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4/10/12

Why Do We Watch The Ten Commandments During Easter?

I am sure most of you have seen the movie The Ten Commandments.  If memory serves me correctly, I even watched this 4-hour epic in school.  (Public school, no less.)

Every Christmas and every Easter, you can find this movie being played on multiple TV stations, usually in 'marathon' format.  One local station even played it 'unedited and commercial free' this year.

But, I have a question:

What does the story of Moses leading the Jews from captivity have to do with the resurrection of Jesus?  Or the birth, for that matter?

I understand that Passover and Easter crossed paths this year, and the movie touches upon the back-story of Passover a bit, but this movie plays every Easter.  Even though the Moses story rings true for Protestants and Jews alike, it is seen as a "Christian" movie.

Maybe because it is one of the most famous, respected films of the 20th century?  Maybe because it was the only religious movie worth showing year after year, over and over?

If you want to be more holiday-appropriate, why not show The Passion of the Christ?  It's historically accurate, tells the Easter message better than Charlton Heston can, and is another 'critically acclaimed masterpiece' of modern cinema.

Is it because it's so bloody and gruesome?

Do TV networks only want to show the 'happy, clean' version of religion?

Or is it because nobody has put 2 and 2 together yet?

This isn't a religious tirade, or a call to action.... just a question.  If the church (in any way, shape or form) complains about the "true message of the holiday" being lost, why not show the message to the masses?  The Ten Commandments is an awesome movie, even for the non-religious, but doesn't really do the Jesus-message justice.

Anyway, food for thought.
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