Thursday, February 19, 2004

More on The Passion

The more I hear about The Passion the more I have to wonder. Talk radio show hosts are telling people they are taking their 9 year old children to see it. Call-in listeners are going to bring their young children. It is though this is something that has been sanctioned by God. At no time, other than when I have heard of cults, have I seen such an attraction to something. What bothers me is that there is always artist's license in a movie. Take for instance the movie JFK and all they did in it. It may or may not be subtle differences but they will be there. Just as Catholics and Methodists think of God differently, this movie is a creation of one Catholic man.

I remember years ago I had gone with my husband to some sort of revival at our church, a Catholic Church. I was raised Methodist and then changed to become Episcopalian. He is a devout Catholic. It wasn't until that day when we started discussing it that I learned that he had always though of God as a being really sitting in judgement of what he did...more or less checking off right and wrong... Like I thought of Santa Claus. I never thought of God like that. I thought of God as love which is an intangible. God is all around us.

I heard folks on the radio today saying they wouldn't bring their 6 year old because it would scare them too much and they wouldn't want those images left in the child's head. What about their head? I still remember hearing about that show called the Exorcist. I never went to see it. I'm 51 now. I still don't like to see any type of blood or violence.

I worry about this movie because it sounds like people are wanting to believe in something so desparately that they want to follow it. How scary. They point out the things that happened on the set - The man who played Jesus was struck by lightening while being up on the cross; lots of pregnancies; and other things. While I do think that it is quite coincidental, I'm not sure that I believe that God is directing us to see Mel Gibson's movie. The thought that keeps ringing over in my head is "be aware of false prophets".