We have been bombarded with commentaries on “The Passion of the Christ” about its violence and potential anti-Semitic message. Nevertheless I was not prepared for the masochistic violence and blatant anti-Semitism. Seeing Judas kneeling on the ground to gather the scattered coins thrown at him by Caiaphas for betraying Jesus reminded me of the stereotypical, money-grubbing Jew portrayed in modern anti-Semitic cartoons. But the depiction of an apologetic and compassionate Pontius Pilate begging the Jews not to condemn an innocent man and the Jews manipulating him and forcing him to crucify Jesus was too much. Mel Gibson’s rendition is defied by historians from the time of Jesus, many of whom describe Pilate as a savage even by the standards of Rome.
Gibson’s movie is nothing new. The Passion has been played during the Holy Week on Good Friday from time immemorial and this is the period that was dreaded by Jews in Europe. Hundreds of thousands of Jews were slaughtered during this time, accused of deicide.
The literal narrative of holy scriptures, whether it’s the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament or the Koran, is fraught with dangers. Though the three texts extol virtues of charity, love and compassion, passages in all of them are brutal and doubt remains as to whether they were really inspired by God. They probably were written by men who, in the context of their times, thought it wise to incorporate them in these texts and by so doing, hijack the religions for their own purposes.
Wouldn’t it be better for mankind to put aside these controversial passages, which have already caused so much misery, and instead concentrate on the beautiful ones extolling high ethical human values?
