Posted on 08/04/2006 8:28:14 PM PDT by LdSentinal
Actor and director Mel Gibson is in trouble with the Jewish community again. In 2004, Gibson produced a movie based on the death of Jesus, The Passion of the Christ, which was both highly successful and controversial. Many people felt the movie depicted Jews in hateful stereotypes and would stir up anti-Semitism among Christians, who were the film's target audience.
But even for those who rejected claims that The Passion was anti-Semitic (as I did when the film came out), Gibson's vicious tirade against Jews a few days ago when he was arrested for drunken driving leaves little doubt about his personal views. Gibson's vile accusation that "Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world" is proof enough for me the man is an anti-Semite.
Excuses offered
Gibson has now issued a mea culpa for his attacks: "I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a DUI charge," he said in a written statement. But he also went on to claim, "I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a bigot," and he seemed to blame his alcoholism for his actions. He even implied that because his Catholic faith forbids "hatred of any kind," that he couldn't possibly be an anti-Semite.
Of course this defense is nonsense. The Catholic Church defines anti-Semitism as a sin, and, Heaven knows, Catholics are as capable of sinning as anyone else. Ironically, Gibson seems to be aware that admitting he is an alcoholic is a necessary prerequisite to overcoming his alcoholism. So, he should understand that admitting his anti-Semitic prejudices are the first step to ridding himself of them.
Bigotry on rise
Anti-Semitism is one of the oldest and ugliest forms of bigotry, which even the horror of the Holocaust has not seemed to eradicate. One would think that after the systematic torture and murder of six million innocent men, women and children, the world would recoil at Jew-baiting. But that has not happened. Indeed, some forms of anti-Semitic stereotyping seem on the rise.
Gibson's claim that Jews have caused all the world's wars is only a less subtle and more grandiose version of the current mantra that "neoconservatives" have led us into war in Iraq. Make no mistake, most critics on both the left and right who inveigh against "neoconservatives" really mean "the Jews" or "Jewish influence" has caused this war. Old-fashioned anti-Semitism used to blame "Jewish bankers" for controlling the world, now, apparently, it's Jewish intellectuals who pull the strings. The Rothschilds have been replaced as villains by Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Perle, William Kristol and Charles Krauthammer.
New anti-semitism
Many liberals, who recognize anti-Semitism when Gibson is spewing it, however, are less willing to tackle the new anti-Semitism that blames Jews for involving the United States in the current war in Iraq. These modern conspiracy theorists are simply reworking ancient stereotypes to fit a new mold. In this bigoted view, Jews are only interested in themselves, have no loyalty to the nation of their birth or citizenship, and are willing to sacrifice others' lives to advance an agenda that benefits their fellow Jews. You can hear these sentiments, barely veiled, when Pat Buchanan or Air America start spinning stories about the neoconservatives and their supposedly wild ambitions.
Gibson may yet be rehabilitated from his delusional thinking. After all, he has reached out to the Jewish community and asked for forgiveness in the wake of his drunken outburst. And chances are, his prejudices stem from growing up with a father who disliked Jews and passed on his fears to his son.
If Gibson can face his own bigotry, he might let go of it. I am less confident that the new anti-Semitism will be eradicated as easily, in part because its adherents will never admit their thinking is disordered in the first place. But the bigger danger is that others won't recognize this anti-Semitism for what it is because it relies on code words rather than straightforward hate speech.
Many people felt the movie depicted Jews in hateful stereotypes and would stir up anti-Semitism among Christians,
The American Jews are more upset about a two bit actor than heads of state wanting to destroy Israel(or is it the Media). CNN has more on Gibson than all the conflicts in the world combined.
Only one problem with this thesis--maybe he truly isn't anti-semitic. Have I ever said anything while I was drunk I truly didn't believe? Yep. So maybe Mel Gibson is telling the truth that he doesn't believe in his heart what he said. His actions up until now tells me he deserves a benefit of a doubt.
So, you speak to the American Jews a lot?
It is possible that Gibson is not a bigot or an anti-Semite. It is also possible that he is both.
However, alcohol does do strange things when associations come to mind. Some drunks just blurb them out all over God and everybody.
If you hear a line or an argument over and over and over, and then something triggers an association to that item, then you're likely to speak to it. In many cases, we don't say some things, because they're inappropriate, we're in control, and we hold back.
Gibson's dad reportedly is a self-avowed anti-Semite. I assume that Gibson has heard some of his dad's lines over and over and over all his life. "Did you know the Jews are responsible for all the wars in the history of humanity." or some such nonsense IS a line that Gibson might have heard. Others as well.
In his drunken encounter with a policeman, Gibson could have trigger the line (association) with the policeman's Jewish name and spouted it out under the influence of alcohol.
The real question is this: "If he had just THOUGHT the line and, because of self-control had not said it, would he be considered an anti-semite?"
hell of a lot
Nice generalization there. .....and a ridiculously inaccurate one at that.
Linda's right. As long as he stays drunk, Mel would feel right at home on the faculty of many of our liberal colleges today. Finally, he'd just have to renounce all that "Christianity stuff" (and stay buzzed) and he'll be indistinguishable from the rest of the professors.
Have you read the newspapers this week
1. It's not just American Jews who are upset by anti-semitic nonsense.
2. So far as I can tell, while the media loves this story, I don't sense that my Jewish friends are obsessed with it. Not at a time when Hezbollah is shooting off rockets and not just their mouths.
3. Now if you tell me that media = Jews, I will know exactly where you stand.
This Gibson story was worth one day of coverage. Of course the war should be in everyday.
Who you trying to kid. Every time you were drunk and told a woman she was beautiful you meant it. :-)
With all the anti-Christian bigoted movies, tv programing, and news articles written by liberal Jews, I don't even wan't to here a peeeeeeep from the Jewish Community about anti-semitism except in the case of the holocaust. They can't have it both ways. They have to take what they dish out, and SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!
I think where you are mistaken about the story is that Mel's outburst and drunken driving is a pretty big human interest story. This type of intemperate and hateful outburst is pretty unusual today. To me, that's progress, and it's a good thing. So in a way, it's because of that that this story gets some of the legs it has. And celebrities live by the press and in some cases they are harmed by it. They like the limelight when it shines on them in a positive way and they don't like it when it doesn't. It comes with the life they live; they know that. And it wasn't just Jews troubled by his remarks. I'll bet you most decent people were.
Talk about hitting the nail on the head.
At the time. It was the next morning I found out I was lying. Alchol really impairs your judgement at 2 a.m.
You probably meant you don't want to "hear" it. So all Jews are liberal? There is a huge stereotype. We've more than a few on Freerepublic. And not surprisingly, they didn't care for Mel's tirade.
Ah, those ten to two girls...
I agree with a lot of what you said -- I've had thoughts that would be considered anti-Semitic and I'm Jewish -- with one quibble: The officer who arrested him was Jewish, but his name is James Mee, which is not a particularly Jewish-sounding name.
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