‘The Passion’ of the Americans
Truthout: William Rivers Pitt: ‘If you are to call yourself Christian, you must be for the poor and the weak, and against empire and vengeance. Period.’ [→ READ ]
William Pitt’s insightful words bring Old Testament prophets immediately to mind, and in so doing take my breath away:
The television airwaves have been filled for the last several days with a lot of back-and-forth about Mel Gibson’s new film, ‘The Passion of The Christ.’ …
Why would Mel Gibson make a movie about people in the ancient Middle East and cast it with so many white people? …
In truth, the region where Jesus was born was, and remains, populated by brown-skinned people. The fact of Christ’s non-whiteness is borne out in the historical record, and in biblical scripture. …
The ugly truth which never even occurs to most Americans is that Jesus looked a lot more like an Iraqi, like an Afghani, like a Palestinian, like an Arab, than any of the paintings which grace the walls of American churches from sea to shining sea. …
George W. Bush calls himself Christian. If you believe him, he is on armchair-to-armchair relations with the Almighty, enjoying regular conversations with He Is What He Is on everything from tax policy to invasion plans. …
When Bush did his little flight-suit strut across the aircraft carrier last May, he proclaimed victory in biblical verse and sent a signal to those Christians who see him as more than a man. Bush, that day, quoted Isaiah’s passage from the Servant Songs about captives coming out and slaves being free. This is the same passage, as described in Luke chapter 4, which Jesus used to announce his coming as the Son of God. “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing,” said Jesus. Bush’s use of this incredibly loaded passage speaks as much to his messianic fantasies as it does to his status as Christian-in-Chief. …
This, BTW, is why the oft-leveled charge of “Bush hatred” against progressive people like me is usually false; personally, I want Mr. Bush to have a long, happy life out of office at his ranch in Crawford, TX. What I’m not prepared to let stand is his — and our — massively sinful behavior parading as messianic:
Yet this is the same man who invades countries without cause and consigns tens of thousands of innocents to explosive, burning death. This is the same man who pushes tax policies that further enrich the wealthy while stripping funds and services from the neediest in this nation. This is the man who speaks the language of vengeance, of fear, of violence. … Sadly, the skewed moral compass of George W. Bush is shared by too many Americans who would call themselves Christian. …
Jesus was no fool. In Luke, chapter 11, verse 21, he said, “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own palace, his goods are in peace.” Self-protection, for person and nation, is both moral and intelligent. But vengeance, violence and hatred are not Christian. Mercy, love and generosity are the hallmarks of the teachings of Jesus. If you are to call yourself Christian, you must be for the poor and the weak, and against empire and vengeance. Period. …
Too many so-called Christians are blind to history, blind to the actions of our nation, blind to the hypocrisy of our so-called leaders, and the world bleeds because of it.
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