I'm not sure how I feel about the Gospel According to Mel. But I do know that what he's depicting is right on target with the "passion plays" of the four Gospels. Matthew is said to be the worst -- it's John and Luke who are read on Palm Sunday and Good Friday respectively. If we're going to be honest here, let's talk about what occurs weekly in Catholic Churches across the country -- especially during the Lenten and Easter seasons.

The passion plays are the least of it actually -- my favorite gospel reading is the one that's read for (I think) Pentecost Sunday -- "The apostles gathered behind locked doors -- for fear of the Jews." Every time I hear it, I cringe and imagine the mental image that sentence alone conveys to Irish, Italian, Polish -- or any other nationality -- Catholic children. As I said I don't know what impact Mel's movie will have on anti-Semitism -- all I know is that he's actually really late to the party and the Catholic Church should examine its portrayal of Jews every Sunday.

I'd count Jesus among my heroes. But my fascination has less to do with religion than it does politics -- the politics of his life and teachings -- he was the world's greatest troublemaker of all time -- and I mean that in the most complimentary way -- challenging the status quo and proposing a radically new concept for living, loving, working and dying. No wonder the politicians wanted him gone.

Speaking of gone, why does New Zealand have a chief censor? Does that mean there are lesser censors? Just curious.