I know looking for logic when talking about religion is probably pointless, undoubtedly naïve and inevitably frustrating, but I sometimes can’t help myself.
I’m talking, of course, about all the noise about Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ. Understand, if I were Jewish and I’d seen 2000 years of history with my people being blamed for killing the Christian’s god, and finally getting the Church to refute that blame in the 60’s only to have some yahoo Hollywood star come along 40 years later and pick the scab off that festering wound, I’d probably be a little upset too.
But here’s what gets me. Now, I’m no theologian, but I did get run through the Catechism grind in grade school and sent to a Catholic high school (no better cure for rampant Catholicism than 4 years of a Catholic high school, I assure you) not to mention countless masses during my formative years, so I distinctly remember rote memorization and sermons galore: “Christ was sent to earth to redeem man from his sins… to open the gates of heaven which had been closed since Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge” (god, it’s frightening how all the dogma comes back). And he did this by dying on the cross for our sins.
So, if we accept the mythology that Christ had to die to redeem us from our sins and thus open the gates of heaven, then why are we talking about blaming anybody? Aren’t the Jews (if they’re “responsible” for Christ’s death) simply instruments of God’s will then? (Of course, if I’m Jewish, at this point I’m pissed because not only have I been saddled with this blame for 2000 years but now, to top if off, I’m God’s tool!) If Christ didn’t die for our sins, the gates of Heaven would remain closed and Purgatory would be getting really crowded now. So why is anyone “to blame” for Christ’s death? Isn’t that what he was ultimately here for?
I’ll never understand dogma.
I’m talking, of course, about all the noise about Mel Gibson’s The Passion of The Christ. Understand, if I were Jewish and I’d seen 2000 years of history with my people being blamed for killing the Christian’s god, and finally getting the Church to refute that blame in the 60’s only to have some yahoo Hollywood star come along 40 years later and pick the scab off that festering wound, I’d probably be a little upset too.
But here’s what gets me. Now, I’m no theologian, but I did get run through the Catechism grind in grade school and sent to a Catholic high school (no better cure for rampant Catholicism than 4 years of a Catholic high school, I assure you) not to mention countless masses during my formative years, so I distinctly remember rote memorization and sermons galore: “Christ was sent to earth to redeem man from his sins… to open the gates of heaven which had been closed since Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge” (god, it’s frightening how all the dogma comes back). And he did this by dying on the cross for our sins.
So, if we accept the mythology that Christ had to die to redeem us from our sins and thus open the gates of heaven, then why are we talking about blaming anybody? Aren’t the Jews (if they’re “responsible” for Christ’s death) simply instruments of God’s will then? (Of course, if I’m Jewish, at this point I’m pissed because not only have I been saddled with this blame for 2000 years but now, to top if off, I’m God’s tool!) If Christ didn’t die for our sins, the gates of Heaven would remain closed and Purgatory would be getting really crowded now. So why is anyone “to blame” for Christ’s death? Isn’t that what he was ultimately here for?
I’ll never understand dogma.
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