It impresses me that someone of reputation in Hollywood llike Mel Gibson had a pure appreciation of the story of Christ's life & crucifixion, a passion strong enough to put his all into making a stirring movie. (I haven't seen it, but I remember the stir it caused. Or was it just a promotional trick? I dunno.)
Remember how many feathers he ruffled for making that movie? Interviewers dug into him, trying to figure out what fueled his interest in the topic, whether or not he was really sincere. (Based on the impression I got after seeing one of his interviews, I believe he was sincere.)
Further harassment was thrown at him because some people decided he was a Jew hater because of the way the Savior's torment was depicted in the movie. I remember the word "anti-Semitism"became a buzz word for awhile.
(My take on the matter is that Mel Gibson was true to what's in the Bible. Although I never saw the movie, that's how Mel stated it in the interview.)
Mel Gibson can't be blamed for depicting in a movie what's in the Bible. He can only be blamed for attempting to put the Bible on screen in the first place. I think that's what ruffled everyone's feathers. Perhaps people didn't understand why such a movie made them angry, so they got angry at Mel Gibson.
I wonder if the mere topic of religion makes people uncomfortable if religion isn't a part of their lives?
The scriptures are powerful. Try as anyone may, capturing the stories & messages in dramatizations, songs, poems, watered-down children's books…try as anyone may, it's hard to do justice to the real thing. I think the only effective way to capture the power of the scriptures is by reading them. That power is the best fuel for life.
As for the harassment that Mel Gibson received for making "Passion of the Christ," I wonder why so little (if any) harassment has been aimed at, oh let's say productions like American History X, the Scream movies (and its parodies, heh), the American Pie movies…There are millions of movies that fill our heads with anger, fear, hatred, sexual thoughts. (In my opinion there's something wrong with on screen sex because let's face it, the initiation of sexual desire is meant to come from and is most satisfying when enjoyed with another person rather than an image on a screen, AM I RIGHT??? The sad thing is, there are plenty of people who probably disagree, and that's an indication of some serious sickness in the world.)
I imagine that any harassment that such media generates is swept under the carpet because it seems like a whole lot of people have become entranced and desensitized by the enticing lies that sound so good to us when we let our minds relax. I know I've fallen for the lies. They're subtle and blinding.
As far as how little justice one can do when attempting to capture the scriptures through movies, dramatizations, songs, modern translations, pop-up books, etc….well, I admire the efforts people make because I feel the passion too. But because I know there's no adequate way to recreate what's in the scriptures (unless done with inspiration & authority, which few people have both of), I prefer not to watch movies or read books that attempt to mirror the scriptures.
So for the first couple years of being a mother who knows that children are most likely to develop a love for the scriptures if they learn it at home, I struggled in my mind & heart for a way to teach the scriptures to my children (though I only had one child at the time) WITHOUT relying on any diluted sources.
I came to a humbling realization that since they can't read the scriptures for themselves yet, I'd have to do my best to teach them "simply" by loving them in everything we do with the same powerful love I feel when I read the scriptures, and to make the actual scriptures a part of our daily lives.
BUT…those "simple" things haven't been so simple to me because I am far from perfect.
SO…after those first couple years of motherhood, my husband let me invest in some costly flannel board scripture story sets. (Heh, of course I'll never forget how costly they were…but how easily we can throw around money at restaurants, theme parks, toy stores, hah!) Michael was a bit young when we got them, but within a few months he really started to enjoy them.
A year later (Jan 2006) my husband had no qualms with my request to use a significant part of our tax refund to purchase two DVD sets of animated scripture stories. Since we could only afford to get so many, I chose the Book of Mormon & Old Testament sets.
The reasons I chose the OT vs the NT were: 1) we were studying the OT in Sunday School that year, so I thought the DVDs could serve as a fun supplement ; and 2) due to my leeriness of indulging in media that attempt to do justice to the scriptures, I was doubly leery that my children might get some idea that our Savior is a cartoon (!). So I chose the OT instead of the NT. Oh gosh, but my reasoning wasn't perfect because the Savior appears in the Book of Mormon too. Oh well.
We've had these for a year & a half now, and Michael's really enjoying them. I've tried to make it clear to Michael that these are animated depictions of scripture stories which REALLY happened, and the best place to get our information is directly from the scriptures.
Sooo…Since he's responding really well to these DVD's I'm thinking about going ahead and getting the New Testament set some time. And I'll make a point to make doubly sure that he knows that Jesus Christ is really real, not a cartoon (!).
