Will The Controversy Never End?

It's got to the point now where you can't go a full day without reading about some new hubbub stirred up by The Passion of the Christ. If it's not being drubbed for promoting racism, its stomach-churning violence is causing censors to foam at the mouth. All that is, however, par for the course with a film of this ilk but it transpires that people are now dying and going to prison over it. A 43-year-old Brazilian priest has become the first person to expire during a screening of the film - although a Kansas native who passed out during a US screening did later die in hospital. Jose Geraldo Soares had booked the entire cinema to watch the film with his congregation but suffered a fatal heart attack at some point during the screening. His friends deny that the film's graphic portrayal of Christ's scourging and crucifixion were the cause of the arrest, however. While no fatalities resulted, an American couple from Georgia spent the night in holding cells after watching the film. Sean and Melissa Davidson became so caught up in theological debate following the screening that they were both charged with battery and locked up for the night before being released on bail the following morning. Mrs Davidson apparently suffered injuries to her face and arms, while her husband was stabbed in the hand with a pair of scissors. The point of contention, it would seem, was that Sean believed the 'Father' aspect of the Holy Trinity referred to in the film was a human being, while Melissa ascribed a more ethereal, symbolic quality to the moniker. A veritable microcosm of the religious strife that has plagued mankind since time immemorial, this whole event could have been avoided if they'd just paid a little more attention in Sunday school.