January 31, 2004
This a transcript from an email that I received about Mel Gibson's latest movie "The Passion". See for yourself why this movie has been so controversial.
Subject: Paul Harvey Comments on "The Passion" by
Mel Gibson
The majority of the media are complaining about
this movie. Now Paul Harvey tells "The rest of the
story" and David Limbaugh praises Gibson. Most
people would wait and see a movie before giving the
reviews that have been issued by the reporters
trying to tell all of us what to believe.
Paul Harvey's words:
I really did not know what to expect. I was
thrilled to have been invited to a private viewing
of Mel Gibson's film "The Passion," but I had also
read all the cautious articles and spin. I grew up
in a Jewish town and owe much of my own faith
journey to the influence. I have a life long, deeply
held aversion to anything that might even indirectly
encourage any form of anti-Semitic thought, language
or actions.
I arrived at the private viewing for "The
Passion", held in Washington DC and greeted some
familiar faces. The environment was typically
Washingtonian, with people greeting you with a smile
but seeming to look beyond you, having an agenda
beyond the words. The film was very briefly
introduced, without fanfare, and then the room
darkened. From the gripping opening scene in the
Garden of Gethsemane, to the very human and tender
portrayal of the earthly ministry of Jesus, through
the betrayal, the arrest, the scourging, the way of
the cross, the encounter with the thieves, the
surrender on the Cross, until the final scene in the
empty tomb, this was not simply a movie; it was an
encounter, unlike anything I have ever experienced.
In addition to being a masterpiece of film-making
and an artistic triumph, "The Passion" evoked more
deep reflection, sorrow and emotional reaction
within me than anything since my wedding, my
ordination or the birth of my children. Frankly, I
will never be the same. When the film concluded,
this "invitation only" gathering of "movers and
shakers" in Washington, DC were shaking indeed, but
this time from sobbing. I am not sure there was a
dry eye in the place. The crowd that had been
glad-handing before the film was now eerily silent.
No one could speak because words were woefully
inadequate. We had experienced a kind of art that is
a rarity in life, the kind that makes heaven touch
earth.
One scene in the film has now been forever etched
in my mind. A brutalized, wounded Jesus was soon to
fall again under the weight of the cross. His mother
had made her way along the Via Della Rosa. As she
ran to him, she flashed back to a memory of Jesus as
a child, falling in the dirt road outside of their
home. Just as she reached to protect him from the
fall, she was now reaching to touch his wounded
adult face. Jesus looked at her with intensely
probing and passionately loving eyes (and at all of
us through the screen) and said "Behold I make all
things new." These are words taken from the last
Book of the New Testament, the Book of Revelations.
Suddenly, the purpose of the pain was so clear and
the wounds, that earlier in the film had been so
difficult to see in His face, His back, indeed all
over His body, became intensely beautiful. They had
been borne voluntarily for love.
At the end of the film, after we had all had a
chance to recover, a question and answer period
ensued. The unanimous praise for the film, from a
rather diverse crowd, was as astounding as the
compliments were effusive. The questions included
the one question that seems to follow this film,
even though it has not yet even been released. "Why
is this film considered by some to be
"anti-Semitic?" Frankly, having now experienced (you
do not "view" this film) "the Passion" it is a
question that is impossible to answer. A law
professor whom I admire sat in front of me. He
raised his hand and responded "After watching this
film, I do not understand how anyone can insinuate
that it even remotely presents that the Jews killed
Jesus. It doesn't." He continued "It made me realize
that my sins killed Jesus" I agree. There is not a
scintilla of anti-Semitism to be found anywhere in
this powerful film. If there were, I would be among
the first to decry it. It faithfully tells the
Gospel story in a dramatically beautiful, sensitive
and profoundly engaging way.
Those who are alleging otherwise have either not
seen the film or have another agenda behind their
protestations. This is not a "Christian" film, in
the sense that it will appeal only to those who
identify themselves as followers of Jesus Christ. It
is a deeply human, beautiful story that will deeply
touch all men and women. It is a profound work of
art. Yes, its producer is a Catholic Christian and
thankfully has remained faithful to the Gospel text;
if that is no longer acceptable behavior than we are
all in trouble. History demands that we remain
faithful to the story and Christians have a right to
tell it. After all, we believe that it is the
greatest story ever told and that its message is for
all men and women. The greatest right is the right
to hear the truth.
