Mel Gibson’s portrayal of the last 12 hours of Jesus’ life in the film The Passion of the Christ is raising hot-button issues and discussions. I will begin this column by letting everyone know that I have not seen the movie, nor do I actually plan to. But as you will read, the discussion I am about to start is not reliant on actually seeing the film.

One of the ancillary discussions this movie evokes, and where I will be spending most of my time in this column, is that of who killed Jesus.

Mel Gibson has said repeatedly that he is not attempting to lay blame of the death of Jesus as anyone’s feet. But let’s be honest with each other here, when this topic comes up so does “the Jews killed Jesus” line.

So, did the Jews kill Jesus? Was Ciaphus a Jew? Sure, and he held the hasty trial in his house. But didn’t Judas actually turn Jesus over to the Romans? Yet I never hear anyone say the Apostles killed Jesus. And judging all Jews or the Jewish population based on a few (like Caiphus) is equivalent to saying, “A woman cut me off on the freeway this morning, thus all women are bad drivers.”

But let’s get to the point. We all know who killed Jesus.

The central tenet of Christianity is that Jesus died and rose, thus giving those who believe an open door to heaven. That being said, Jesus killed Jesus.

He drew a lot of attention to himself by entering Jerusalem on a mule — a militant act. Even Napoleon, when entering Jerusalem, dismounted his horse. And upending the tables in the temple certainly also drew eyes his way. Simply, if he wanted to go about not being noticed or draw anger of the local authorities, he certainly didn’t do a good job.

Reading it from a pure literature slant, Jesus knew what he was doing. And from a religious standpoint, he knew he was going to be put to death, as that was going to be the final battle.

And what about the violence of his death? That is actually why I’m not going to see the movie — I don’t care to see two-hours of senseless violence. Yes, senseless. From the reviews I read and from talking to friends that have seen the movie, there is no Passion narrative in this film. Which begs the question, why is it called The Passion of the Christ? It’s a two-hour torture scene.

In all honesty, does the nature of Jesus’ death have anything to do with the significance of his death?

Mel answered this charge by saying, “Kill Bill.” I guess he’s trying to tell us that Kill Bill is a violent move, and in comparison his movie isn’t. OK, Mel. What if we asked Janet Jackson if her performance at the Super Bowl was indecent, and she replied, “Debbie Does Dallas“? Does that mean her performance is not indecent in comparison?