THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST

America’s Real War: An Interview with Rabbi Daniel Lapin

PAT ROBERTSON: "The Passion of The Christ" opens in theaters across the country today. Its probably the most talked about movie in my lifetime. And some have warned that it could stir up anti-Semitic violence. Our next guest says its the cure for that kind of hostility, Rabbi Daniel Lapin. Rabbi Lapin, it always a pleasure to welcome you back to The 700 Club. Glad to see you.

RABBI LAPIN: The 700 Club is one of my big all-time favorites.

ROBERTSON: Thank you. Listen, Abe Foxman has gone over the edge. Hes supposed to be tripping off to the Vatican to get a protest against this movie. He said things that were very extreme. What is the deal on these guys?

RABBI LAPIN: First of all, I think you and I should own the franchise to sell him the wash clothes with which to wash the egg off his face over the next few weeks. The evidence that you are absolutely right is that he started this nearly a year ago, labeling Mel Gibson an anti-Semite, labeling the movie anti-Semitic, labeling the camera men and the sound engineers and anybody who was even remotely connected with the movie anti-Semitic, and flinging that epithet around in a reckless and dangerous kind of way. By the time he was on television last week, he was sort of withdrawing that, and I think he's realizing, as hes losing more and more support within the Jewish community, that he went way over the line and was completely incorrect on all of this.

ROBERTSON: What is the story here? This movie is anything but anti-Semitic. It is the four Gospels that Christians believe is inspired scripture. There is nothing that is departing from this narrative.

LAPIN: It is breathtakingly arrogant. What he is saying is that the only way to escape the wrath of Foxman is to repudiate your faith, and this in a land that has been the most tranquil and prosperous and safe haven for Jews for 2,000 years, precisely because of its Christian origin and because of the Christian nature of America. Jews ought to be embracing and encouraging this movie, and most are. But again, it is a few old-fashioned organizations that can't kiss the past goodbye.

ROBERTSON: There was a movie called "The Last Temptation of Christ" that was absolutely blasphemous, and showed Christ fantasizing on the cross about having sex with Mary Magdalene. Its as horrifying to a Christian as anything we could conceive of. And I wrote him and said, youre the Anti-Defamation League, why don't you protest this? All he did was send my letter to the New York Times, and made fun of me. I dont understand it.

LAPIN: I wrote strongly about this. "The Last Temptation of Christ" was one, and another one was "A Priest," produced by Miramax. In neither of these cases did any of these organizations protest; instead of which, they argued freedom of artistic expression. And so it leads one to obviously believe that in the eyes of these dangerous organizations, organizations that are driving a wedge between American Jews and Christians, the only people who are not entitled to artistic free expression are people like Mel Gibson, or anybody else who depicts Christianity in a positive way.

ROBERTSON: You have seen a tremendous rapprochement [uniting] between the orthodox Jewish community and evangelical Christians. I think evangelical Christians are the strongest supporters of Israel and the Jewish cause as any group in the world.

LAPIN: No question about it. As you and I have spoken for many, many years on this subject already, I always say that America's Bible belt is Judaism's safety belt. The reason that America has been a haven for Jews, and frankly, when compared with Europe, the reason that America is so free of anti-Semitism -- and yes, it is virtually free of institutionalized anti-Semitism -- is precisely because Christianity is strong and fervent in America. Whereas Europe is in its post-Christianity era. And as Christianity fades away in Europe, it gets replaced with a kind of sinister secularism that finds its expression in virulent anti-Semitism. What protects us in America is Christianity. The majority of the Jews out there who have warm and affectionate and friendly relationships with their Christian neighbors and business associates and friends, are mortified by what several organizations, including the one you alluded to, has made of this film.

ROBERTSON: You said, by the way, that you feel this film may be the harbinger of America's third great religious reawakening, why?

LAPIN: I believe that. I believe that America has enjoyed the care and concern of providence for over 200 years. I don't doubt that one moment. It seems to me that our first great awakening came just in time to win us independence from the British, during the colonial period. A war which youll remember, I dont have to tell you, was really fueled by the pulpits of colonial churches. The second great awakening, as I see it, was the great resurgence in Christianity that essentially ended slavery. It seems to me that this great awakening, and I sense it now just because of the relationships I have with so many Christian friends, and the opportunities I have to speak in so many churches. I see so many new organizations growing. This one seems to be rising perhaps just in time to defeat homosexual marriage, which, of course, I know you are right in the forefront of.

ROBERTSON: One last thing. America's real war. We have had a lot of talk about the red states that went for Bush and the blue states that went for Gore. Isn't there is a serious division in America that you see, and if so, what do you think is causing that division?

LAPIN: I don't think theres any doubt that there is a massive canyon that cuts across American culture. It is not between blacks and whites, or rich and poor, or men and women; and its not between the Jews and Christians. But it is between those people who feel that Judeo-Christian values, biblical civilization, is vital for our nation's survival, and on the other hand, those people who feel these values and biblical ideas do nothing but obstruct progress to some kind of secular socialist utopia. And there are Jews and Christians on both sides, Im afraid, and blacks and whites on both sides, and rich and poor on both sides, and this, at the heart, is really what is going to define this coming November.

ROBERTSON: Rabbi Lapin, it is always a pleasure to have you with us, your insights are tremendous. Thank you so much. Ladies and gentlemen, this bookits been out for a while is tremendous. It is called "America's Real War." You are in it. You can order it directly off the web. And wed be glad to have you have a copy of it. But this is the divide. What we are having is a clash of cultures taking place in our nation, and you are in the midst of that struggle.

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