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Mel Gibson passionate about his film on Jesus
LA Times ^
| 2/15/04
| Rachel Abramowitz
Posted on 02/16/2004 6:29:31 AM PST by truthandlife
In the course of a half-hour conversation, he appears alternately embattled and exhausted, angry and self-pitying. There is a sense that the world is divided into those who are for him and his ``Passion,'' and those who are against.
His film is on the verge of release, and even the outraged criticism seems to be buoying it toward a big opening. Yet Gibson is not happy.
``I'm subjected to religious persecution, persecution as an artist, persecution as an American, persecution as a man,'' he says. ``These things have happened in the last year. I forgive them all. But enough is enough. They're trying to make me some cult wacko. All I do is go and pray. For myself. For my family. For the whole world. That's what I do.''
He has spent the past few days talking to handpicked members of the media, trying to dispel any notion that his film, which graphically depicts the last 12 hours in the life of Jesus, blames Jews for killing Jesus or is in any way anti-Semitic.
``I've taken every opportunity to say this out there and publicly: this is not the blame game. . . . I understand that some may have fears . . . because they maybe look at one aspect of it; it emotionally sort of causes a knee-jerk reaction. I'm sorry for that. I'm stunned by that. I don't understand.''
He pauses. He's been brooding on this, and seems pained. ``I do understand it now, because I've had to think about it and look at it for a while. It wasn't something that I was completely aware of.''
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
TOPICS: TV/Movies
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To: truthandlife
Without clicking on the link and signing up with the LA LA Land Times, would you say that Ms. Abrahamwicz is writing an unbiased article? The lead sentence doesn't make me think so......
Also, Gibson is on ABC Primetime with Sawyer tonight.
Prairie
2
posted on
02/16/2004 6:35:41 AM PST
by
prairiebreeze
(WMD's in Iraq -- The absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.)
To: prairiebreeze
This link will give you a list of all theaters by state/city:
www.thepassionofthechrist.com/cinemas/index.html
3
posted on
02/16/2004 6:38:07 AM PST
by
LisaMalia
(In Memory of Sgt. James W. Lunsford..KIA 11-29-69 Binh Dinh S. Vietnam)
To: LisaMalia
Thanks, but I was lucky enough to already see it. I'll be seeing it again though.
Prairie
4
posted on
02/16/2004 6:39:34 AM PST
by
prairiebreeze
(WMD's in Iraq -- The absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.)
To: prairiebreeze
would you say that Ms. Abrahamwicz is writing an unbiased article? Anything, but unbiased. And this isn't the first hit piece I've seen on Gibson.
The liberal left Hollywood elite can't stand the thought that they actually have a man of integrity among them. One who's not afraid to stand up for his beliefs in Jesus Christ. That is a foreign concept to them. For the most part, the only thing these people know is $$$$$.
I am hoping this movie makes a statement to the Hollywood community about what the real people in this country are about.
5
posted on
02/16/2004 6:44:09 AM PST
by
LisaMalia
(In Memory of Sgt. James W. Lunsford..KIA 11-29-69 Binh Dinh S. Vietnam)
To: prairiebreeze
Without clicking on the link and signing up with the LA LA Land Times, ...The article doesn't require signing up (at least I didn't have to). I would call it biased, but I am also biased on the opposite side of the spectrum.
Somehow, I doubt that there will be any unbiased opinions on this: Either the film or Gibson. This is the way it should be.
6
posted on
02/16/2004 6:48:02 AM PST
by
templar
To: truthandlife
I always love it when people who have never seen a particular movie or read a particular book go into hysterics about what's supposed to be in it.
I also hate it that these same idiots try to apply modern philosophies and attitudes to historical events.
Bottom line, I don't care if the jews don't like it. Historical revisionism doesn't change historical fact. The Jews of 2000 years ago did what they did. It's part of their history and they acknowledge it. If seeing this film sets off a wave of anti-semitism by a group of brain-dead morons, it doesn't change history and shouldn't affect whether or not I choose to see the picture.
Mel Gibson has distinguished himself as a hard-working, dedicated actor whose primary purpose has been to tell good stories truthfully. If some people can't deal with that, that's their problem.
7
posted on
02/16/2004 6:50:26 AM PST
by
DustyMoment
(Repeal CFR NOW!!)
To: LisaMalia
In our local newspaper, in the ad for the theater when this movie is opening, it states "ID will be required for entry". Which means you must be 18 to see it, since it's rated R. While I know some of the scenes are graphic, I would be rather upset if my children were in their older teens (they're both in their 20s) and could not see this film.
What are your thoughts on this?
Thanks.
