Sunday, February 29, 2004

Well, shit.

Current Mood: Dazed and strangely compassionate Listening To: The pounding in my head. So I just got back from seeing The Passions of Christ and... I don't know what to say. Although I'm pretty sure we all know what happens, I just thought I'd give you all a fair spoiler warning; that, and you may read things you don't agree with. Now then. I am not a religious person - let's get that straight right now. I do not go to church, I do not believe a lot of what's said in the bible and I fully support evolutionism and Darwin and all of that. I don't know if there's a God or a Satan, a heaven or a hell - I only know what I can see. I don't have the same faith that others do, and sometimes it almost seems impossible to me how much of themselves people put into a belief. Except while I might not believe in the same God or power that others do, there are things that I do believe in, and that I realize now how important to me they really are. I find it incredible that our friend Jesus could love people that much. After they beat him relentlessly, mutilated him, spit on him, denounced him and his beliefs, turned their backs on him when just five days prior had welcomed him with open arms, dragged him through the city streets, whipping and scourging him, he never once felt any sort of hate or bitterness. Even as he was hanging from the cross, blood trickling down his mangled body, he still loved them and forgave them. How can somebody be so full of strength and love when today we can't even debate about random topics without turning it into some sort of full-fledged, vicious war. If I came back from this film with anything, it would be that. I don't care if the man really existed or not, and I don't care about what the bible says, and I don't care if there is or isn't a God - no one ever deserves that kind of treatment. While his love amazed me, the hatred of the people around him did so even more. It frankly scares me that people can hate so passionately, and what makes it worse is that I know it actually happens. People actually do destroy other people, and I don't think I'll ever understand why. I don't even want to. That's my question, I guess. Why? What's so horrible about a person and his differences that makes us want to hurt him? Why do we need to punish him? How can you prove that any one belief is wrong or right? You can't. Maybe that's why I have such a hard time trying to understand all this. Believing in something so blindly is just scary to me, especially when all it ever seems to lead to is more bloodshed. My brain is tired now, and my head hurts from crying during the movie, and I've still got a test to study for. So while I go do that, I think you lovely duckies should give me your opinions, and let's see if we can't learn to love our differences.

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