Watered down.The violence of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ seemed to me aesthetically excessive, but the charge of anti-Semitism is a blatant attempt at emotional blackmail. Gibson portrays Jesus, Mary, Mary Magdalene Mary Magdalene (măg`dələn; formerly, and still in Magdalen College, Oxford, and Magdalene College, Cambridge, môd`lən, hence maudlin, i.e. , the male disciples, and Simon of Cyrene Simon of Cyrene (sīrē`nē), in the New Testament, bystander made to carry Jesus' cross. He was probably an African Jew, and is identified as the father of Alexander and Rufus. as Jewish in appearance and, for those too dense to get the point, has them speak Aramaic. The most sadistic sa·dism n. 1. The deriving of sexual gratification or the tendency to derive sexual gratification from inflicting pain or emotional abuse on others. 2. The deriving of pleasure, or the tendency to derive pleasure, from cruelty. human figures in the story are the Roman soldiers (not Jews) who flog Jesus; they look very Italian, making The Sopranos look like a celebration of Italian culture by contrast. Neither Rabbi Irving Greenberg Irving Greenberg, also known as Yitz Greenberg, is a Jewish-American scholar and author. He is known as a strong supporter of Israel[1] and a promoter of greater understanding between Judaism and Christianity[2]. nor anyone else gives evidence that Gibson's movie has contributed to the recent alarming rise of anti-Semitism. The pervasively tribal atmosphere of contemporary culture aside, a more likely culprit is the imprudent im·pru·dent adj. Unwise or indiscreet; not prudent. im·pru  dent·ly adv. decision of some of the Jewish leadership to brand criticisms of the state of Israel as anti-Semitic. If Rabbi Greenberg wants Christians to become Jews, let him preach that message as much as he wishes. But it is absurd to demand that Christians censor the central documents of their faith, producing a milk-and-water religion that has nothing to say to a world in which abortion, terrorism, and war abound, and in which children can be as cruel as those who tormented Gibson's Judas to his death. All honor to the bishops for insisting on a historically informed reading of the Bible, but, even for the most liberal Catholics, the Gospels have a higher authority than the documents of the Second Vatican Council Noun 1. Second Vatican Council - the Vatican Council in 1962-1965 that abandoned the universal Latin liturgy and acknowledged ecumenism and made other reforms Vatican II Vatican Council - each of two councils of the Roman Catholic Church . PHILIP E. DEVINE Providence, R.I. |
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