What does the evangelical community in America do when faced with the upcoming release of The Passion of the Christ, a controversial film that critics have denounced as rife with potential for inciting a wave of anti-Semitism? Take full advantage of the opportunity.  

The Passion of the Christ deals with the last twelve hours of Jesus’ life and focuses largely on the crucifixion.

The Anti-Defamation League has opposed the release of the film on the basis that it would spark a rise in anti-Semitism. Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League, stated this summer that the members of his organization “are deeply concerned that the film, if released in its present form, will fuel the hatred, bigotry and anti-Semitism that many responsible churches have worked hard to repudiate.”  

Taking advantage of the upcoming release of the film on Ash Wednesday, February 25, some churches have collected money to give cinema-goers tickets to the film.    

Pastor Cory Engel, of Harvest Springs Community Church in Great Falls, Mass., explained his opportunistic program by stating: “Here’s a chance for us to use a modern-day technique to communicate the truth of the Bible.”  

Gibson, who co-wrote the script, produced and directed the film, contributed a hefty sum — something to the tune of $25 million — out of his own pocket to finance the project.

Gibson, a Roman Catholic, did not shell out nearly as much as the $90 million that John Travolta poured into Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000, a film about the Scientology story of a vile race of aliens that attempts to enslave the human race, but Gibson’s motivation for creating the film was similarly spiritual.  

While Gibson’s family upbringing does not necessarily have any bearing on his interpretation of the Bible, his father is a Holocaust denier.

An honest and earnest desire by Christians to convert the unsaved is certainly part of the Christian teaching to spread the good word of Christ; that this film should be the vehicle for proselytization is, however, deeply troubling.  

Mimi Hanaoka