When Mel Gibson's movie The Passion of the Christ was released in Italy, the review board gave it a "G" rating. Some parents objected, saying the movie was too violent for children to watch. But the reaction of Italian author Riccardo Zucconi, quoted in USA Today, said more about theology than parenting. He refused to allow his children to see the film, in his words, "because I want them to have this idea of the spirituality of Christ, not this idea of debauchery. The soul of Jesus is important, not his body."

The writer preferred to have his son watch a 30-year-old film, The Gospel According to Matthew. "That film is very deep," he said, "and you don't see a drop of blood."

Zucconi planned to see the movie himself, however, "I think sometimes I will shut my eyes to preserve myself from all this blood," he said.

This reaction says much about the contemporary response to the Crucifixion: People want the spirit of Jesus, without the Incarnation; the death without the pain; the sacrifice without the blood. But without the body, the pain, and the blood, the Crucifixion is meaningless.

Sacrifice cannot be sanitized. Sacrifice has always been bloody. That's the point.