A couple days ago Michael woke me up, and after he saw I was in a good mood (I'm often not a morning person) he started telling me everything he could about Hophni & Phinehas, how they stole the Ark of the Covenant from their dad Eli, and how the Philistines got involved... I confess I didn't know anything about the story so all this information was joyfully enlightening to me! And that such words were in his vocabulary, wow!!
Today he requested, "Let's watch Abinadi & Noah." He was reflecting for awhile before we watched the movie (he's watched it several times before), then he came out with this comment, "I know why they call him Abinadi…it's because he "di"ed." Oh that was so oddly insightful, I smiled and gave him a hug.
As precious as his little insight was, later I felt compelled to explain to him...although Abinadi died by fire (wouldn't that be awful?), he died peacefully and righteously because the Lord was pleased that he taught King Noah the truth, and wouldn't deny it for anything.
As Michael was watching the movie he made a clamor over King Noah getting burned, so we had another talk about that to ease his mind. (Abinadi prophesied that Noah would die in the same way that he'd kill Abinadi. When that prophecy was fulfilled it further affirms to the reader that Abinadi was indeed a prophet of God, and that works of righteousness would go on.)
All this religious "brainwashing" I'm giving my kids (I'm sure that's what many people might call it) is, in my opinion, ESSENTIAL to arm them for the turbulence they'll encounter as they go through life. Although some people might wonder how scripture stories could possibly fortify people in their day-to-day lives, I know it really can fortify them if they remember the powerful examples of FAITH, and (especially notable in the war chapters of the BOM) that when people are faithful and righteous, God will absolutely protect and prosper them.
A couple weeks ago on two separate occasions John & I spied Michael saying quiet, verbal, personal prayers. The first time John heard him praying for a length of string so he could tie up something (he has some sort of fascination with tying things). Gotta love it. Well heck I remember praying for a lost key once and even though I knew I'd lost it outdoors quite some distance from my current location, when I looked up it was RIGHT THERE on my nightstand!!! I kid you not. What powerful evidence God gave me that day that He loves me, how He rewarded my faith with something that was HUGE to me, but probably no big deal for Him.
The second time we heard Michael pray... well I'll go ahead and make this a long story:
The ice cream truck was in the neighborhood while we were out at the park, and after a little deliberation John remembered he had a couple bucks in his pocket. He wanted to treat Michael who was getting really excited about the ice cream truck. After he'd deliberated a little too long, the ice cream truck headed around the corner.
So John booked it on his feet and Michael walked to the corner to watch, but could only see him until John turned another corner and was out of sight. I was back with the baby on the grass, but wanted to make sure Michael was OK, so with both kids in sight, I approached Michael. I heard him praying that Daddy would catch the ice cream truck. Absolutely precious. I didn't dare disturb him or let him know I heard.
Well, not only did John catch the truck and buy some ice cream for Michael, he came back heroically & triumphantly in the passenger seat next to that friendly, smiling ice cream man.
I'm guessing that Michael had a lesson in Primary about prayer that week, because he hasn't prayed like that before or since (that I know of). I have to credit someone else (Primary or the movies he's been watching) because I haven't been very good at teaching him about prayer. Don't get me wrong, I know prayer is powerful and I've had some powerful experiences, but ever since I went a little astray in my mid-20's then got married to someone who makes practicing religion in the home a little awkward, prayer has been a rare indulgence for me. And it's a downright pain in the neck to get the whole family to agree to pray together. Sigh. So thank goodness for Primary (or those movies) as they fill in our gaps.
Michael is limited to one movie a day…MAXIMUM and it has made all the difference, especially since we finally swore off television for GOOD (I mean it this time, we gave away both our TV's to the moving guys when we got to Maryland). Don't get me wrong, In Michael's four short years he's had his share of Elmo, Caillou, Dora & Diego, Playhouse Disney, etc…but since we've switched to the 100% religious route (OK, maybe closer to 99%), Michael's tantrums are nearly down to zero, and he's replaced his random prattle about cartoons (which seriously annoy me) with random prattle about scripture stories. I'm pleased!!
I've gotta give a lot of credit to Nest Entertainment and to the Living Scriptures: they do a pretty good job following the stories. But I admit that I was expecting more (for all that money!!) and was a little bummed after watching a DVD for the first time and didn't get the same feeling from the cartoon that I did when I read the story from the scriptures. That's understandable though, since it's impossible to take a guy who used to direct Disney movies to be in charge of making Book of Mormon cartoons, and expect him to do it with inspiration, heh.
Well, it only reinforces the hard truth to me that the only effective way to teach children is the old fashioned way with lots of time, love, and a ton of knowledge. We're working on it.
