The first piece of sacred spam hit my inbox during the runup to the opening of "The Passion of The Christ" in the United States. Forwarded by an earnest member of the Anglican-Episcopalian church I attend in central Tokyo, the e-mail asked recipients to pray for the success of the movie, to give thanks for miracles wrought at preview screenings, and, natch, to go see the film -- and to tell 10 friends to do likewise.

I wasn't impressed -- as similar e-mails followed it felt as though my faith was being hijacked by marketing. Friends and I debated the movie over beer after our midweek Bible study, weighing the pros (a Christian movie tops global box offices!) against the disturbing reported cons (a holy snuff movie, and anti-Semitic to boot).

Then, last Sunday, I finally saw the film, and nothing was as I'd expected.