The truth has changed us [Archives:2004/740/Letters to the Editor]

Richard Molinski
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I had the pleasure of reading “A new wave of openness? The Passion raises important questions.”
As a Christian in the United States, I watched in awe at the graphic and artistic depiction of the suffering and death of Jesus. Unlike most movies I have seen, the audience that joined me in my first viewing left the theater in a hushed silence rather than the usual chatter about where one was going to go for a late night snack. Though I have seen and read many times throughout my life about the suffering of Jesus, I now know now that the reality of a Roman crucifixion has always been sanitized. One of the most captivating techniques of the movie was the frequent use of camera angles from his perspective. What a novel idea, trying to understand how someone felt about something from their perspective.
In the same way this article has given me some of this similar kind of insight into how the people in Yemen view the world. The author, Jamil Karim, does an astute job of bringing me into the life and belief's of the people of Yemen, and for that matter in the Arab world. I remember a time when I traveled throughout the Middle East and never learned more than when I sat down with someone over a cup of coffee and just took time to know them and their lives and struggles. People everywhere are so much the same.
I think his most striking comment in the article was, “And sooner or later, truth, whatever it may be, has a way of rising to the surface. History proves that. Like a rushing stream, change is inevitable. Sometimes in ways we least expect.”
The truth has changed us both…when we least expected it.
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