8
posted on
02/16/2004 6:51:20 AM PST
by
LisaMalia
(In Memory of Sgt. James W. Lunsford..KIA 11-29-69 Binh Dinh S. Vietnam)
To: templar
thanks for letting me know about the link. I saw "LA Times" and assumed I had to register, something I choose to avoid.
Oh yeah, plenty of bias here.
Prairie
9
posted on
02/16/2004 7:02:25 AM PST
by
prairiebreeze
(WMD's in Iraq -- The absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.)
To: prairiebreeze
Gibson is a cult whacko, like his father before him. Gibson is a member of " Holy Family" an obscure irredentist sect of Catholicism that rejects Vatican II and refuses to particpate in diocesan activities. Like Opus Dei on the far right and Liberation theology on the far left , 'Holy Family' has many cult like qualities. They are secretive, manipulative, and disobediant.
Gibson mistake was to reveal his associations with 'Holy family" which is the equivalent to the LaRouche Followers in politics.
When you add up all the facts, Hutton Gibson's unabashed holocaust denial, "Holy Family" and now this film I'd say Jews have some very legitimate cause for concern.
10
posted on
02/16/2004 7:02:33 AM PST
by
tcuoohjohn
(Follow The Money)
To: LisaMalia
It was a very brutal death, more painful to watch than any other Hollywood death so I understand. I will see it and I am 30 but I will also be bracing myself as this will not be easy to see.
To: tcuoohjohn
Well, having seen the film in an invitation-only preview I couldn't disagree more. Perhaps you'll see the film and then decide if your preconceived opinion and labeling holds up.
Prairie
12
posted on
02/16/2004 7:05:16 AM PST
by
prairiebreeze
(WMD's in Iraq -- The absence of evidence isn't evidence of absence.)
To: truthandlife
Let's see: Jesus was Jesus. The Virgin Mary was Jewish.
The 12 Apostles were all Jewish. The tens of thousands in
crowds who followed and listened to Jesus were nearly
all Jewish. EVERYONE good in this story, ALL THE HEROES,
are ALL JEWISH.
On the other side, we have Collaborators -- sell-outs --
to the Roman Empire, who conspired to kill a fellow Jew.
The leaders of the day, who were "survivors" and in
power BECAUSE they were COLLABORATORS with the Roman
Empire. These collaborators BY DEFINITION do not represent
the Jewish people, but had betrayed the Jewish people to
collaborate with the Roman conquerors.
So you have nearly EVERYONE being Jewish in this story,
including ALL (100%) of the good guys/heroes in the story,
and a few bad guys (whose badness is clear by their siding
with the Roman occupation).
What LUNACY is motivating this stupidity? Is this an honest
debate, or is this some malcontents and cranks who simply
hate Christianity and want to keep people from finding
salvation? Jesus Himself said it would be better for you
to have millstone tied around your neck and be thrown to
the bottom of the ocean than to keep one little child from
coming to Him (Jesus). Your eternal damnation will be
severe, by spreading these lies to keep people from knowing
the truth about Jesus.
Jesus GAVE His life. NO ONE took Jesus life from Him. That
was the reason why Jesus said the words "I AM" (the same
name as Jehovah God from the Old Testament) and all the
soldiers were blown to the ground. Jesus proved that He
could have spoken one word and stopped the crucifixion if
He chose. He emphasized this several times by saying God
would put legions of angels under Jesus' command in an
instant if Jesus asked.
NO ONE KILLED JESUS (except our sin). Jesus GAVE HIS LIFE.
It was not taken from Him. The entire topic is STUPID.
And Jewish hotheads are doing more to lay the groundwork
for (what we hope and pray never happens) a backlash
against Jews through their STUPID and assisine attacks on
Christianity than the PASSION movie ever could.
13
posted on
02/16/2004 7:14:46 AM PST
by
Moseley
To: tcuoohjohn
Can you please provide a link or other evidence that Gibson (NOT his father) belongs to a schismatic sect and is not an orthodox Roman Catholic? I've seen this asserted in passing several places, but I've never seen any evidence. I think that this was misreported initially because of an assumption that Gibson's religion was identical to his father's.
To: VeritatisSplendor
From this article that NYer was kind enough to post earlier, it would appear that Mel Gibson is indeed a schismatic Catholic. Some may say that's a bad thing while others (like me) don't really care one way or the other.
-DallasMike
_____________
But Is Mel Gibson Catholic?
Pangaeus ^
Posted on 01/11/2004 5:56:57 AM PST by NYer
Everybody likes Mel Gibson. He’s an award-winning actor, he’s box-office gold and he seems like a nice guy. But because of his fame and The Passion, his forthcoming movie about Christ, a lot of his fans would like to be clear on where he stands with respect to the Catholic Church, a Dallas-based author says.
