IRVINE, CA--When the makers of The Passion of the Christ tell us explicitly that the meaning of their film is that "we're all culpable in the death of Christ" we should be horrified, says Dr. Onkar Ghate, senior fellow at the Ayn Rand Institute.

"How," asks Dr. Ghate, "can anyone know, without evidence of our specific choices and actions, that you or I are guilty? How can you or I be responsible for the death of a man killed some two thousand years ago?

"The answer given by Christian doctrine is that man is innately evil. It damns man for every virtue and value that keeps him alive: from the quest for knowledge -- remember the story of Eve? -- to the discovery of new knowledge -- remember Galileo? -- to creating wealth -- remember that Jesus tells us it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter 'heaven'? -- to the resulting pride one feels from achieving happiness and prosperity.

"For the anti-Semite, to be Jewish is to be evil. For the devout Christian, to be human is to be evil. Only such a view of man's nature can begin to explain the accusation of universal guilt for Christ's crucifixion.

"Against so monstrous a view of man, any person of self-esteem should rebel."