Christ was born a Jew and he died a Jew. Christianity did not exist until after his death. It was a new religion created by his followers after his Crucifixion. Some of his followers were Jews and some were Romans (heathens who believed in more than one god).
In the olden days, when I was a child, the gentile children in the neighborhood would throw stones and snowballs at me and my sisters as they shouted, “Dirty Jews. You killed Christ.”
I was 5 years old the first time that accusation was hurled at me. I was bewildered. I couldn’t remember having murdered anyone.
In “The Gospel according to Mel; Anti-Semitism has been a staple of Hollywood and Christianity” (Perspective, Feb. 15), nowhere is it mentioned that Christ was born a Jew and died a Jew. If anti-Semites were to allow their closed minds to accept that fact, perhaps they would stop being Jew-haters.
The troubles in this world, many of them based on religion, are great enough without having someone like Mel Gibson produce a movie that was sure to spark controversy and exacerbate all of the ill feelings of Christian against Jew that have existed for more than 2,000 years.
One Jew or one Roman ordered the death of Jesus Christ two centuries ago. How does that make all Jews and Romans, living today, responsible for the execution of an innocent man? He lived in an age of ignorance, and tried to bring enlightenment to the masses by preaching the golden rule.
Gibson, by making the movie “The Passion of the Christ,” has demonstrated a desire to bring back the dark ages of religion. In the 21st Century he should know better.
