Conservative Women's Group Combats Leftist Agenda, Strongly Supports Gibson's 'Passion'
By Jimmy Moore
Talon News
January 28, 2004

Next month's highly anticipated release of conservative Hollywood actor Mel Gibson's movie about the last twelve hours of the life of Jesus Christ has found strong support from a new conservative women's organization devoted to "sharing the truth" and opposing the radical left.

"The Passion of the Christ," scheduled for release on Ash Wednesday, February 25, 2004 in around 2,000 theaters across the United States, has been severely scrutinized by the media and many anti-Christian, liberal groups by labeling it as "anti-Semitic" and "divisive."

Despite this concerted effort, early ticket sales for the movie have been steady.

To help continue with that trend, an independent website called See the Passion was created by Ohio-based group Women Influencing the Nation (WIN), a conservative Christian alternative to the National Organization for Women (NOW).

"NOW is the absolute opposite of what we believe," WIN President Jennifer Giroux told Talon News, explaining that the See the Passion website is the group's first major initiative.

Giroux, a mother of 9, including a special needs child, as well as a part-time nurse, said she became committed to opposing the extreme feminist agenda through political activism after observing this vocal minority claim to speak for people like her.

"They are not the majority," she contended about groups such as NOW. "We really feel time will tell we are the majority."

Giroux explained to Talon News that WIN now consists of more than 75 women who are committed to stand for what is right for the sake of their children's future. These women have been literally shocked by the revisionist history being promoted by the radical feminist agenda.

The group cites the latest attacks on Mel Gibson and his movie as an example of this and states that this "has wakened the sleeping giant," referring to Christians.

WIN says on its website that these negative reports from the media have motivated "the millions of us out there who will not stand by silently and watch such destructive forces re-write and distort the passion and suffering of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."

The website continues, "We proudly embrace this movie which is committed to defending the accurate depiction of the Passion and we are resolved to help with its distribution, unedited, in any way we can."

Describing the opposition to this movie as "extremist anti-Christian organizations," WIN explains the goal of its website is "to confront the enemies of this movie ... in the public arena."

Giroux says those who oppose "The Passion of the Christ" are most likely the same people who supported the "blasphemous" 1987 movie, "The Last Temptation of Christ," which mistakenly portrayed Jesus as a sinner.

Theorizing why the Gibson movie has seen such negative attention from these liberal groups and the media, Giroux believes there are two primary reasons for it.

"This opposition to 'The Passion of The Christ' is being orchestrated by a small group of powerful extremists for two reasons: First, because the movie is devoted to presenting the suffering Christ endured for us, and the Love He showed for us -- in the 12 hours leading up to the crucifixion on Good Friday, 33 A.D.; and, second, because this movie is attempting to be faithful to the text of the Holy Evangelists in the New Testament," she explained.

Giroux believes the battle over this movie is "bigger than Mel Gibson" and the "movie itself" because it is indicative of an underlying battle over the continued influence of Christianity in America.

"It is a defining moment in the culture war for the future of our country, our civilization and the world," she expressed. "While this might seem like an exaggeration at first, read about what is at stake here."

In fact, the See the Passion website has even drawn the ire of a major national newspaper as well as several computer zealots for their open support of the movie.

"Clearly we are having an effect," Giroux exclaims. "Already our See the Passion website has been attacked on the pages of the New York Times. In the short time our site has been online it has been crashed three times by professional hackers."

The groups opposing the Gibson movie are "very well-funded" and "connected" to powerful influences in the culture, Giroux adds.

A fundraising drive has been set up by WIN on the website to continue the daily updates on "The Passion of the Christ" as well as to combat the groups who want to "suppress the film" through advertising efforts.

The group began airing national radio spots on Tuesday and hopes to get on more prominent radio talk shows such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity as well as local talk shows leading up to the release of the film.

"We will use these radio ads to bypass the mostly liberal and sometimes anti-Christian media," Giroux explains.

Giroux is confident that WIN can "help ensure that families will not be dissuaded from seeing the movie by running more radio ads to counteract these false and misleading statements" about the movie from the media and anti-Christian groups.

WIN has even set up a petition for people to sign in support of the upcoming movie.

The online petition in support of "The Passion of the Christ" states:

The group has already gathered over 13,000 signatures from people who support the movie since the See the Passion website went online.

Giroux is urging people to call their local theaters and ask them to bring the movie to their area. She told Talon News that one WIN supporter called a local theater last week and was informed that the theater had already received 150 other requests for the film on the same day!

The See the Passion website is not directly affiliated with Mel Gibson, the movie distributor Icon Productions, or the movie itself.

Giroux told Talon News that her group will seek to actively lead a positive campaign for families to combat the left-wing agenda of groups like NOW and NARAL after the See the Passion push has concluded.