Mel Gibson speaks about Hollywood's attitude toward Christianity
The actor and director shared that it was an honor for him to create a film about Christ.
Actor and director Mel Gibson recently shared his thoughts on the position of Christianity in Hollywood during an interview on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast. He noted that he faced significant resistance while making The Passion of the Christ in 2004, stating that Christianity is the only religion that Hollywood "is allowed to disparage."
Joe Rogan, who was raised Catholic but identifies himself as agnostic, concurred with Gibson, noting that Christianity, unlike other religions, frequently faces criticism in secular Hollywood. He also acknowledged that Gibson raised an important and controversial topic.
Gibson emphasized that in an industry dominated by "all these progressive open-minded leftist people," who often embrace other religions, Christianity is criticized due to its associations with "white people, patriarchy, and colonialism." Despite this, he described it as an honor to create a film about Christ, which he said was his primary motivation.
"I am Christian in my beliefs you know so I do actually believe this stuff to the full," Gibson stated, adding that he believes the story of Jesus' Resurrection to be "verifiable". He said that "there are other verifiable historic accounts outside the biblical ones that also bear this up that yes, He did exist".
He added that we are all responsible for this, that His sacrifice was for all humanity, for all our inner spiritual malady. "It was redemption, you know, and I believe in that."
The actor also highlighted the willingness of the apostles to sacrifice their lives to spread the Gospel: "All the evangelists the apostles who went out there, um every single one of those guys died rather than deny their belief ," Gibson said, adding, "Nobody dies for a lie. Nobody."
However, he admitted that the Resurrection remains the most challenging part of the story for many because "it requires the most faith and the most belief."
"Who gets back up three days later after he gets murdered in public... under his own power? ... Buddha didn't do that..." Gibson concluded.
