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The Last Temptation of Kelvin

Usually, when I read accounts of the Christian
reaction to the Last Temptation, I see the Christian
position somewhat misrepresented.  (Although that
shouldn't surprise me.  Heck, most Christians probably
misrepresent Scorsese's position.)  But I feel I must
clarify a couple of things.
Sure, there are those folks who get their panties in a
wad if they see someone portraying Christ as too
human.  I don't get this at all...  Kazantzaki's book
was required reading for me in college (a Christian
college at that!) and it really revolutionized the way
I saw Christ.  Until then I knew that Christ's
humanity was a fact, but I didn't really understand
what it meant.  Not that I'm getting my perception of
Jesus from a borderline basket case Greek, but it did
help to open my mind to some possibilities.
I think the ligitimate Christian critique of the
movie/book goes way beyond the whole temptation/what
if scenario.  I think when you consider the options
that Christ had, it magnifies his perfection and his
sacrifice.  The real problem with the movie lies with
the fact that Jesus was turned into a manipulated
weakling, always sickly and fearful.  This is NOT the
Christ of the New Testament.
A couple of other points:
Why is it that Christians get all out of whacked when
folks who aren't Christians cast dispersion upon or
misrepresent Christ or our faith?  THEY'RE NOT
CHRISTIANS!  We shouldn't expect them to revere Christ
like we do.
It's interesting to me that it is okay to portray
Christianity and Christ in however negative light you
want in movies or books, but heaven forbid you do that
with any other religious figure!  If you'll remember,
about the same time the whole Last Temptation fiasco
was brewing, Salman Rushdie was in hiding, fearing for
his life.  His crime?  Casting doubt on the validity
of the Muslim faith in "The Satanic Verses".  The
Ayatollah, Cat Stevens, and others were waging a
campaign of hate against him for his book - while at
the same time Hollywood was promoting and defending a
film that made shambles of Christianity.
We are a messed up bunch!

Nuff said...

Kelvin

=====
"I never much liked flying,
The job requires trying;
The hard part's avoiding buildings and concrete."
              -- Ellis Paul

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