All bow to Mel

If the Catholic League had its way, we'd probably soon see a papal initiative to allow for canonization while a person is still living:

"Saint Mel"

Catholic League president William Donohue commented today on the reaction to "The Passion of the Christ": [link mine]

"We are at a cultural tipping point. Never has the division between the elites and the masses been more evident. Many good things are happening: the smack-in-the-face that the public awarded Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake; the public revulsion to the anti-marriage campaign; the firing of Howard Stern from many radio outlets; and, most of all, the public's embrace of 'The Passion of the Christ.'

See? That Super Bowl show has now become the Teat Offensive in the Culture Wars -- a talking-point staple for the conservative agenda -- while The Passion is quickly becoming the same, though with a different purpose. Call it the Mad Max Attack. Anyway, let's let Donohue tell it:

"Saint Mel. That's what he is in the eyes of millions of Americans. But for some, he's Satan. Leon Wieseltier, the big fan of the Catholic-bashing writer Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, labels the movie a 'sacred snuff film.' Ex-Catholics like Maureen Dowd not only mistake the sacred for the profane, they think the film engenders intolerance when, in fact, the intolerance has come almost exclusively from the movie's most vociferous critics.

"But this is good -- the pus has come to the surface. Now we can get on with the real debate: should the culture continue its celebration of self-indulgence or repair to a culture of restraint? If the latter is to be achieved, believing Christians, Jews and Muslims will have to join together to defeat those whose concept of liberty is pure libertinism.

Note, once again, the eliminationist rhetoric: the opposition is described as like a disease or infection. All this, of course, arrayed against the forces of goodness and light:

"Already, left-wing censors in Hollywood are out to get Mel. They think they can stop him. But it's too late for the blacklisters to win. Nothing can stop the public from rallying around Saint Mel."

Hooookayyy. Excuse me while I let Donohue stew in his juices all on his own. But then, this is the guy who was earlier semi-threatening Gibson's critics.

For some more temperate -- and hopefully informative -- reading on the matter of The Passion, check these out:

Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ: A Challenge to Catholic Teaching, by Philip A. Cunningham

'Seeing through the other's eyes,' by Rabbi Marc Gellman and Monsignor Thomas Hartman

An Obscene Portrayal of Christ's Passion, by James Carroll

Nailed, [New Yorker review], by David Denby

Plus, of course, there's a page full of links to reviews at Salon, as well as Stephanie Zacharek's spot-on review.