Balder Ex-Libris

Author : North Gary
Title : The war on Mel Gibson
Year : 2004

Link download : North_Gary_-_The_war_on_Mel_Gibson.zip

Mel Gibson is going to make a very large pile of money. Hollywood is already outraged. The liberal media are also hopping mad. Protestants are going to a Catholic’s movie. Some of them are going back to see it a second time. What is going on? And why should you invest a day or two in reading this book to find out what I think is going on? To help you decide, here is what I think is going on: 1. Gibson’s movie presents the story of the atonement more clearly than in any previous mainstream movie. 2. This movie is an affront to liberal theology. 3. Gibson has hit a humanist nerve. 4. The movie is a box office blockbuster. 5. Liberal humanists recognize a threat to their continuing control over the media. 6. Christians see that they are not alone. These factors have made The Passion of the Christ the most important recent event in the history of the American culture war. The Left went after Gibson and the movie early, but their efforts have backfired. The extent of that backfire is huge. It is possible – I believe highly probable – that this movie will mark a turning point in the culture war. What do I mean by “culture war”? I mean a battle for the visible marks of supremacy in all of those areas of life that reflect the first principle of a society, but which are not bound by an oath. Three institutions are bound by an oath, implicit or explicit: the family, the church, and the state. In each of these institutions, there is an oath of allegiance. An oath is a promise. It is legally enforceable in a court of law, though not necessarily a civil court. There is a religious war going on inside each of these institutions, but I do not call this a culture war. I call it a covenantal war. Culture is an extension of the cooperation of these three institutions. It encompasses the arts: music, painting, sculpture, and the graphic arts, including film. It encompasses the written word: literature and some forms of journalism. It encompasses food and all of the etiquette and ceremonies that accompany food. (If you think I’m wrong, invite your wife out to dinner, and then take her to a fast-food restaurant. Surprise!) Culture reflects and reinforces men’s opinions on five crucial issues: God, man, law, causation, and time. Culture surrounds modern man with a patchwork of competing visions and competing answers. The culture war exists because men do not agree on the answers to these questions. Who is God? What does He want mankind to do? What is man? To whom or what is mankind responsible? What are the rules governing men’s life and death? What is the nature of historical cause and effect? Where are we headed? Where have we been?1 Culture is what we perceive when we cross some national borders but not others. When an American crosses into Canada, he does not perceive the change at first. His first indication is when he fills up his gas tank. The prices are different. There are no gallons; there are liters. But he has no problem mixing in culturally. He feels at home, or close to it. In contrast, when he crosses the border into Mexico, he senses the change immediately. It is not just the difference in language. He is in a different culture. He feels out of place. Eventually, he wants to go home. Home is where your culture is. Let’s get down to specifics. Why did Islamic terrorists target the twin towers? They tried to blow up one of them in 1993. They were successful in 2001. They could have selected another target. They didn’t. What was it about destroying the twin towers that was worth dying for? These were not seats of government. They must have been symbolic. What did they symbolize ? They were the tallest buildings in the American city that is regarded as the center of world capitalism. Capitalism is transforming the world. Islamic radicals resent this. They wanted to make a statement. It was a statement without words. It was not a political statement. It was something else. I would call it a religious statement. It was a religious statement regarding the vulnerability of capitalism. There is no indication that the terrorists were targeting banking or the stock market. Otherwise, they would have blown up a bank. So, what were they after? Symbols. Symbols of what? Symbols of a distinctly Western civilization. They were making a statement against the culture of capitalism. Inside the culture of capitalism, there is a war going on. Like the war that produced 9/11, this war has symbols. It also has tools. In some cases, the tools are the symbols. The television set is a symbol, but it is also a tool. The computer is a tool, but it is also a symbol. The yellow public school bus is a tool, but it is also a symbol. The Passion of the Christ has become a symbol. It is my prayer and the humanists’ nightmare that it is also a tool. This book is about The Passion as both a tool and a symbol. This book is a lengthy presentation of the battle over the film as a battle over its function as a symbol. But, underlying the debate, is the perception that it may become a tool. Movies have long served as both symbols and tools. They reinforce people’s opinions. The question is: Do they change people’s opinions? Hollywood and the secular humanists who have been in control of this tool have always denied that it is a tool. “It’s just entertainment.” I think they knew better. Their overwhelmingly hostile reaction to The Passion indicates either that they always knew better or else they have now undergone a transformation in their thinking. I think it’s the former. They always knew. The movies have been crowbars that Hollywood’s humanists have used for a generation to pry Americans away from their first principles: religious, moral, and cultural. I think it is time for Christians to recognize what has been done to them. It is also time for Christians to learn how to use this tool to fight back. We cannot all start a movie production company, but we can use the movies for our own cultural purposes, which are ultimately religious purposes. Mel Gibson has shown us the way. It can be done. Now the question is: Will it be done? Is The Passion the first step in a systematic, comprehensive counterattack by Christians in a cultural war that Christians have been losing for almost a century? I think this is the case. So does Hollywood and Hollywood’s cheerleaders in the media. This is why they are horrified. In this book, you will get an idea of just how horrified they are, and also why. This will cheer you up for the whole week. Maybe longer. ...