We would all be well advised to remember that the
Gospel narratives to which "The Passion" is so
faithful were written by Jewish men who followed a
Jewish Rabbi whose life and teaching have forever
changed the history of the world. The problem is not
the message but those who have distorted it and used
it for hate rather than love. The solution is not to
censor the message, but rather to promote the kind
of gift of love that is Mel Gibson's filmmaking
masterpiece, "The Passion."
It should be seen by as many people as possible. I
intend to do everything I can to make sure that is
the case. I am passionate about "The Passion." You
will be as well. Don't miss it!
This is a commentary by DAVID LIMBAUGH about Mel
Gibson's very controversial movie regarding Christ's
crucifixion. It, too, is well worth reading.
MEL GIBSON'S passion for "THE PASSION"
How ironic that when a movie producer takes
artistic license with historical events, he is
lionized as artistic, creative and brilliant, but
when another takes special care to be true to the
real-life story, he is vilified. Actor-producer Mel
Gibson is discovering these truths the hard way as
he is having difficulty finding a United States
studio or distributor for his upcoming film, "The
Passion," which depicts the last
12 hours of the life of Jesus Christ.
Gibson co-wrote the script and financed, directed
and produced the movie. For the script, he and his
co-author relied on the New Testament Gospels of
Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, as well as the diaries
of St. Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) and Mary
of Agreda's "The City of God."
Gibson doesn't want this to be like other
sterilized religious epics. "I'm trying to access
the story on a very personal level and trying to be
very real about it." So committed to realistically
portraying what many would consider the most
important half-day in the history of the universe,
Gibson even shot the film in the Aramaic language of
the period. In response to objections that viewers
will not be able to understand that language, Gibson
said, "Hopefully, I'll be able to transcend the
language barriers with my visual storytelling; if I
fail, I fail, but at least it'll be a monumental
failure."
To further insure the accuracy of the work, Gibson
has enlisted the counsel of pastors and theologians,
and has received rave reviews. Don Hodel, president
of Focus on the Family, said, "I was very impressed.
The movie is historically and theologically
accurate." Ted Haggard, pastor of New Life Church in
Colorado Springs, Colo., and president of the
National Evangelical Association, glowed: "It
conveys, more accurately than any other film, who
Jesus was."
During the filming, Gibson, a devout Catholic,
attended Mass every morning because "we had to be
squeaky clean just working on this." From Gibson's
perspective, this movie is not about Mel Gibson.
It's bigger than he is. "I'm not a preacher, and I'm
not a pastor," he said. "But I really feel my career
was leading me to make this. The Holy Ghost was
working through me on this film, and I was just
directing traffic. I hope the film has the power to
evangelize."
Even before the release of the movie, scheduled
for March 2004, Gibson is getting his wish.
"Everyone who worked on this movie was changed.
There were agnostics and Muslims on set converting
to Christianity...[and] people being healed of
diseases." Gibson wants people to understand through
the movie, if they don't already, the incalculable
influence Christ has had on the world. And he grasps
that Christ is controversial precisely because of
WHO HE IS - GOD incarnate. "And that's the point of
my film really, to show all that turmoil around him
politically and with religious leaders and the
people, all because He is Who He is."
Gibson is beginning to experience first hand just
how controversial Christ is. Critics have not only
speciously challenged the movie's authenticity, but
have charged that it is disparaging to Jews, which
Gibson vehemently denies. "This is not a Christian
vs. Jewish thing. '[Jesus] came into the world, and
it knew him not.' Looking at Christ's crucifixion, I
look first at my own culpability in that." Jesuit
Father William J. Fulco, who translated the script
into Aramaic and Latin, said he saw no hint of
anti-Semitism in the movie. Fulco added, "I would be
aghast at any suggestion that Mel Gibson is
anti-Semitic." Nevertheless, certain groups and some
in the mainstream press have been very critical of
Gibson's "Passion."
The New York Post's Andrea Peyser chided him:
"There is still time, Mel, to tell the truth."
Boston Globe columnist James Carroll denounced
Gibson's literal reading of the biblical accounts.
"Even a faithful repetition of the Gospel stories of
the death of Jesus can do damage exactly because
those sacred texts themselves carry the virus of Jew
hatred," wrote Carroll. A group of Jewish and
Christian academics has issued an 18-page report
slamming all aspects of the film, including its
undue emphasis on Christ's passion rather than "a
broader vision." The report disapproves of the
movie's treatment of Christ's passion as historical
fact.