Kevin Orlin Johnson, Ph.D., is an associate of the Canon Law Society of America and a best-selling writer whose book Rosary: Mysteries, Meditations, and the Telling of the Beads includes one of the most graphic accounts of the Crucifixion ever published. He’ll definitely see Gibson’s film about the sufferings of Christ on the Cross. But Gibson’s campaign to build a church in Malibu, California, raises some serious issues about the actor’s relationship with the Catholic Church.
“You can’t just build your own church,” Johnson says. Parishes are geographical entities, set up by bishops in conformance with the Church’s laws and subject to their authority. “There are no free-lance churches in the Catholic Church. You live in a parish, and you go to its church.” Every place in California is already part of a parish, which has its own church.
Gibson’s parish, then, would be the aptly named Our Lady of Malibu on Winter Canyon Road, Johnson says, looking through a Los Angeles Catholic directory. But, according to The New York Times Magazine, the actor’s privately funded Church of the Holy Family in Malibu is not affiliated with any diocese. So, according to Church law, it’s schismatic, not a Catholic church at all.
The Church’s Code of Canon Law defines schism--separation from the Church--as “the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him.” Gibson’s father, Houston, Texas resident Hutton Gibson, is an outspoken critic of the Catholic Church and a vocal adherent of the “sedevacantist” movement, so called from the Latin phrase meaning “empty seat”--their claim being that every pope since 1960 has been spurious.
While Gibson himself is said to disagree with his father on many counts, the actor has been quoted often as waxing nostalgic for the Mass said in Latin and the doctrines as they were for almost 2000 years. But, as Johnson explains in his booklet What About the Latin Mass?, the Latin Mass that traditionalists long for is nothing like 2000 years old--the early Mass was often in Greek, and Gibson probably remembers only the Latin Mass that wasn’t finalized until 1962. “So if he was born in 1956,” Johnson says, “his Latin Mass is really younger than he is himself.” That Latin version is still used in the Church by special permission, and it’s actively encouraged by authentic Catholic organizations like the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, headquartered in Elmhurst, Pennsylvania.
The difference is that these groups nurture the Latin Mass in full unity with the Catholic Church. “Fringe groups who reject Vatican II stand away from the Church and go off on their own,” he says. “They’re largely reacting to the sloppy or even destructive way in which Vatican II’s decrees were put into effect here in the United States.”
Vatican II--officially the Second Vatican Council--was convened by Pope John XXIII in 1962 and strove to clarify the Church’s activities to better serve the modern world, mandating simplification of the liturgy and the use of the local vernacular languages instead of Latin everywhere.
“Of course, you have to use the liturgy as a way to look to the substance of the Faith,” Johnson says. “You can’t just stop at appearances.” Vatican II mandated no changes in Church doctrine whatever--“the Church’s teachings are the teachings of Christ,” he says, “and therefore no human agency can add to them or take any away, and the Church never has,” although many Catholics still seem to be confused about that point.
Johnson believes that the confusion started when American bishops took Vatican II as an excuse to sweep away any part of the Church that they didn’t like personally--“not just the Latin of the liturgy but, as we’ve seen, even the most basic doctrines of human decency.” Since 1993, more than 80 percent of the Catholic bishops in the United States have been directly implicated in court cases of priestly pedophilia or in using their positions to shield such activity over the past 40 years or more, according to a study compiled by reporters Brooks Egerton and Reese Dunklin of the Dallas Morning News last year.
That corruption of the clergy makes it hard to find authentic teaching or authentic liturgy in the United States today, Johnson says, but it doesn’t mean that people can just run out and start up their own church instead. The new English Mass is perfectly legitimate and a lot closer to the simplicity of early-Christian practice--when Latin itself was the vernacular, the everyday language of the people. And with a little effort, he says, “you can get a Latin Mass celebrated regularly at your proper parish, and know that you’re doing so in full communion with the Church that really is almost 2000 years old.”
So where does that leave Gibson? “Well, I hope he’s Catholic," Johnson says. "We’d love to have him.”
To: VeritatisSplendor
16
posted on
02/16/2004 8:43:38 AM PST
by
tcuoohjohn
(Follow The Money)
To: DallasMike
You have misinterpreted the story you linked to. The story is so full of misconceptions that it is almost not worth debunking, but I'll try:
1) There is nothing schismatic about having a private chapel and having a priest perform mass there! It happens all the time.
2) There is nothing schismatic about not being affiliated with a diocese; Opus Dei members, for example, are not, but are in full communion with Rome.
3) It isn't even established in that article that Gibson is not affiliated with a Diocese. Only if the priest who performs mass at Gibson's private chapel is doing so against the wishes of the local bishop would this be the case, and there is NO evidence of this.
