Christ than the meaning of those teachings. These folks were entrenched in an ideology and had long surrendered the faith. Christ's own words chastised them over and over in each of the Gospels, decrying their hypocrisy, judgementalness and politicalization of the faith.
In my view, that is exactly the set of dynamics we see with the ultra-conservative Christian Right. Entrenchment in an ideology, perversion of the faith, legalism in terms of worship, judgementalness, and hyprocrisy abounds among the ultra-conservative religious right... If we need any examples, all we have to do is look to the web sites or do a Google search on any of the renowned religious leaders from the right side of the political spectrum. The words of Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Jim Baker, Charles Colson, Dr, Dobson, Tim and Beverly LaHaye, et al, all reveal these dynamics and characteristics.
If you doubt my assessment, take a look at the film, compare it to the passages in Scripture, and assess the matter for yourselves.
posted by Jim Downey at 6:17 PM
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