Is new religious movie too ‘Loosed’?

I would commend almost any effort to sensitize people to the

suffering of prisoners, and especially women in prison. I have taught

classes and counseled prisoners for many years in places such as

Donovan Correctional Facility near San Diego, Cook County Jail in

Chicago, Dwight Correctional Center in Illinois and the Mississippi

State Penitentiary. It is not controversial to donate to the opera or

the Red Cross, but many people question whether those guilty of

crimes deserve programs or resources for rehabilitation. If this film

can mobilize people to engage in advocacy or reform of the penal

system, to emphasize programs for rehabilitation, to offer donations

and to consider alternatives to prison, then I hope it will be widely

viewed.

The differences between women and men in prison are significant.

Women are only 6% of the total prison population (Bureau of Justice

Statistics) and receive fewer services than men. But the number of

women involved in crime is rising: juvenile delinquency cases

involving females increased by 83% between 1988 and 1997, according

to the National Juvenile Court Data Base. Incest, physical and sexual

abuse, teen pregnancy, prostitution, drug abuse and serving as

accomplices to husbands and boyfriends are often contributing

factors. State prison reports indicate that 75% of women inmates had

used drugs regularly and half had histories of physical and sexual

abuse. A Canadian study found that 80% of women in prison were

survivors of sexual abuse or incest and 39% had attempted suicide.

Half of all women in prison are mothers of small children and most

are the sole caregiver. Girl Scouts Behind Bars is a program that

tries to keep mothers and daughters connected through a special

visitation program piloted by the National Institute for Justice.

For three years, our Zen Center offered a weekly meditation

program at Donovan Correctional Facility, as well as special programs

on anger management. I am confident that some of the men did benefit

from learning meditation. They could see its applications in anger

management and impulse control, as well as its usefulness in

self-reflection and life review. They could also use it as a path to

live as well as possible within prison conditions, whether short term

or for a lifetime.

The film “Doing Time, Doing Vipassana” provides a persuasive

example of the benefits of mindfulness meditation in prisons in

India. We were denied permission to offer programs at the women’s

prison due to overcrowding and security issues.

A realistic film that explores the relationship between those who

are first victims of crime and then become perpetrators or

accomplices to crime may help us to seek early interventions, provide

resources for treatment and find alternatives to prison.

REV. DEBORAH BARRETT

Zen Center of Orange County

Costa Mesa

First, I don’t care if it offends churchgoers. Neither would

Jesus. The pious religious people of Jesus’ day were offended that he

was hanging out with prostitutes and other shady elements in the

community. He rebuked them and told them that the he did not come to

coddle the “insiders,” but to reach out to the “outsiders.” People

who realize they need a doctor are those that a doctor is most

effective in helping. He said he came for the “sick,” not for the

healthy.

Second, isn’t it always Hollywood claiming that movies need to be

realistic to be effective? I found their critique of “The Passion of

the Christ” hypocritical. People need to understand that the

sanitized Jesus of most churches in no way reflects the real Savior

we worship.

Many people think they are too tainted for Jesus to care about.

Many faiths, like Islam, reject the crucified Christ because they see

it unfitting for a prophet or to suffer in that way. To them, Jesus

the good teacher is more acceptable than Jesus the suffering Messiah.

When Christianity cedes “the Passion” to what is politically correct,

we cede what is core to our faith. We live in a sick world. That

sickness has only one solution. It was a sick solution, but it is the

only solution.

I am not familiar with T.D. Jakes film, so I cannot speak directly

to its content. However, I can say that Jesus is not just a solution

for good people. You don’t have to “clean up” to come to Jesus. In

the midst of our pain and tragedy, no matter how violent or tragic,

he wants us to know he stands with us and suffered for us. The brutal

crucifixion is proof that he cares about us, that “he would rather

die than live without us.” But he does not just offer us sympathy; he

offers us victory. When he rose from the dead, conquering death, he

did so on our behalf so that we might do the same. That is our hope.

That is what gives us strength in the tragic. He tells us he is ready

to change us from victims to victors, if only we will give him the

chance.

