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Feb. 27th, 2004 10:21 amAnyone who can say they know what Bjork is singing about, has lived a charmed and wonderful life.
Feb. 27th, 2004
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Feb. 27th, 2004 03:08 pmAndrew Sullivan writes, after watching "The Passion of the Christ:"
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beowulf1723 for the link.)
This is an example of what John Dominic Crossan calls the dehumanizing aspect of sarcophobia in Christian belief. I am not a Christian, in part because I cannot see my participation in the world as somehow akin or equal to participating in the brutal torture and humiliating death of an innocent man. The fruits of this belief are self-loathing -- self-loathing for the unwilling accident of being born a human being. I didn't ask to be born flesh, and it was the teaching that I should feel guilty for it that was a factor which drove me to Gnosticism.
Andrew Sullivan is gay. I wonder if, today, he is feeling hatred for this part of himself too. The internal homophobia circuits are so well-programmed, it takes much less than this to set them off. If what he has described is the reaction of the average Christian to watching the film, we can expect to see a wave of internalized -- as well as external -- homophobia resulting from this movie. I can hear it now, in fact: "You damn homos! You're as good as the Romans who beat and beat and beat our Lord Jesus."
I am also not a Christian because if I am guilty of any sins, the only way I am going to learn my lessons therefrom is to accept whatever punishment I deserve for the wrongs I have committed. I should suffer it, not some scapegoat. I willingly throw myself on the mercy of the court.
And now, I promise not to write about this movie again until I have seen it.
I've always known Jesus' death was terrible. Always knew he died for me. But never really thought through just how horrible and terrifying it must have been. Watching this movie was, to me, like being there as a witness to the act. As one complicit in His death, I might as well have been one of those shouting "Crucify!" I might as well have spat on Him, laughed at Him, placed the crown of thorns upon His head, and driven the nails into His hands. It was for my sins that He embraced the cross and willingly paid the terrible price. All my life I have taken Christ's sacrifice for granted without ever really considering the true cost of the cross in terms of the brutal and savage pain I inflicted upon the Savior.(Thanks to
beowulf1723 for the link.)This is an example of what John Dominic Crossan calls the dehumanizing aspect of sarcophobia in Christian belief. I am not a Christian, in part because I cannot see my participation in the world as somehow akin or equal to participating in the brutal torture and humiliating death of an innocent man. The fruits of this belief are self-loathing -- self-loathing for the unwilling accident of being born a human being. I didn't ask to be born flesh, and it was the teaching that I should feel guilty for it that was a factor which drove me to Gnosticism.
Andrew Sullivan is gay. I wonder if, today, he is feeling hatred for this part of himself too. The internal homophobia circuits are so well-programmed, it takes much less than this to set them off. If what he has described is the reaction of the average Christian to watching the film, we can expect to see a wave of internalized -- as well as external -- homophobia resulting from this movie. I can hear it now, in fact: "You damn homos! You're as good as the Romans who beat and beat and beat our Lord Jesus."
I am also not a Christian because if I am guilty of any sins, the only way I am going to learn my lessons therefrom is to accept whatever punishment I deserve for the wrongs I have committed. I should suffer it, not some scapegoat. I willingly throw myself on the mercy of the court.
And now, I promise not to write about this movie again until I have seen it.