The Passion of Hotel Rwanda

A year after Mel Gibson’s movie, I found an even more Christian film – one that most Christians are ignoring.

by Brian McLaren, Leadership columnist

Maybe it’s because I spent time last summer in Burundi, the poorer twin-sister country of Rwanda, which shares a similar history, tribal make-up, geography, culture, and terrifying undercurrent of genocide. Maybe it’s because while there, I met some Anglican priests serving in Rwanda, who told personal stories of the tragedies there and their efforts to bring healing and reconciliation in the aftermath. Maybe it’s because (I know some readers will be tempted to write me off after reading this sentence) I was so frustrated by last year’s promotional hype surrounding Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, and I was so frustrated by the movie itself, although I know many good people found it moving and spiritually edifying. Maybe it’s because I have deep concerns about the alignment of major sectors of Christianity with “red-state Republicanism,” and I worry that a kind of modernist, nationalist neo-fundamentalism is trying to claim all Christian territory as its sovereign domain.

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http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/newsletter/2005/cln50214.html