Gibson's Offense

Have you ever seen such snarling - such a brouhaha over something so silly? What's it really about? As usualy Joe Sobran has a perceptive take on the issue.

Gibson’s real offense is that he has shown himself to be an unapologetic worshipper of Jesus Christ, defying the secularist taboo on Christian expression in the marketplace. Christians are expected to behave furtively; they may call themselves Christians, as long as their public prayers are “nonsectarian” — that is, avoiding the name of Jesus before mixed audiences. Perceptible traces of Christianity in today’s movies are, to say the least, rare.

Never mind that Jesus himself made the astounding claim that he and the Father were one; that countless Christians, to this day, have willingly died in agony to bear witness to his resurrection; that St. Paul preached that every knee should bow at his very name.

Gibson defied this atheistic etiquette by filming a faithful version of the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ last hours. It was almost unbearable to watch, reminding the world what crucifixion meant — the cruelest torture the ancient Romans could devise.

..Drunkenness and foul language may be pardonable, but the glorification of Jesus is another matter.

from Gibson's Offense
by Joe Sobran, Aug 3, 2006