When did us Christians appoint Mel Gibson as
the poster boy for our faith?
I don't remember that happening
I agree with you...they have used this to disqualify "The Passion" it has nothing to do with the man
Yes, so true. The Passion remains a marvelous portrayal of the mainstream Christian faith which was born out of the Jewish faith.
And lest many posters here forget; The very first Christians were indeed Jews and will always be Jews by birthright! And, there would be no Christians at all if not for Jews (something I hope Jews here do not regret...)!
By the way and just for the record, I have many Jewish friends and family members, some of whom have spoken rather disparagingly of other ethnic and religious groups. Italians, people of color, Polish, Irish, etc, all bear the brunt.
In fact, let me tell just one of these short stories that involves politics, so apropo for FR. Because of my background and close ties to some key Jewish communities, some Jewish folks errantly ridiculed Mario Cuomo with terms such as "Wop" and other names while talking directly to me because they were new acquaintances of mine and so did not realize at the time that I had some Italian blood of my own! I was shocked because I would never have expected slurs to come from Jews of all people! But I also immediately realized this is just human nature and they meant no ill will. Well, they did but it was directed at Mario Cuomo -- and that was ok with me -- since they were Republican Jews and we were all at a Jewish Republican event for George Pataki back in 1994 or so.
Similar slurs were said about Mario and especially Leonora Fulani the woman of color when I spoke on behalf of Pataki at a Jewish synagogue that same year. I never viewed my Jewish audience / Jewish friends as Italian and Black American haters. Still don't. They remain by and large one of the the first group of folks to come to the aid of minorities or the afflicted anywhere.
Most importantly, I am aware of the fact that the loathesome Holocaust and other atrocities suffered by Jews naturally make Jews sensitive to the antisemitism issue. Same goes for people of color and the issue of slavery. I understand it. But let's not pretend that Jews do not also think negative and speak negative sometimes, because they do. They are human, too.
But, back to Mel. I can't explain why those poor phrases lept from Mel's mouth. Maybe -- just maybe -- the devil made him do it. Satan took advantage of Mel's weakness and lack of sobriety in order to deep six some of the good work wrought by The Passion? Could be. That's how Satan works: he works to undo the good. Whatever the case, it is tragic.