Homina?

I must confess to being seriously puzzled by Ben's post today about the Passion of the Christ. Not having seen the movie, I can't really comment on the substance of the post by David Marsten linked to, but I may be able to clear up something for my esteemed coblogger. Ben critique's Marsten's reference to two types of people: (1) those that want Jesus dead and (2) those that "love Christ." Ben's (I believe mistaken) take on this is that people who "love Christ" is a subset of people that overlaps entirely with the group Christians. Notwithstanding these people, I think we have a nomenclature problem. I'm not qualified to debate Biblical meaning, but one of the commands of Jesus mentioned in all four Gospels (see here and scroll a bit for quotes) is to "love your neighbor as yourself." Now, I don't pretend to be qualified to debate biblical interpretation, but as I've always heard it explained is as a form of the Golden Rule (not to be confused with the Golden Ratio). This makes the people who "love Christ" not just His followers, but also those people who bear Him no ill will, or believe He is being treated unfairly. Conveniently, this interpretation of "love" also dovetails quite nicely with Marsten's disgust towards those who wish Christ dead.

Alas, there's no such nomenclature problem in Ben's dislike for Rush. De gustibus, perhaps, or merely the stress of impending finals. Either way, pity.