4) There is nothing schismatic about celebrating masses in Latin. They do it in Rome all the time, and in many places in the USA. A more important issue is whether the liturgy which is celebrated in Latin is the old Tridentine mass or the new "Novus Ordo" mass, but even the Tridentine mass may be validly and licitly celebrated in the USA with canonical permission.
The article has a great deal of INSINUATION, which you don't have to be a Catholic to detect, just a careful reader. The stuff about Gibson's father and the Latin Mass is totally irrelevant to the question of whether Gibson is in faithful communion with Rome. It is a disgusting smear piece.
I am still awaiting evidence that Gibson worships in any way the Pope would not approve of!
To: DallasMike
Mel Gibson Is Catholic Like Martin Luther was Catholic.
Gibson and his father are schizmatics who are intent on creating their own brand of Catholicism under the " Holy Family" movement. They respond to no authority but their own and believe that all popes since 1960 are all "false Popes".
Why even call themselves Catholics?...Gibsonites would be more appropriate.
18
posted on
02/16/2004 8:55:42 AM PST
by
tcuoohjohn
(Follow The Money)
To: tcuoohjohn
Mel Gibson Is Catholic Like Martin Luther was Catholic. Seems Martin Luther was excommunicated. How about Mel?
19
posted on
02/16/2004 9:00:16 AM PST
by
Tribune7
(Vote Toomey April 27)
To: truthandlife
I received the following in an e-mail. I do not know the validity, but the story is said to be told by Paul Harvey as you can see.
Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2004 6:59 PM
Subject: True Story told by Paul Harvey
Here is a true story by Paul Harvey. You will be surprised who this young man turns out to be. (Do not look at the bottom on this letter until you have read it fully.)
Years ago a hardworking man took his family from New York State to Australia to take advantage of a work opportunity there. Part of this man's family was a handsome young son who had aspirations of joining the circus as a trapeze artist or an actor. This young fellow, biding his time until a circus job or even one as a stagehand came along, worked at the local shipyards which bordered on the worse section of town. Walking home from work one evening this young man was attacked by five thugs who wanted to rob him. Instead of just giving up his money the young fellow resisted. However, they bested him easily and proceeded to beat his body brutally with clubs, leaving him for dead. When the police happened to find him lying in the road they assumed he was dead and called for the Morgue Wagon.
On the way to the morgue a policeman heard him gasp for air, and they immediately took him to the emergency unit at the hospital. When the was placed on a gurney a nurse remarked to her horror, that this young man no longer had a face. Each eye socket was smashed, his skull, legs, and arms fractured, his nose literally hanging from his face, all his teeth were gone, and his jaw was almost completely torn from his skull. Although his life was spared, he spent over a year in the hospital. When he finally left, his body may have healed but his face was disgusting to look at. He was no longer the handsome youth that everyone admired.
When the young man started to look for work again he was turned down by everyone just on account of the way he looked. One potential employer suggested to him that he join the freak show at the circus as "The Man Who Had No Face". And he did this for a while. He was still rejected by everyone and no one wanted to be seen in his company. He had thoughts of suicide. This went on for five years. One day he passed a church and sought some solace there. Entering the church he encountered a priest who had seen him sobbing while kneeling in a pew. The priest took pity on him and took him to the rectory where they talked at length. The priest was impressed with him to such a degree that he said that he would do everything possible for him that could be done to restore his dignity and life, if the young man would promise to be the best Catholic he could be, and trust in God's mercy to free him from his torturous life. The young man went to Mass and communion everyday and after thanking God for saving his life, asked God to only give him peace of mind and the grace to be the best man he could ever be in His eyes. The priest, through his personal contacts was able to secure the services of the best plastic surgeon in Australia. There would be no cost to the young man as the doctor was the priest's best friend. The doctor too was so impressed by the young man, whose outlook now on life, even though he had experienced the worst, was filled with good humor and love. The surgery was a miraculous success. All the best dental work was also done for him. The young man became everything he promised God he would be.
He was also blessed with a wonderful, beautiful wife, many children, and success in an industry which would have been the furthest thing from his mind as a career, if not for the goodness of God and the love of the people who cared for him. This he acknowledges publicly
The young man. Mel Gibson. His life was the inspiration for his production of the movie "The Man Without A Face". He is to be admired by all of us as a God fearing man, a political conservative, and an example to all as a true man of courage.
Mel Gibson has produced the movie "The Passion of the Christ". This is his way of thanking God for his many blessings. And it's also his way of showing us how Christ truly suffered. He's gotten a lot of flack from Hollywood for doing this movie. Please e-mail this to everyone you know. And go see the movie when it's released on Feb. 25. It will change your life forever!
20
posted on
02/16/2004 9:03:43 AM PST
by
Burlem
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