DanTheLewis's Journal: First Journal - Mostly about "Passion"

This is a first shot at this blog stuff I hear so much about. Some of my favorite authors and people maintain a blog, and maybe it's a good idea for me to get back into the practice of writing.

This is a strange week for me. All my materials went in to USU to start a BS in Computer Science this summer. The same day all this was getting done (meeting an advisor, getting my financial aid forms in order, applying to the school), Ask Slashdot posted a question about a doctor who wanted to become a computer scientist, and many people said "Don't do it! Foo!" All that made me a little nervous.

In truth, I think that the coming education will be good for me. In the process of going to school, I'll be finishing a first Bachelor's in Linguistics (with Math and English minors), and who knows what else. I've been working with a book company for the last year or so laying out textbooks and learning computer stuff. The times I've gotten to use Perl have been the most fun.

I've been watching this whole Mel Gibson Jesus movie thing lately. It seems to me like the criticism is a little too wild and hyped to be believed. The Jewish critics (i.e. officials from the Anti-Defamation League, and maybe pundits) seem to think that a movie only about Jesus-bar-Joseph, King of the Jews, will make anti-Semites take steno pads to the theater and write down torturing ideas, or that non-anti-Semites will be convinced that the Jews were or are responsible for the death of Jesus. They asked Mr. Gibson for a blurb at the end of the film about how the Jews were not responsible, this movie should not be an excuse to hate, etc.

I don't see why this film, which will mean so many things to so many people, should be forced into a box by some special interests. Along with most of the public, I haven't seen the film yet, and to comment on specifics is impossible. But the spirit that tries to take the film and make it into something it's not, or in any way diminish or shortchange its meaning, is wrongheaded. The reason I write this is not because of the clothing this particular film wears, but the message at its heart.

Many special interests at many times have tried to diminish the event of the cross or shortchange its meaning. The powerful story is that God revealed (him)self on the cross (not really a him but the label is traditional), as much as God will ever be revealed to anyone anywhere. All the stories that the human race will ever write, all the sadness and danger and betrayal and pain and death in any story, are all in that story.

The story is not about that one sentence, "His blood be on us and our children," that a special interest has recently taken up to criticize the story itself. The story is not about that one line, "One man must die so that the nation will live." The story is not about that one prophecy, "You will deny me three times before the cock crows." The story is not even about that heart-piercing cry, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"

No. God is revealed on the cross. That is the message, the torment that for a few hours one day, a brief moment in the breadth of human history, we tortured and executed God.

I say we. We did it. All of humankind is implicated. We need no argument about Adam's sin to know that we are members of the crowd in Jerusalem. We need no thought experiment about our likely response if Jesus had appeared in, say, downtown Los Angeles. It would be no surprise that this voice would be silenced again, by powerful men with an agenda, in a city of civilization and mixed cultures, while we all looked on and did nothing. We need only search ourselves, our desires, our sins, and determine that many of the things we love, he loathed and hated. Many of the things we care about, he would call trash to our faces on television. Many of our most cherished beliefs and relationships, he would cut apart with a look. He would reveal the best things in us to be worthless, not just the worst.

To test this in yourself, just read the story. Later this month, when the film comes out, if it is even reasonably faithful to the story, watch the film. Say to yourself, "The whip is in my hand. What will I do?" Say to yourself, "The crowd will tear me to pieces. What will I do?" Say to yourself, "I am holding the nail. What will I do?" "I am surrounded by soldiers. What will I do?" "I am drowning in politics. What will I do?" Think about it to yourself, and be honest in your heart of hearts.

Then remember what he did, instead.