If, by contrast, Gibson's THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST is an expression of the same spirit as his recent ugly rant, then the real underlying message of the film would seem to be a profoundly UnChristian one. No love and compassion, but rather unhealed woundedness and unresolved rage and hatred.
This brings us to the second point, which concerns why it matters whether that first point--that "both the rant and the film are expressions of the same spirit"--is true. If Gibson's film was experienced by the members of a major part of American Christianity as a profound affirmation of their own Christian beliefs, then what does that say about that component of contemporary American Christianity?
It suggests that the spirit that speaks to them through their religion is the same spirit as that which speaks through Gibson, or at least overlaps profoundly with it.
That assertion may seem outlandish, but is it really? Far be it from most of those Christians to embrace such naked bigotry and violence and sadism. But consider the evidence regarding that force and those purposes to which this component of American Christianity has given its support in the power-arena of contemporary America.
Has it not been to a force that, like Gibson in his rants, continually divides an Us against a Them, sowing conflict everywhere? Has it not been glad to embrace violence and the threat of violence? Has it not been to a force that creates war when alternative solutions are available? Has it not habitually regarded the Other Europeans who did not agree with U.S. policy, "liberals" here at home, a black president, Hispanic immigrants--with an unchristian spirit of hatred and scorn? Has it not consistently lent its support to people who pretend to a righteousness they do not possess? Has it not been far more characterized by rage than by compassion or forgiveness?
For centuries, different components of Christianity have expressed a diversity of spirits. The spirit of the Sermon on the Mount has persisted, as a beautiful expression of the ethic of love and peace and humility. But along with it in the Crusades, in the Inquisition, in the trampling of native cultures, and in the pogroms and the Holocaust--Christianity has also manifested in forms that expressed the very opposite spirit.
That is why Mel Gibson's rant is so much more than mere celebrity gossip. It is crucial evidence about a basic, deeply troubling aspect of the American scene in our times. The fact that a major component of American Christianity, which in turn is a major part of the alliance comprising one of contemporary America's two main political forces, resonated so deeply with Mel Gibson's vision in THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST is strong evidence regarding the dark spirit that is at work in America today.
Two highly plausible steps take us from Mel Gibson's rants to that insight into this right-wing force that declares itself to be Christian. And these steps lead to a frightening idea:
It is not that the spirit that expresses itself in Mel Gibson's rants is to be understood as something much more extreme than that which has lately been so powerful on the American right. The deeper truth, I fear, is that in those rants it is this same spirit that is unmasked to display its naked core.
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