Posted on 08/03/2006 4:46:43 AM PDT by pinochet
We can all agree that Mel Gibson diplayed extreme stupidity, in making anti-semitic comments infront of a stranger. But the intense campaign in the mass media and on this forum to denounce Gibson, is, frankly, ridiculous. Even many on this forum who defended Trent Lott, have been hysterical in their denunciation of Gibson.
Thinking or saying racist or anti-semitic things is a sin. So is engaging in, or thinking about, extra-marital sex. But given man's fallen nature, such things are common.
People normally express their prejudices to close friends or to family members, not to total strangers. Remember Rev. Billy Graham's infamous private conversation with his close friend, Richard Nixon? Gibson is a stupid man, not an evil man.
I believe that, when labelling a person a "racist" or an "anti-semite", we should look at his long-term record in dealing with blacks or Jews. One or two outrageous comments, in my view, should not make the labels stick. Using such a standard, David Duke and Pat Buchanan qualify as anti-semites. Mel Gibson does not.
The ever sensible Rabbi Daniel Lapin cautioned us all to exercise caution, before labelling individuals. In all his life, Gibson has been very respectful in his dealings with Jews.
Blame your mommy, blame your 4th grade teacher, and, if that doesn't work, blame the Joooz!
While it's not OK for Mel to say what he said..
...and oh my goodness, he is paying dearly for it---the media assault on him is constant and furious!!everyone chiming in!!
...( and part of the reason is because he made The Passion of Christ)..I am convinced of this!
Why can Cindy Sheehan get off calling our President vile names....
..and wishing/hoping/desiring vile things to happen to him, PLUS hounding his every move.... ....
..and condemning the United States to our enemies...
..and get a free pass?
Oh never mind....even I know the answer to that.
Mel is bad.
Poor Mel. He's not very bright. Instead of calling them effin Jews, he should have called them effin Hymies. From Hymietown. You know, like Jesse Jackson.
He could have avoided all this mess. You know, like Jesse Jackson.
I don't feel the need to accept or not accept mels apologies. He is man-imperfect. He owes an apology to his wife and children not me. Why do we expect others to live by our standards? I deplore what he said and feel sorry for him. If he truly thinks this way, he needs help.
Post of the day, right there.
Maybe if Mel had used the terms like "Hymies" or "F'n Jew Bastards" he would have been ignored and or revered like Jesse and Hillary.
If he'll give me some of his money I won't hold it against him...
Although there are religions which hold the belief that thinking about an evil act is as sinful as actually engaging in that act, secular laws make a definite distinction between thought and behavior. A person who is sexually attracted to children but who is strong enough not to act on his urges may be in serious trouble mentally, but he is in no trouble at all legally.
The Lord may judge those of us who harbor racist thoughts as culpable as those who express them. Of course, being omnipotent, He doesn't need to hear the words to know that we are thinking them. Mere mortals, however, are unable to read our innermost thoughts, so if one is clever enough to keep them to himself, there is no problem. When someone who is in the public eye and whose career could be adversely affected by giving voice to those thoughts, it becomes imperative to suffer one's demons in silence. Mel Gibson failed that basic test, and he is paying the price for it.
This is the one and only time I will ever comment on Mel Gibson's despicable fall from grace. Enuff already!!
But the story is too delicious, the MSM wants to keep it alive...how many news cycles now? The MSM is out to get Mel Gibson because their basic story line can be religious hypocrisy. The MSM loves being able to pound well-known people on their religious hypocrisy, because why? Because they get to make mock and belittle Christianity, their all time favorite subject.
For the MSM and liberal Hollywood, it's payback time! Gibson's Passion of Christ made fools of them, now Gibson can be dished out his just desserts. Now his jealous enemies can make fun of his million dollar private chapel where he (orgasmic laughter from the left) prays daily.
Even when media critics hand wring over too much coverage, the MSM will keep chewing on their Christian bashing bone. It's what they do.
As it is, "don't drink and drive" come to mind, and Mel may be quacking like a duck, as they say, and may simply be developing a common, banal case of simple alcoholism.
Now as to never having a disparaging thought regarding "the Jews," or, more properly, that remnant of the tribe of Judah and Benjamin who weren't hauled off into exile and "relocated" a century before the Babylonian captivity, some "Jews" might consider my fundamentalist preference for them, being "entrusted with the Oracles of God," and their being the larger extended family of Joshua Bar Joseph of Nazareth (Jesus, aka "The Christ") a kind of reverse racism, which only needed a plague or a generation's removal from literacy to be turned into the kind of Pogrom so common to times like the 14th and the 20th century.
