Reply #97: The objections are coming from the ADL [View All]

And someone needs to tell Rabbi Korn to either take a chill pill or re-write the New Testament. The ADL has been raising all the hoopla on this and the 4 theologians who were supposedly in on the report have distanced themselves from what the ADL is putting out. Gibson followed the script of the New Testament to a T. If that is anti-Semitic then the New Testament and Christianity itself are anti-Semitic. It's sad that there's not a peep from the ADL about biased news coverage of Muslims and Arabs, not a peep about naming a hate-mongerer like Daniel Pipes to the US Institute of Peace, not a peep about Old Testament movies portraying non-Hebrews as animals to be slaughtered per God's word but yet on this film which shows SOME people of all groups acting both bad and good, there's a HUGE ruckus before the film even comes out.

It would be nice if they would state their SPECIFIC objections rather than to just smear the whole thing as anti-Semitic because based on my understanding of the film, it follows the NT faithfully. All this hoopla about it following the visions of 17th century mystics is hoopla. The ADL's problem is not with the film, it's with the NT and I think they'd be better off focusing on dialogue between Christians and Jews if that's their concern. To do otherwise is a just causing uneccessary problems. Take a cruise on the Yahoo boards some day to see the hate being spewed now by both sides. The whold problem seems to boil down to "No Jews didn't, the Romans did" vs "Uh the New Testament is clear about this, this, and this". The real attack here is on the New Testament. Gee, no thanks. Educate people all you want because it's badly needed but don't go attacking other people's holy books. Baaaad move. Very baaaad move.

June 25, 2003 (Excerpt)

The ADL first began to raise concerns about the film in March, in both a letter to the New York Times and a letter addressed to Gibson that the organization posted on its Web site. The controversy erupted again earlier this month when a report was leaked to the media that had been prepared by scholars, associated with both the ADL and the USCCB, based on a study of an early version of the script and containing a long list of objections. The USCCB, however, quickly dissociated itself from the report, with Mark Chopko, general counsel for the USCCB, saying: "We regret the situation has occurred and offer our apologies. When the film is released, the USCCB will review it at the time." In its current statement, the ADL says it "fully stands behind" the scholars' report and raises a series of questions such as, "Will the final version of 'The Passion' continue to portray Jews as bloodthirsty, sadistic and money-hungry enemies of Jesus?......"

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