Quote:
Originally Posted by hammerfan
I remember asking the pastor of the church I was attending at the time (Lutheran) what he thought of it. His reply was "I thought it was an exercise in sadism".
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Definitely. I think it's ludicrous for one Christian to expect another Christian to go watch the movie, and expect them to enjoy it. If any church were to think it would be a good idea to, say, have a church event and show it to their congregation, I would find that appalling and offensive. The movie is not appropriate for most viewers, and could be downright scarring to some.
However, IMO, if a believer is willing to subject themselves to that level of violence in a movie, I don't think it's a bad thing to have a visual image of the type of punishment that Christ endured. It's easy for a Christian to forget that that cute gold cross worn around their neck represents an actual event, where actual flesh was torn. It would be similar (although not in a religious sense) to a Jew watching a very explicit, violent dramatization of the horrible things that happened during the Holocaust. They shouldn't feel pressured to watch it, but if they chose to, may feel a strong appreciation and remembrance of the horrible events by doing so. (I also don't think people would be as quick to criticize
that movie.)