I avoided watching the Passion of the Christ for a long time until now. Seeing that it came out in 2004, I have avoided it for 15 years. Why did I not watch this movie earlier, being a Christian and a movie watcher? Well I usually steer clear of violence in movies as I seem to have a low tolerance for images of cruelty and bloodshed. The reason I thought about watching it this year is that our pastor decided it would be screened for a movie night at our church. Because I wanted my initial experience to be before the big night, I asked a close friend if she would preview it with me. We both were very nervous to say the least and I was tense for the days leading up to the experience. We ended up with my friend and her husband, and another friend in her lounge room- no snacks- and much nervous chatter and could I say 'avoidance' chatter beforehand and even at certain intervals throughout. There were murmurings of 'here we go', 'now it begins' and 'oh