Disabled People Are Evil?

In Columns, Just My Bellybutton, Opinion by Nathasha Alvarez

By now everyone has seen the film, “The Passion of the Christ”. The movie had me bawling for at least 30 minutes. I felt Christ’s pain. I felt terrible for any sin I may have committed in the past or will commit in the future. I felt guilty for not shouting to the world that I believe in Jesus! After all these feelings were analyzed and discussed to no end with friends, it hit me!

Why was evil portrayed as a physical disfigurement? Didn’t the evil character have a film covering over the eyes? Does that mean that the blind are really evil?

What about the dwarf in the devil’s arms? Does that mean that little people are evil too?

Then, there were the kids that taunted Judas. When he saw them they appeared with physical characteristics common to many physically disabled people in today’s society.

Are we now finding out that we are evil? Is that way there are people who stare at us and point to us in public? No one told me this! I am outraged!

I thought we were “special”. I thought we were chosen like this for a reason. I thought we had a purpose different than able bodied people.

But it seems that Mel Gibson knows something that we don’t. Who told him? Is it in the bible?

When someone is on a diet and a bowl of ice cream covered in chocolate syrup and whip cream is placed before the person do you think there is temptation?

When a married man is placed alone in a room with a beautiful flirtatious woman, is that considered temptation? Hmmm…it seems to me that if the person on a diet is given mud in a bowl the temptation to cheat on the diet is minimal. If the husband is placed in a room with an extremely hideous woman the thought of infidelity probably won’t enter his head.

Yet, in the film, the devil who symbolizes evil and temptation is repulsive and repugnant. How can anyone be tempted by this creature to sin?

In order for something to tempt us, we must want to get near it. Do you think that anyone wants to get near the evil character in the movie? No way! But what made the evil character so gruesome?

The evil character wrapped in dark cloaks slithering in between people is what gave me the creeps. I think that Mel Gibson could have achieved the same affect without using such physical distortations.

Isn’t it bad enough that our society is in such need to have the perfect face and the perfect body that extreme make overs are no longer seen as extreme

?

Should every single disabled person rush to the nearest plastic surgeon to correct any imperfections and thus remove any evil that is attached to the body?

I thought Jesus loved everyone and saw all of us as perfect beings in the image of God. However, in the film, when Jesus sees evil he sees a disfigured blind person. Sad to say, he is probably not alone.

If you have any comments please send them to nathasha@audacitymagazine.com or join the discussion on the Online Forum where discussions take place everyday.