So by now we're supposed to be about ready to get over the 'Passion' controversy and move on to other things, right? But that just isn't likely to happen so soon.
Today, I came across this little piece in the March 15th issue of Pat Buchanan's The American Conservative (no, not a regular read). It's by a guy named John Zmirak, and the minute I saw that name, it sent a nasty little shiver of recognition up my spine. Dr. Zmirak has appeared on this blog before, not surprisingly in connection with his rabid condemnation of the 2002 (not 2003) attempt of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to reject proselytization of the Jews -- a laudable effort that went nowhere.
This time, Zmirak is accusing Jews, and specifically the Anti-Defamation League, of "attempted prior censorship" and, amazingly, "leading a jihad against the cross." All in bad faith, he asserts, because the "key events" in the movie are "confirmed by the Jewish Talmud." This will be big news to most Talmudic scholars, but trust him. He knows better. He even makes up a bit of pseudo-religio-historic fiction of his own to support his, er, point.
In the high priest’s presence, Jesus asserted His own divinity. Faced with this, the high priest had only two choices: bow down and worship Jesus or put Him to death.
There have been too many excellent critiques of Mel's distortions of both the Gospels and the historical record for me to cite here in response. Here's one. Here's another.
As for the not-so-secret agenda of Gibson and his production company, Zmirak himself provides us with a classic glimpse that's rarely acknowledged.
My name wasn’t on the list, so I had to speak with an executive from Icon. A gracious and beautiful woman, she was beside herself trying to keep the event free of hostile press. She asked me a few questions, none of which seemed to come to the point, then finally posed the crucial one: “Are you a believer?â€
I said, “Absolutely.†She looked relieved but went on to explain: “It’s just that ever since Mr. Abraham Foxman snuck in to one of our screenings, we’ve had to be very careful …†she said, then paused in thought. “You know, now that he has seen it, I think it will start to work on his heart. Let’s pray that he has a spiritual awakening because of the film. That’s why it was made.â€
Lovely. No, this is not going away so soon.
Postscript:
"Perhaps it’s time to turn the tables on Foxman, who freely attributes to his opponents the darkest of motivations," says Zmirak, "and demand of him: How much of our faith do you demand that we renounce? How far do you intend to go?"
Quite a lot of nerve, coming from a man who's expressed unbounded contempt for any Christian willing to reject the ongoing demand that we Jews renounce our faith completely.