SENIOR ASSOCIATE PASTOR

RIC OLSEN

Harbor Trinity

Costa Mesa

The marketing of “The Passion of the Christ” was innovative, but

not unique; Martin Scorsese’s 1987 film, “The Last Temptation of

Christ” is one precedent. Mel Gibson’s film was promoted in this

Parish Church only in ways suggested by our leaders, and I doubt that

more of our people saw it than would have if it had never been

mentioned here.

The event that the movie was in American society last February had

two significant, lasting effects: Most, if not all, members of this

Christian community would agree with one of our faithful parishioners

who said, “I understand myself well enough to know that I would have

been in the mob yelling for crucifixion had I been present at the

actual event. There is something in me that can’t stand absolute love

and goodness, even though I crave it. So the “cross test” is one I

fail completely. I also understand that God’s answer to my failure is

love and forgiveness and presence in my life forever and that,

therefore, I have no need for fear.”

Secondly, we at St. Michael & All Angelites understand anew the

suffering Jesus endured to restore and reconcile us with God. These

two things make “The Passion” event worthwhile.

Bishop Thomas D. Jakes, Sr., often referred to as a “Shepherd to

the Shattered,” has a most effective ministry. “Woman, Thou Art

Loosed!” is a play created and produced by his theater production

company, Touchdown Concepts; this is the first I’ve heard of it being

made into a movie.

Holy Scripture clearly contains “sexual abuse, drug use and

violence.” Examples include the forcible seduction of Tamar by Amnon

in II Samuel 13:2-14 and the woman caught in adultery of John 8:3-11;

drunkenness is associated with licentiousness in Hosea 4:11,18 and

with debauchery in I Peter 4:3; and violence is everywhere!

As in history, in our contemporary society these and other

examples of “why Jesus was crucified” are everywhere! I wonder why

more emphasis on them is needed. Our freedoms as Americans mean that

Bishop Jakes may promote his movie whenever he wishes and wherever he

is welcome. However I doubt that he will be coming to Corona del

Mar/Newport Beach/Costa Mesa; and unless leaders here advocate to the

contrary, his film will not be promoted in this Episcopal Parish

Church.

THE VERY REV’D CANON

PETER D. HAYNES

St. Michael & All Angels

Episcopal Church

Corona del Mar

While I know it is a sign of age, I believe things were not only

different when I was growing up, but better. There was a time when

more was left to the imagination than was revealed. Subtlety,

moderation, and modesty were hallmarks of society. Today, in our

over-the-top, tell-all, in-your-face culture, nothing shocks us

anymore. We are so inundated with images of brutality, in a society

so saturated with violence, that our emotions are numbed to

bloodshed, cruelty, and outrageous behavior. There is no longer a

category of “going too far.”

Graphic depictions of brutality, sadism and gore elicit yawns. We

are so jaded, that even films featuring religious messages struggle

to outdo the worst excesses of Hollywood to grab attention.

Who blushes anymore? There is no sense of shame. Depictions of the

despicable and the bizarre are daily fare. What was implicit is now

explicit. Must I see depravity portrayed in lingering close-ups to

understand the message of a film? Do I need to watch stomach-churning

portrayals of barbarism to appreciate the moral of the story? I

submit that the most powerful messages are conveyed through artistic

implication, apprehended out of the corner of the eye, intimated to

the viewer. I accept that I am hopelessly outdated, but I yearn for

the culture that respected boundaries, one that preferred the hint of

suggestion to the highly suggestive.

Shelley Winters once said, “I think on-stage nudity is disgusting,

shameful and damaging to all things American. But if I were 22 with a

great body, it would be artistic, tasteful, patriotic and a

progressive religious experience.”

Any artist can rationalize what he chooses to portray and there

will always be disagreement as to what is vital to a presentation and

what is gratuitous. But there are still some of us not yet

de-sensitized to violence and still capable of being revolted. While

the goal of a film may be noble, the end does not always justify the

means.

RABBI MARK S. MILLER

Temple Bat Yam

Newport Beach