Griffin Speaks

THE PASSION of the CHRIST

People around the world are flocking to see Mel Gibson’s movie ‘The Passion of the Christ’. Among the many people flocking to see it were my wife and kids. I refused to go. Why? I think the movie fuels Anti-Semitism. 

Anti-Semitism led us to the Holocaust of the last century. It led to the rise of Adolf Hitler. It will cause Anti-Semitic acts to increase around the world. 

The core issues in the film are the torture Jesus experienced in his last hours and the emphasis on Jews begging for the Romans to crucify him. Christian-Jewish relations will be strained in the upcoming days. Christians are willing to overlook the Anti-Semitism in the film because of the belief that the film will open people’s eyes to the Christian faith. 

Perhaps you feel that I am over reacting to this Hollywood epic. Well here is the story! When I was attending law school at Boston University (BU) I met people who were survivors of the Holocaust. I was educated about the Third Reich by people who were actually oppressed by it.

 Adolf Hitler was born in Austria on April 20 1889. He had a poor childhood and an interest only for art in his childhood years. He barely went to school, as everything he learned, he later taught himself through newspapers, books and anything else that he could find. Hitler was a failure as an artist. Hitler fought in World War I and was wounded. After the war, Hitler entered politics and proved to be the perfect demagogue. He failed at an attempt to take over the Bavarian government in 1923. He was jailed for nine months where he completed the book, Mein Kampf (my struggle). In that book, Hitler establishes his Anti-Semitism, as he blamed all Germany’s problems on Jews as well as communists and others, and noted his plans for living space and a superior German, Aryan race of people.

 Adolf Hitler’s rise to power came about because he preached a simple political gospel. The communists, the Jews, and the Versailles Treaty had brought on the evils, which had befallen Germany. By outlawing Communism, by exterminating the Jews, and by repudiating the Versailles Treaty he would make Germany great again.

 In 1935 the Reichstag passed the so-called Nuremberg Laws. These laws disenfranchised all those deemed to have “Jewish Blood”. One by one the new laws stripped the Jews of their professions and their businesses; blackmail stripped them of their liquid assets. Jews were hauled off to concentration camps where they were slaughtered and gassed to death in what Hitler called the “Final Solution”.

Jews as well as the rest of the world were at first not aware of the “final solution” which the Nazis kept secret. When the world learned the horrible truth, the Jews, along with the rest of the world, refused to believe that anyone could be so inhuman. 

The war started by Hitler, World War II represents the biggest killing spree in the history of man. Never had so many people been killed in such a short time at such an extraordinary cost.  In six years of war, 17 million able-bodied men of military age were killed in battle; 18 million civilians were killed as a direct result of war, and an additional 12 million people were murdered by the Nazis. Of 20 million buildings, 7 million were completely destroyed or severely damaged. The war cost Germany 272 Billion Dollars. 

Could there be a future Hitler somewhere in the world that might just be inspired by Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ?” You have to keep your eyes and ears open. You have to be able to read between the lines. Mel Gibson’s intentions may not have been to make an Anti-Semitic movie, but he did. Someone may have used him and they probably did. Anti-Semitism is just as bad as racism and sexism. You can follow the crowd and watch the movie, but as for me, I choose to remain at home and watch the “Beverly Hillbillies”.

Greg Griffin is a freelance writer. You can read his previous articles by visiting his web page at www.greggriffin.com