I got back about a half hour ago from 'Passion of the Christ'. For anyone who doesn't know the story of Christ, be warned: there are spoilers below.
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First, a confession. I caught a 9:45p.m. showing and I dowsed off for a couple minutes after Jesus was captured. I caught the flayings and the rest of it, so I think I can offer an honest review.

I would definitely say that being atheist gives me a different take. I found myself contemplating about how the whole emphasis of 'The Passion' is man's inhumanity to man, when the cruelty of nature is what does most of us in.

When Christ was hanging from the cross, looking much like the barbequed chicken I ate for dinner, instead of thinking about how horrible the Roman soldiers were, I was thinking about my cousin in the hospital after his heart attack. He was in so much pain he asked his wife to let him die. That heart attack wasn't caused by Roman legions, it was caused by nature (aka God).

At one point the murderer on the cross next to Christ tells him that he shouldn't be there. That God has done nothing to deserve crucifixion.

To the murderer on the left I say, "I respectfully disagree."

Maybe men can be blamed for murders and torture, but who but God is responsible for all the other horrible ways in which men die?

(Incidently, 'Kill Bill' is definitely more violent than 'The Passion' by a long shot. I'm not certain why they were talking NC-17 for 'The Passion'. I've seen gorier slasher films. More on the 'Kill Bill' v. 'The Passion of the Christ' sometime later)