Time to Forgive Mel Gibson
The other day Mel Gibson was arrested for DUI. Sadly, when he was arrested he said some anti-semitic things that I won't bother to repeat here. They have been repeated enough elsewhere. They were wrong, they never should have been said. & Mel has apologized for what he said.
In part he said: "There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of anti-Semitic remark. 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. . . . I must assume personal responsibility for my words and apologize directly to those who have been hurt and offended by those words. . . . The tenets of what I profess to believe necessitate that I exercise charity and tolerance as a way of life. Every human being is God's child, and if I wish to honor my God I have to honor his children. But please know from my heart that I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a bigot. Hatred of any kind goes against my faith."
(Full text:
He goes on to ask to meet with Jewish leaders to find ways to work on healing the damage he did. He concludes by saying: "This is about real life and recognizing the consequences hurtful words can have. It's about existing in harmony in a world that seems to have gone mad."
Is he sincere? I think so. I have to think so, my faith requires it. I have no evidence to the contrary that he was anything less than totally honest in what he said. I've lived long enough to see the damage alcohol can do. I have seen people, who, when sober, would never do or say anything that horrible, when under the control of alcohol do things that go against their very nature. My Dad was a bartender, I was a college student in the 70s & I have worked at a college for over 16 yrs. I think that gives me credentials enough to justify my expertise. I've seen people sincerely sorry & people who were anything but sincere. What Mel Gibson says rings true.
I'm not the only 1 to think so. Many people have spoken out in support of Mel Gibson. Probably 1 of the most vocal is Jackie Mason. Mr. Mason, who became a rabbi as a young man & later became a stand-up comic, appeared on Your World with Neil Cavuto last Fri. This is part of what he said: "How a guy lived for 50 years is what should count, not one remark when you're drunk! . . . What did he ever do that's anti-Jewish in his life? A whole 50 years of decency doesn't count because he made one remark? Now they say, Apologize!' But he didn't apologize enough; he should apologize a little higher. He should apologize in the morning; he only apologized at night. He should apologize at least two more times, four more times, 32 times. ... Now they want him to get circumcised!"
Opening the interview Neil asked Mason why he was so willing to forgive when others weren't, he replied: "I'll be honest with you; it's not that I'm so forgiving. It's that all these people are very sick; they're getting a vicious, sick, perverted, sadistic thrill out of this whole thing. Look at the glee in them, look at the happiness about catching him -- because they're basically failures; they never amounted to anything. There are actors struggling to make a living and they have always been envious and bitter and jealous of a guy who makes such a huge success ... It's all an excuse, a rationalization of ... excuse to bury this guy because they're enjoying it with such a sick, perverted pleasure."
Rabbi Mark S. Diamond of the 280-member Board of Rabbis of Southern California: "I welcome his words. And I hope and pray that they are sincere and heartfelt." He added: "I don't want to minimize for a moment the hurt and anger, the anguish, his words have created in our community." (AP)
Catholic League president Bill Donohue had the following comments on the Catholic League website: "Mel Gibson’s apology is a model of contrition, and it reflects the genuineness of his faith. Indeed, it stands in stark contrast to the ‘If you were offended’ type of apology that we are so accustomed to at the Catholic League. We trust that most Jewish leaders will now do the honorable thing and work with Mel so that all wounds can heal.
There will always be those who refuse to forgive. They are a tragic lot. Worse, they are the only losers."
Like Jackie Mason, he also points out the double standard used by those who are condemning Mel Gibson & refusing to forgive him & calling others to do the same. He comes down hard, rightly so, on their hypocrisy.
This last 1 points out esp how some of the same people who are condemning Mel Gibson are some of the biggest anti-Catholic bigots, yet condemn anti-semitism. My opinion mega-hypocrites. Their actions are definitely a prime example of mendacity.
Pat Boone had plenty to say about the need to forgive Mel Gibson in an article on World Net Daily. Some of what he says reflects what Jackie Mason had to say.
"What makes Mel Gibson a hotter news item than, say, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the most vocal and vehement Jew hater in the world? . . . .
He (Mel Gibson) defied the movie establishment and all media wisdom in privately financing, writing, directing, and producing the most wildly successful Bible film in history, The Passion of the Christ. . . .
Mel's uncharacteristic behavior, a total repudiation of all he stands for now in his new dedication, was beyond his control. His brain was sotted, and he spouted vomitspeech that he doesn't believe or condone when he's ''himself.''
The likewise ''out of control'' savaging by the media – and some harsh critics that have been salivating for some opportunity to attack Mel Gibson – are at least as reprehensible as Mel's outburst, because his attackers aren't drunk. At least on alcohol. Blood lust will cause people to say and do strange things, too. "
Why this blood lust? The answer is found in some of what Jackie Mason said in his interview: "I want to ask you a question: These people are attacking him; they're all saying the same thing in Hollywood -- 'I would never work for him again!' These are all failures that never worked with him before. He never asked them to work with him. He doesn't need them. He makes a fortune and they can't get a job, but they're threatening him, that they won't work with him again?"
Neil asked him: "So you think a lot of this is jealousy?"
"Jealousy and hate, their contempt for a guy who's doing too good!", was the reply.
ABC announced that it was cancelling a mini-series project that Gibson's Icon Productions was doing. "Given that it's been nearly two years and we have yet to see the first draft of a script, we have decided to no longer pursue this project with Icon," was the reason given. I don't know if that is the real reason. My opinion, I have no proof, there is much more to it. My reason, I've heard of projects that have taken much longer to reach the script stage. I suspect the only reason that they didn't drop his movie Apocalypto was because they have too much invested in it to drop it this close to its release. Again, I have no real proof & I ask you to give ABC?Disney the benefit of the doubt for now. Hopefully some other network will pick it up & it will be a big success.
Neil brought up this then asked Mason will Gibson suffer "any ill effects from all of this in Hollywood?"
Mason's reply: "He might have ill effects because people love burying a guy who's big. If a guy on a bicycle breaks down, you cry for him. If he breaks down in a Rolls-Royce, you applaud. "
Mason also had some harsh things to say about those who see anti-semitism or racism everywhere: "Let's be honest about it -- anybody who makes a life out of fighting racism in effect has to blow up racism in order to justify himself in his job he has. Otherwise he'd have to go to work. Otherwise he'd have to get up in the morning and get a real job. . . . People make a living from fighting anti-Semitism -- . . . -- they have to convince themselves there's racism every place and that every minute they're about to blow up every Jew in America, because otherwise he would have to go to work for a living. He fears a job a lot more than he fears anti-Semitism."
"There are some Jews who aren't in that camp who are just legitimately offended," Cavuto asked: "You say they should get over themselves?"
Mason answered: "They're nuts if they're offended. You're offended if you know anything about his life."
That about says it all. It is time to forgive & forget. For those who won't, I'll reiterate what Mr. Mason said by quoting the line from a Joe Walsh song: "Get over it!"
The video of the Jackie Mason interview can be seen on FoxNews.com at:
posted by Al @ 2:21 AM
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