How difficult is it to say, "He's my dad. I love him. He's wrong about this (the Holocaust and Antisemitism). I love him anyway, just like Jesus loves me."
I'm left thinking that Yeshua of Nazareth has not yet reached Mel with a full impact.
Instead he says - "My dad taught me my faith and I believe what he taught me. The man never lied to me in his life," he said, when asked about Hutton's controversial comments. "He lost his mother at two years of age. He lost his father at 15. He went through the Depression. He signed up for World War Two, served his country fighting the forces of fascism. Came back, worked very hard physically, raised a family, put a roof over my head, clothed me, fed me, taught me my faith, loved me. "I love him back. So I'll slug it out, until my heart is black and blue, if anyone ever tries to hurt him."
- In one statement bound to add fuel to the fire of anti-Semitism charges, Gibson accused "modern secular Judaism" of trying "to blame the Holocaust on the Roman Catholic Church." "It's a lie. And it's revisionism," said Gibson, a follower of Traditionalist Catholicism that still performs the Latin Tridentine mass. "And they've been working on that one for a while."
- About Frank Rich, the New York Times columnist who implied Gibson's father is "a Holocaust denier," the director had some choice – and inflammatory – words: "I want to kill him. I want his intestines on a stick. I want to kill his dog." Gibson said: "He never denied the Holocaust. He just said there were fewer than 6 million."
- As proof of his desire to avoid confrontation, Gibson cited his decision to cut a scene in which Caiaphas says "his blood be on us and on our children" soon after Pontius Pilate washes his hands of the captive Christ. "I wanted it in," he said. "My brother said I was wimping out if I didn't include it. But, man, if I included that in there, they'd be coming after me at my house. They'd come to kill me."
1. Gibson
never said he agreed with his father's comments about the Holocaust. He did say he learned his faith from his father, but that's not the same as saying he agreed about the Holocaust because the Holocaust isn't a matter of faith.
2. I didn't hear him make that statement, but I suppose there probably are at least some "modern secular Jews" who blame the Catholic Church for the Holocaust. To be honest, I'm not well versed in who has or hasn't been "blamed"
3. Gibson admitted that he made the statement, that it was wrong to do so, and that its evidence of him not being perfect and still being a sinner. That's not remotely inconsistent with his faith.
4. I'm gonna defend him on the substance of this one. He's quoting the Gospels, not just making the stuff up. The real complain isn't about Mel -- its about the content of the Gospel. I can understand perfectly his reluctance to remove something that is expressly stated in the Bible. The Gospels may be wrong, but if he's trying to relay them accurately, removing something that is in there verbatim seems odd.
And frankly, the guy has been pretty demonized by some people who are very upset about the movie. There very well may be some people who might threaten him physically for that. They'd be a kooky minority, but its not unrealistic to assume that some folks who think like that are out there.