I was watching the new tv show, A.D. The Bible Continues, yesterday. My dad had taped them on the PVR and I thought I might as well take a look at them. The first two episodes were there - the one in which Jesus is crucified and the follow-up where the tomb is empty. I'm still trying to figure out which apostles the various actors are portraying but it's obvious that Mary Magdalene is not a blue-eye European and John is actually a dark African. I think the casting is a fascinating way to disrupt our preconceived notions about Jesus and his apostles.
During the show however, I was also fascinated by the interactions between the occupying Roman forces and the Jewish people. There are Jewish zealots (fanatics) who want nothing more than to oust the Romans out of Judea, by force if necessary. Then there is the High Priest who is walking a fine line between keeping the Romans happy and not alienating his own people. There were several scenes in which the Roman guards were searching people as they go into and out of the city gates.
It didn't take much for me to jump 2000 years into the future and think... those could be:
Israeli soldiers and Palestinian refugees
Russian soldiers and Afghan herdsman
German soldiers and French citizens
English soldiers and Irish civilians
American soldiers and Vietnamese peasants
Take your pick. It doesn't really matter the era, the behaviour on both sides is the same. Contempt for the occupied. Hatred of the occupier. Invading and occupying the homeland of a people will always be a no-win situation. But somehow, we never seem to learn the lessons from history. And so history keeps repeating itself...
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