200 Christians Protest Universal’s Depiction of Jesus

More than 200 Christians gathered quietly outside Universal Studios Saturday to protest the scheduled release of “The Last Temptation of Christ,” a controversial Martin Scorsese film depicting the life of Jesus.

The group, members of the Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles, stood at the Lankershim Boulevard entrance to the studio and held placards with a likeness of MCA Chairman Lew Wasserman bearing the caption, “Wasserman Endangers Israel” and “Wasserman Helps Anti-Semitism.” MCA runs Universal Studios.

The fundamentalist pastor for the church, the Rev. Robert L. Hymers, said the film could cause hatred toward Jews and promote hostility between religious factions. He also said the film portrayed Jews in a demeaning manner.

“This movie shows Jesus making crosses for the Jews to be crucified,” Hymers said. “It has frontal nudity. It shows Jesus ripping his heart out of his chest. All of this goes against orthodox Christianity. It’s bad taste to release this film. It’s not good for the interaction of religions.”

The film is tentatively set for release in September. It has already drawn fire from conservative Christian leaders who say the movie is a blasphemous portrayal of Jesus.

However, Hymers said he had not seen the film or read a completed script. He said Universal Pictures had denied him an opportunity to see the film, but that he had talked to others who had seen it.

He charged that Wasserman was the one responsible for having the movie made. “He should go back to being that nice man who introduced the Pope,” said Hymers, referring to an event at the Universal Amphitheatre last year when Wasserman introduced Pope John Paul II during the pontiff’s visit to Los Angeles.

In the past, Hymers has orchestrated demonstrations against U.S. Supreme Court justices who have made liberal rulings, and two years ago sent a plane with a banner reading: “Pray for Death: Baby-killer Brennan” over Loyola Marymount University during a commencement ceremony where U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan was speaking.

Hymers said he and his group would picket Wasserman’s house Wednesday.

Representatives of Universal Pictures and the film were not available Saturday for comment.

Some liberal Christian clerics were shown the almost-completed film last week and reacted positively to it. The clerics said the film was based on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, not on the Bible.