thehood

I just got home from seeing The Passion of Christ. Cassandra asked me if I enjoyed it, and I told her no. It's a really, really good movie. But it made me physically ill and filled me with a profound sadness. I'm not a religious person, I never have been; I'm also a Machiavellian. I'd have to be to spend a year of my life researching and writing about his work. Because of that, I believe that there are few things, if any, that are absolutely right or wrong. But what they did to Jesus was absolutely wrong. It was so wrong, I wanted to cry. And it made me sick. When they were scourging and flogging him something in my head kept yelling 'why won't they just leave him alone?! He didn't do anything wrong' I know it's a movie, but it didn't seem like one. It seemed like a glipse into the past. Jesus wasn't the only victim, but he was the only innocent. I felt bad for the Roman consul, too. He didn't want to kill Jesus because he knew he was an innocent and he tried everything he could think of to avoid crucifying him, but he had to in the end. And I felt bad for Judas, who was really a pawn. It was his part to play to betray Jesus; that was his burden to bear. Otherwise, it wouldn't have worked at all. And he was ripped apart by his guilt, but it truly wasn't his fault. He didn't have a choice in God's plan. When he hanged himself, I wondered 'did Judas go to Heaven?' He betrayed Jesus, and he committed suicide, which is supposedly the one unforgivable sin...but he was one of the instruments of Man's Salvation and everything he did was God's work. And Jesus touched everyone whose heart was open, even those who weren't looking to touched like the bystander that the legionnaire forced help Jesus with the cross; he didn't want any part of it but after a just a few moments, you could see in his eyes that he knew. And he defended Jesus against the townspeople and the Romans. And the Roman who pierced Jesus's side with the spear...he knew and he despaired when he realized what they'd done. When even the Pharisees, who'd fought so hard to see Jesus dead wept and realized what they'd done. I'm not religious, but I've always believed in God and Jesus. I just don't think you need religion per se, at least organized religion, to...I don't know. Not worship, exactly. I don't know. You know what I mean. I'm just saddened very deeply. I guess a movie tries to evoke emotions in the audience, and I guess this movie is a success.