Passion from Paul Harvey

_____

From: Dennis Barrett
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2004 7:41 AM
To: Bob Williamson
Subject: Passion from Paul Harvey



Bob, you may have already seen Paul Harveys comments about Mel Gibson movie about Christ, The Passion, but my son sent this to me and if you havent read it yet I thought you would enjoy reading.











>
>
>Subject: Fw: Paul Harvey Re:Mel Gibson Movie
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> 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 te! lls 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.
>



———————————-