TWO THOUSAND YEARS LATERFollowing
release of film: The Passion Of The Christ, we should take this opportunity to remember what it was that Jesus Christ may have died for. Perhaps we can re-think and re-learn message He had been trying to tell us two thousand years ago. ----------------------
The Passion of The Christ has caused a lot of discussions. Some people accuse film to be anti-Semitic or that it has potential to incite hatred and violence towards Jews. Other people object mainly to Mel Gibson’s gruesome depiction of Jesus Christ’s last 12 hours on earth in his latest film: The Passion Of The Christ. Though these are of importance, we should not allow Christ’s main message to drown and be set aside in favor of our discussions of religion, politics, film-comparisons, film-critiques and censorship. We should take this opportunity to remember what it was that Jesus Christ died for. Perhaps we can re-think and re-learn message He may have been trying to tell us two thousand years ago.
I would have preferred this paper to discuss only main teaching of Christ and how it relates to us today; however I feel that I should address two most popular discussions regarding film before I can continue on. Was it anti-Semitic? I don’t believe film was anti-Semitic. The Jews had to make a decision then and they did it no differently to how we, as a society, conduct our affairs today. In latter part of this document, I argue that there is no reason for non-Jews to blame Jews for what had happened. Was gore and violence of film appropriate? Yes. I think that gore and violence of film was important in illustrating sacrifice that Jesus had to make, and was willing to take, so that we would understand what he had been trying to tell us all along. The pain and suffering he had endured shows amount of strength that is required to love – completely and truly.
Regardless of what your religious beliefs are, or whether you have a religion or not, let me first ask you to assume, just for this paper, to forget religion. Forget notion that Jesus Christ was Son of God. Forget notion that he was sent here by a Divine Power. Let us just assume that he was a mortal man, made of flesh and blood, just like you and me. He saw world differently however. He interpreted information, his experiences and his emotions differently to how most of us process our internal and external environments. As a result, he gained immense wisdom and knowledge beyond comprehension of most of us. He tried to tell us something. He tried to share with us what he knew.
The main teachings of Jesus Christ revolve around core idea of LOVE. Love everything. Love everybody. Even your enemies! If they hit you on one cheek, turn other cheek. Like Buddha’s message: Do NOT do unto others what you would NOT like others do unto you. Be compassionate towards all beings. That was what they taught: LOVE.
He believed that it is only philosophy that will allow us all to achieve harmony and happiness in our universe and in our lives. No amount of hate should be allowed every day and in every way that we conduct ourselves. No matter what happens, we must not hate or wish malicious thoughts towards anything or anybody.
To spread that message, he spoke about it when he could, where he could. People flocked to mountains and in temples where he preached. A lot of his ideas fascinated people. They were new, bizarre and sometimes his ideas went against basic human instincts and prevailing beliefs that people had at time. He was a leader, like a shepherd guiding his herd of sheep. He led with utmost integrity.
We have had a lot of leaders in past, now and we will continue to follow them in future. They tell us one thing but they do not have strength and courage it takes to refuse to do another. They contradict themselves and their ideals.
Is it only our leaders, celebrities and other prominent members of our society – whom we read about in papers – who are at fault? No. Their faults are our faults. How is that? Because we still believe that it is OK to hate or express negative emotions towards others whom we feel have done us wrong or will do us wrong. We, as people, still exhibit little signs of compassion, consideration, thoughtfulness and understanding towards other people and other beings.