I can honestly say that I BELIEVE I have no disparaging thoughts for the "Jews," but I can understand Mel's frightened outburst in a Hollywood so self-consciously dominated as it once was by Unorthodox Jews since the arrival of Louis B, Meyer, and some being so reactively hostile to his "Passion," not to mention the unapologetic antisemitism of his father.
So, while Celebrity breeds familiarity, and the larger context of a world-wide rise of both overt and covert antisemitism, it wasn't exactly a comfortable development.
But, in the end, all we have here is a routine DUI where a man who might be developing alcoholism in the tertiary stages, and might need to consider approaching his drinking with caution, especially as a family man.
What a man spews when he drinks too much is not necessarily his inmost thoughts, but is usually, in the case of alcoholics, simply self-serving and defensive.
My father said some AWFUL damn things about me and the rest of his family before he finally quit drinking.... almost always a classic way of diverting attention away from his condition toward some preceived slight or weakness in those around him.
The Devil his-self couldn't have designed a better method of making the genuinely talented Gibson "look a fool."
You won''t find me casting any stones, until he tries starting a Mass Movement using anti-semitism as a unifying hatred.
Sounds like our beloved Road Warrior needs to pick better friends, some who won't let him drive home drunk from a party.
But of Hollywood, as Harry S Truman said of Washington, it's probably equallly true, "if you want a friend in this town, buy a dog."
But anyone who is so pure in thought and motive wouldn't engage in that kind of treatment of Mel Gibson in the first place. If the did bash him, then is shows that they're lying about the other thoughts.
"Until those folks came along, most American socialists seeemed to be utopian socialists who advocated their own separate communities, rather than imposing their views on everyone else"
But it was Thomas Dewey, a non-Jew, who was most aggressive in introducing socialism in the American school system. He derived his ideas from 19th Century American leftist thinkers. Home-grown socialism in America has its own infamous tradition, quite apart from the influx of Eastern European Bolsheviks who came to this country in the early part of the 20th Century.
But your point was valid.
I went to a Catholic all girl high school from 1957-1961. We were told NOT to date non-catholics and in particular Jews.
Never could figure that out so I stood up and protested and went to detention for a very long time. Also protested the philosophy that Catholics were "obligated" to vote for JFK.....Yes, we were all bussed to cheer for Kennedy.
Spent a lot of time in detention and if I had to do it all over, I'd do the same again.
Mel Gibson got praised the last time he opened his mouth while drunk. Of course, last time he was bashing Bush. This time it's something the MSM can't tolerate so he's a villian now.
I don't think it's for us to condemn or forgive him. That is for the Jews and for God. Anti-semitism is an ugly crime of the soul, it's something far beyond our understanding. Mel has recognized a problem and has asked for help in healing that problem. I, for one, certainly hope there are those in the Jewish community who will take his plea for help seriously and will reach out their hand and help him.
When I was 12, my best friend was a black kid named Mike.
As friends often do, one day we got into a fight. A real good one that lasted a long time. We beat the crap out of each other.
By the end, he was getting the better of me. I was out of control with anger, but the more we fought, the further behind I got. When I reached the conclusion that I could not win with my fists, I wanted to hurt him in any way I could.
In my seething rage, the "N" word started swelling in my throat. It got to my lips, but I managed to grit my teeth and wouldn't allow it to go through. I swallowed it, called him some other name, cursed at him, and went home.
Next day we were best friends again.
That's my short bout with racism.
Honestly, like someone pointed out on another thread, if his name were Kennedy, all would be forgiven. Maybe it would even qualify him to run for public office. What bothers me most is the double standard that's being applied to him.
It's one thing to think it. It's another to voice it to a cop.
As one who has frequently defended Gibson and his great movie, I was very disappointed in him for playing into the hands of his critics and making my efforts a lot more difficult.
I must say, he also chose a bad moment to blame Jews for the world's troubles.
Of course, the hysteria over Gibson's rant -- and "speech crimes" in general -- really isn't about the individual. Gibson is just the proxy of the moment whose behavior "proves" that all who believe in traditional religious values are bigots at heart.
Personally, I wouldn't be sorry if his Holocaust project is dead. No matter how excellent the work, it would only have given his enemies a chance to parade their hostility. If Gibson stopped trying to placate those who can't be placated, and just went back to being himself, he would be under a lot less stress and maybe these things wouldn't happen.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.