Columnist Susan Snyder: Arguing in biblical proportions

Friday, Feb. 27, 2004 | 4:26 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4082.

WEEKEND EDITION

February 29, 2004

"You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." Exodus 20: 3-4

The epiphany happened somewhere between the, "Smile. Jesus Loves You" buttermints and the "Jesus is Risen" paddleball games.

A novelty mail-order catalog that arrived in my mailbox last week shows how fuzzy the line has become between religion and entertainment.

And controversy over Mel Gibson's flick about the flogging of the Christ has erased that line as if rubbed with the "God Erases Sin" erasers (Page 40).

Churches are busing youth groups to see "The Passion of the Christ." News outlets have inundated us with senseless bickering among otherwise learned, respected religious leaders.

I pulled out the Bible I was given when baptized in 1961. A photo of my nephew in his birthday suit fell from the back cover, which means it's been at least 19 years since I touched the book.

Suffice to say, I am not an expert. But I know the difference between entertainment and scripture.

And Gibson is singing "hallelujah!" all the way to the bank as the religious leaders erect highway billboards and spar on network and cable news channels over whose belief system is being blasphemed and by whom.

"Passion" cleared more than $26 million on opening day Wednesday. That's $1 million more than the film cost Gibson to create.

Pass me a plastic bottle of "He Lives!" bubbles. I need a drink.

Movie critic Roger Ebert wrote about "What Gibson has provided for me ...," not what Christ provided.

The New Yorker's David Denby wrote of Gibson's "personal obsessions." Time magazine's Richard Corliss talks about how "it's hard not to admire Gibson's passion."

Gibson's passion? Jeepers, busloads of good Christian kids are being taught this is about Christ's passion.

Churches could do a whole lot better for their youth by using the movie ticket money to purchase some work gloves and trash bags. Point the buses toward a local park and let the kids spend a few hours cleaning up God's world -- even when it doesn't include free lemonade and T-shirts.

Take them to the mountains or a natural lake or a stretch of unscathed desert and let them contemplate the wonders of creation and rebirth.

Let them sacrifice a Saturday afternoon cleaning toilets at a homeless shelter or running errands for older folks who take two hours to grocery shop because they walk up and down every aisle very slowly.

Lead them not into temptation, but don't lead them to believe entertainment is religion. There are enough "Jesus loves me" sticker sets and "Jesus is the light" micro-flashlights circulating in Sunday school to blur the line.

We don't know what Jesus looked like, but we'll spend $8 to see a fake one flayed and crucified in technicolor, then argue about who is most offended.

We all should be offended. Or at least embarrassed. A script isn't scripture. Entertainment isn't religion. Harry Potter or Jesus Christ, a movie is a movie.

Buy a ticket if two hours of violence in surround sound gives you jollies, but remember what they say about movies.

The book is better.