Six leaders of area Protestant denominations have sharply criticized the portrayal of Jews in the film Jesus Christ – Superstar.” In a letter to nearly 2000 colleagues in Greater Philadelphia, the six urged clergymen “to counteract the negative impact the film can have on Jewish-Christian relations.”
Rev. Rufus Cornelson, executive director of the Metropolitan Christian Council disclosed in a letter to Albert D. Chernin, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), that the Protestant clergymen had screened the film “to review any possible effects it might have on interreligious relations.”
Joining Rev. Cornelson in the appeal are Rev. Robert Strommen, of the Pennsylvania Southeast Conference of the United Church of Christ; Rev. Philip Martin, of the United Presbyterian Church Presbytery of Philadelphia; Rev. David Gracie, of the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania; Rev. Bruce Theunissen, of the Northwest Interfaith Movement; and Rev. William E. Ramsden, of the Training Ecumenically to Advance Mission.
IMAGES ARE NEGATIVELY OVERDRAWN
“While it is true that the New Testament’s images of Priests and Pharisees are not positive, especially when taken out of their Biblical context, the film consistently moves toward a more negative portrayal in its attempts at dramatic intensification,” the six said in a joint statement mailed to their colleagues. The Protestant leaders attacked the story line as following the tradition of the Passion Plays, rather than of the New Testament, “in implying the now discredited concept of Jews and Christ-killers.”
The images used for Jewish leaders “are negatively overdrawn,” the statement said, adding that “the film contributes openly or subtly to reinforcement of negative stereotypes of Jews. After viewing the film we felt that Christians discussing its meaning would be so caught up in the questions of faith, theology and esthetics that they would not consider critically its portrayal of Jews.”
The six clergymen told their colleagues, “That very situation requires your special help, for three reasons: because otherwise its images of Jews would probably go unchallenged; because some people might accept them as accurate, especially since the film is made in Israel; and because the portrayal is negatively based.”
The American Federation for Clinical Research has adopted a resolution assailing the Soviet Union for subjecting some of its leading Jewish scientists to harassment “merely because they have applied for permission to emigrate.” The New York based Federation includes the majority of medical researchers in the U.S.
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