The American Spectator

p> CERTAIN CONCERNS br> Re: Jeremy Lott’s The Passion and the Fury : /p> p>I wonder if conservatives are having a defensive, circle-the-wagons reaction to criticism of this film. I haven’t seen it and am not planning to, because I can’t stomach that kind of violence. But according to descriptions, the film does show “the Jews” in a particularly bad light while going much softer on Pilate. I don’t think horrible violence is at the core of Christianity, but this film puts it there — for millions of viewers. Conservatives rightly decry “sensationalist” media; is that a concern here, too? Will this film have a healthy effect on viewers, especially young, impressionable ones? Is a spiritual message compatible with so much gore? br> — P. David Hornik br> Jerusalem /p>

In reference to Mr. Lott’s “The Passion and the Fury,” I must make a small, but key, correction.

Mr. Lott states that Mel Gibson practices a schismatic “pre-Vatican II Catholicism.” Interesting word, schism. When used in relation to the Catholic Church, it refers specifically to those who deny the Pope as Heir to the Chair of St. Peter, to those who deny the Bishop of Rome is the theological leader of the Church. By definition, Lutherans, Anglicans, Baptists, Congregationalists, etc., are guilty of schism.

Yet, since we all, in an ecumenical spirit, are trying to get along, Lutherans and Anglicans and everyone else, including those deemed doctrinally to be pagan, i.e. Buddhists and Hindu, smile alongside the current Catholic leadership and are called friends, while those Catholics who look upon the pastoral, non-dogmatically binding council called Vatican II as a significant error and refuse to alter the Faith as it was practiced for 1900+ years are called schismatic.

Based on the above, which is all easily verifiable with open source information, you can deduce that pre-Vatican II Catholics are not schismatic. The use of the word “schism” is one that ignorant (literal sense, not pejorative) reporters and many current Catholic leaders (among whom are many who have so demonstrated their fitness for their positions with various felony acts, including the protection of child-abusing clergy and vehicular manslaughter (ex-Bishop of Phoenix)) use to discredit traditional Catholics. Much in the same way that established Jewish religious leaders and Roman officials had to discredit that rebellious carpenter’s son, so do current Catholic leaders need to find ways to hold on to their positions, for both religious and political reasons. Now, Gibson is certainly not Jesus, but the situation bears similarity.