The moral is that if you want the popular culture
to laud your work on Christ, make sure it either
depicts Him as a homosexual or as an everyday sinner
with no particular redeeming value (literally). In
our anti-Christian culture, the blasphemous "The
Last Temptation of Christ" is celebrated and "The
Passion" is condemned. But if this movie continues
to affect people the way it is now, no amount of
cultural opposition will suppress its force and its
positive impact on lives everywhere. Mel Gibson is a
model of faith and courage.
Please copy this and send it on to all your
friends to let them know about this film so that
we'll all go see it when it comes out.
January 23, 2004
For those of you who know english and read this blog (I hope there's more than just me) and also speak spanish Frank Pereiro has just created a new blog with Wordpress a PHP blogging tool that's easy to use and look nice. He is publishing his blog at tripod spain which provides free PHP and MySQL with the free hosting. For those of us that are not very sure that we want to pay for a blog that we sporadically post to, this is a wonderful way to get our feet wet.
Now what?
I have been learning bundles about PHP and the MySQL database. I've been installing both in different environments, for example these are some of the installations that I've done so far: under Windows XP running on Apache server, under Windows 2000 Server running on Apache server, under Windows 2000 running on IIS and under Windows XP Professional running on IIS. Now My question is, now that I have acomplished all this, what am I supposed to do with all this knowledge? I guess I am supposed to start learning how to put it to some use, don't you agree?
January 21, 2004
Revelations
I have spent some time thinking lately and I have come to the conclusion that some if not most of the things that are happening to me and that I 've been so bitchy about are caused by lack of something. Yes, lack of something, like, lack of planning, lack of action, lack of disposition to make new friends, lack of effort to change things that I know they're not working anymore, and I suddenly remembered something that I read some time ago: "The definition of madness is doing the same things over and over expecting different results". Could it possibly be that I am going nuts?
Don't know what to say
Has this ever happened to anyone that you sit in front of the computer ready to start writing and your mind goes blank? I'm guilty as charged of that crime. Been sitting here wanting to write something for about two days and my mind shuts down as soon as I try to start. Hope I get better soon.
January 18, 2004
I started off with the wrong foot
Yesterday... Oh yesterday... Yesterday I was faced with many challenges that made me think how hard it is to keep the faith and the believe that there is that supreme being that controls everything and everybody in this universe, and yes I know it might sound a little ludicrous that one gets all crazy over such little and stupid things but when you are constantly bombarded with these things and is difficult to get ahead because HE doesn't give you a break, then you start wondering: What is it? What do I have to do to deserve a little bit better? Is this going to continue? For how long? Why me? Why now? Is there any plan for me? Is this part of that plan? Or HE just lost my plan and now I am on my own? I need to find some answers and the sooner the better.
January 16, 2004
Interesting Quote
I just found this incredible quote and I wanted to share it with everybody.
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, "If I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along." You must do the things you think you cannot do.Eleanor Roosevelt
I am finally doing what I like
In a weird turn of events I am finally doing something that I like. I am actually getting paid to be on a computer for the entire day. Isn't that cool?
January 09, 2004
New Year , New Job
As it appears to be, monday I start in my new job, after one week of trying to start my own business I am going back to a good ol' J.O.B. The only good thing about it is this time I managed to get a piece of the pie, although it is true that I have to work the regular 8 hours as everybody else at least this time I will be compensated for my effort since I will be developing this new concept. At the end of the year if everything goes as planned I will be making a percentage of the profit, isn't that cool? after all, being unemployed for almost 3 weeks and going back to work with better conditions is not a bad way to start this new year after all. I am starting to love 2004.
January 03, 2004
Nice seminar
The seminar this morning was actually really good, I was finally able to understand why it was a necessity to write a business plan before starting a business, besides the obvious reason (to me at least) of finding funding. I understand now that the main reason to do it is that you have to be sure that the business will be viable before you venture into it so you can avoid all the pitfalls before you even think about putting a penny down to start it. On the other hand they also talked about marketing, of course it was a common sense approach but like I always say common sense is the less common of all human senses so that's why I think it was important to hear about this topic as well. And last but not least we also left our information with them so they can match a retired executive that has experience and knowledge in the area we are going into to help us plan and develop our business, that way we will have a better chance of becoming succesful entrepreneurs.
SCORE seminar
January 02, 2004
Happy New Year
Happy new year and a prosperous 2004.
