Posted on 07/31/2006 12:29:38 PM PDT by veronica
Edited on 07/31/2006 1:43:28 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
I was just in the middle of writing a long and tedious essay, about how to tell a real anti-Semite from a person who too-loudly rejects the charge of anti-Semitism, when a near-perfect real-life example came to hand. That bad actor and worse director Mel Gibson, pulled over for the alleged offense of speeding and the further alleged offense of speeding under the influence, decided that he needed to demand of the arresting officer whether he was or was not Jewish and that he furthermore needed to impart the information that all the world's wars are begun by those of Semitic extraction.
Call me thin-skinned if you must, but I think that this qualifies. I also think that the difference between the blood-alcohol levels—and indeed the speed limits—that occasioned the booking are insufficient to explain the expletives (as Gibson has since claimed in a typically self-pitying and verbose statement put out by his publicist). One does not abruptly decide, between the first and second vodka, or the ticks of the indicator of velocity, that the Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion are valid after all.
There's a lot to dislike about Gibson. He is given to furious tirades against homosexuals of the sort that make one wonder if he has some kind of subliminal or "unaddressed" problem. His vulgar and nasty movies, which also feature this prejudice, are additionally replete with the cheapest caricatures of the English.
Never has a film produced so much controversy, months before its scheduled release date, than Mel Gibson's "The Passion". The film depicting the last twelve hours on earth of Jesus Christ is scheduled to be released on Easter of next year but already a host of Jewish political leaders and rabbis are attempting to censor it, in its present form, because they say it is anti-semitic. The Jews are worried that the film will unleash a wave of hatred, bigotry and anti-semitism because "The Passion", they say, portrays them as "Christ killers".
Abraham H. Foxman, National Director of the Anti Defamation League of B'nai B'rith (Sons of the Covenant), said that St. Anne Catherine Emmerich was anti-Jewish. He said that the diaries are "an account of a 19th century mystical anti-semitic nun that distorts New Testament interpretation by selectively citing passages to weave a narrative that oversimplifies history, and is hostile to Jews and Judaism."
Rabbi Eugene Korn, ADL Director of Interfaith Affairs, said that "The Passion" contains a number of troubling themes and images, all raising the specter of "deicide," or Jewish complicity in the death of Jesus.
Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center, said that he has already received hate telephones calls because of the contents of the upcoming film and as a consequence is now urging the Jewish community to send him more money.
I don't know, either. I didn't even know Mel had a daughter until it was mentioned in one of the early threads last week!
Anyway, thank you for the update..blush :)
You're very welcome, and thank you for being so gracious.
And the Muslim world allowed [The Passion of the Christ] to be screened widely, though from Ben-Hur to King of Kings it had prohibited the physical representation of any "prophet" mentioned, as Jesus is, in the Quran. (Don't ask yourself why this was, unless you want to feel stupid.)
On the radio it was said that at least part of the arrest was filmed especially when things started getting out of hand.
The fact that Gibson is not denying any of this speaks volumes as well ... and that he was stopped twice before ... both with bizarre behavior also lends credance.
That's not really the question.
If a Jew gets into an argument with someone Irish, for example, each may under the right circumstances use a slur against the other
That would occur frequently when one extrapolates their animosity to the opponents group.
So Protestants may slur Catholics. A racist slur may come out when different races are involved, etc. A slur is always possible, under the right circumstance even from perfectly fine people- even in the heat of a dispute in a friendly game.
But it would be very strange if a Catholic Irishman and a Protestant Irishman were arguing and one started slurring Mexicans.
Jews were not part of this argument.
These were not slurs for which there can ever be an apology because there was no target to this slur.
There were free flowing rantings of a man who allowed alcohol to let his id speak freely.
And when it spoke, the World heard Gibson's true self.
Unless they happen to be a Jew Cop.
Seriously though, a lot of people get hit and killed on the PCH by drunk drivers. Remember Ben Vereen? I know of one guy on a bike who was killed on PCH last year, so I don't let Mel off as lightly as some people might.
My point is that drunks say all kinds of stupid crap and don't mean a word of it.
I did. Often.
Considering the "Passion Plays" of the Dark Ages were used a basis for the inquisition and later the Holocaust, I think I can understand their worries.
What Gibson said or didn't say is meaningless to me. I don't depend on Gibson to form my views on Israel or US foreign policy. The same holds true for the Dixie Chicks, Barbara Steisand, Al Franken, Jane Fonda, and the rest of the Hollywood crowd. This is another tempest in a teapot and more fuel for cable television.
However, some here will insist to their dying breath that one means all one says while under the influence.
It sounds to me, though....that Mel just came from an argument with or about some jewish people. Why else would he have it on his mind??
Yeah that`s true, but to me I really don`t understand what the fuss is all about. He was merely expressing a political opinion that liberals express every single day. He said "Jews are the cause for all the wars today"...Yet liberals all the time say this, say the US with Israel or the US itself or Israel itself is the cause for all the wars. Even liberal politicians take sides against Israel, yet where is the ADL when that happens? Where were they when news of Hillarys anti-semitic tirades against Paul Fray, Dick Morris came out, and her kissing Suha Arafat? And not only that, liberals are even more blatant with their bias against Chritianity. It seems to me when a liberal says something like this, it`s "A political opinion" but when a conservative Christian says it, while drunk no less, it`s "a hate crime..bias, anti-semitism." This is unreal, all the hell he took over the Passion being "anti-Semitic" yet all he did is take it verbatim from the bible, and now this comment, forget it. They`re going to make him out to be Adolf Hitler or something.
You're misunderstanding me. It's not that you accused them of being communists while drunk. The point is you chose communist as the term of derision. (And communists are indeed worthy of derision.)
If you didn't have a negative opinion of communists then you wouldn't have chosen that term.
Never, ever ask an actor what they were thinking or are thinking. They are likely to tell you.
For South Park its easy to make a rapid response, the animation quality sure ain't Disney.
"he did not commit a crime."
Actually he did. He threatened the cop. Don't think they charged him, but to be fair that is a crime.
So through the power of deduction, you enjoy a$$holes? sorry, sorry
There is a german expression that someone can "hear the flies coughing." The US is the last place a Holocaust would ever take place. If there are Jews in the US worried about it, I think their concerns are misplaced.
I recognize your point, but the evidence you used to support it contradicts it. Your drunken loss of composure illuminated your anger with communists. Mel’s exposed the problem with Jews that he has been accused of having. It’s overwhelming confirmation in my opinion.
The fact is some Jews--not all but some--were responsible for the death of Jesus. Some Romans--not all but some--were too. Those are facts and sometimes some members of the Jewish religion are too quick to change facts in order to proclaim anti-Semitism. Not Gibson, nor very many others for that matter, have claimed all Jews were responsible for what befell Jesus yet those words and those thoughts have been attributed nonetheless.
In my view, that's no different than Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton controlling the definition of racism. Their belief that, "If one questions it, one is it" doesn't hold water in my book and to accept such a notion is pure cowardice.
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