I received the following from Mary Ann Collins. She is a former catholic nun, who has written a book (Unmasking Catholocism) and a series of articles comparing her former religion to the Bible. She has also written some articles on the state of Christianity in the world today. There was a press release put out yesterday, that caused her to send out an e-mail today. I found it somewhat alarming, and with her permission, I am substituting this issue with what she wrote. She is not the author of the petition or the press release, but the one who sent out an article to spread the word about the petitions and solicit prayer for the movie, Mel Gibson and Christianity on a whole. After recieving an e-mail from her, I asked her if I could send it out as my newsletter and she said yes. Once again, she is not against THE PASSION, but is alarmed by the attacks coming against the movie and Christianity. I encourage you all to visit her websites if you get the chance. She has a servants heart, and sticks to God's Word in what she writes about.
According to a press release dated March 10, 2004, the Messiah Truth Project has petitioned the Department of Justice to evaluate Mel Gibson's movie "The Passion of the Christ" for violations of hate crime statutes. The first two paragraphs of this petition follow. A link to the petition is below. (The Messiah Truth Project is an organization that was established to "combat the deceptive missionary techniques of evangelical Christian denominations.")
The Press Release States:
UNION, NJ (PRWEB) March 10, 2004 -- Mel Gibson’s "The Passion of the Christ," through purposeful rewriting of the Christian Gospel mythos has, itself, become an anti-Semitic diatribe which, since it’s February 25, 2004 release resulted in hate crimes against Jews, Synagogues and Jewish Cemeteries in cities throughout the US. Mel Gibson’s unbiblical and a-historical account of the "crucifixion" story has taken Hutton Gibson’s claims that the Holocaust is "fiction," even one step further.
Just as Adolf Hitler described the 300th anniversary performance of the Oberammergau Passion Play as "a convincing portrayal of the menace of Jewry" in 1934, Gibson and Writer/producer Tom Fontana’s 2004 use of extreme graphic and excessive violence set up and perpetrated at the urging of "the Jews" in their portrayal displays a clear prejudicial bent against the Jewish faith.
Roman Catholic Biblical Scholar Father Gerald Caron, Professor of Biblical Studies at the Atlantic School of Theology in Halifax, calls Gibson's film "anti-Jewish, theologically flawed and historically dubious." In an interview with Rabbi Tovia Singer for Israel National Radio on the date of the film’s release, Dr. Caron stated "The teaching of contempt – hate of the Jews or hate of their religion – is part and parcel of Christian history. This is a Christian problem that we have to get rid of, and its not a movie like this one that will help us continue our efforts to get rid of the denigration and condemnation of our Jewish brothers and sisters."
United State law defines "bias related" or "hate crime" to mean a "designated act that demonstrates an accused's prejudice based on the actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, sex, age, marital status, personal appearance, sexual orientation, family responsibility, physical handicap, matriculation, or political affiliation of a victim of the subject designated act." Depending on the state, criminal and / or civil laws may apply, as well as recently enacted Federal statutes.
A digital petition at www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/765533849 implores US Attorney General John Ashcroft and the US Department of Justice to evaluate the anti-Semitism clearly presented in Gibson and Fontana’s portrayal, and asks that civil, criminal, and Federal hate-crime laws, as appropriate, be utilized not only against the perpetrators involved in each and every act which it has encouraged, but against the directors, producers, and screen writers responsible for the work itself.
The Messiah Truth Project, Inc. is a 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization established to combat the deceptive missionary techniques of evangelical Christian denominations and the Messianic movements through Torah education. Tax-deductible contributions may be made by mailing a check or money order to: Messiah Truth Project, Inc., P.O. Box 445, Union, NJ 07083-0445.
The petition asks that "civil, criminal, and Federal hate-crime laws, as appropriate, be utilized not only against the perpetrators involved in each and every act which it has encouraged, but against the directors, producers, and screen writers responsible for the work itself." (Criminal prosecution against the directors means that they are trying to put Mel Gibson in prison.)
If they succeed, Christians will be in trouble. The Gospels say that it was the Jewish leaders who conspired to have Jesus be killed, and pressured Pontius Pilate into executing him. If the movie is judged to be hate speech, or a hate crime, then it will not be long before some anti-Christian group tries to get the Gospels themselves declared to be hate speech. And that would make it illegal to quote from the passion accounts in the Gospels.
It could get to the point where it is considered to be a crime to have a Bible, because the Bible is considered to be hate literature. According to David Limbaugh's book, "Persecution," there are some teachers who consider the Ten Commandments to be hate literature, and they punished school children who had book covers with the Ten Commandments on them.
I realize that this seems unthinkable. But we are living in an age when unthinkable things are happening with increasing frequency. Here are some examples.
There is a Polyamory Society. It includes a Legal Division for advocating the civil rights of polyamorous "families." http://www.polyamorysociety.org/
Please PRAY. Also, please spread the word. When you do, please copy this message and paste it into your own email letter. That will make it easier to read. Plus people don't like wading through lists of names to get to the message. (When messages are forwarded several times, and have several lists of names, some people delete the messages instead of reading them.)
If you want to contact the Justice Department to let them know about your concern about treating Mel Gibson's film as a hate crime, you can leave a message at the office of Attorney General Ashcroft. The number is (202) 514-2000. That number takes you to the Department of Justice Operator [note: I called that number myself, it is a good and valid number]
Please pray for God to protect our freedom of religion, and our freedom to publicly speak about our religious beliefs.
The petition has been pulled, largely in part, I believe to praying and spreading the word by Christians. The petition had gathered only 385 signatures before being pulled. That is good news for Christianity and we should thank our Father for hearing our prayers. However, the fact that it even posted is still significant, and we should be ever vigilant, for "your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." (1 Peter 5:8)