The truth has come out. Mel Gibson is an anti-Semite. This was made quite clear in recent media reports about his arrest for drunken driving.
I bring this up as a mea culpa. I now regret defending him against accusations of anti-Semitism of which he was accused during the release of his movie, “The Passion of the Christ”. At the time, I examined the objectionable portions of that movie and various interviews given by Gibson, and concluded the movie was not anti-Semitic. I also concluded that Gibson himself was not the anti-Semite many people were accusing him of being (incorrectly, as now seems evident).
At the time, in interview after interview a sober Mel Gibson professed that he was not in any way anti-Semitic in what seemed to be as honest a fashion as one could have. And that this movie was merely an expression of his lifelong religious beliefs. References to some minimal Jewish complicity in the movie about the Crucifixion were taken from New Testament sources and, he said, were only meant to reflect the crucifiction as accurately as possible.
It was known at that time, that Gibson’s father was an avowed holocaust denier. But when Gibson was confronted with this he said he did not agree with his father, but also said his father never lied to him. I took this to mean that Gibson thought his father was telling the truth as his father understood it, but that he was wrong. And Gibson himself did not deny the holocaust.
My over all impression was that… at the end of the day, Gibson was indeed not an anti-Semite. He was only a very religious Catholic who was of the old pre Nostra Etate belief that the Jews were partially at fault for the crucifixion of his god (a view that Nostra Etate has now repudiated in its entirety). But he blamed no Jews living today for it and considered it sinful to do so. Or so he said.
Based on this, I wrote a strong defense of Gibson in a commentary which was published in the Chicago Tribune at that time. I felt it was necessary because of all the negative press surrounding the Jewish response to that film. Too many Jews were protesting a movie they saw as anti-Semitic by an actor who they thought was anti-Semitic. I did not see the anti-Semitism of either the film or of Gibson. I felt that there would be a backlash from such protests that in any case did not reflect the reality that the move was not anti-Semitic at all.
But there was no shortage of prominent Jewish figures who criticized the movie and who predicted a wave of anti-Semitic incidents once the movie was released. None of this ever happened. But, at the time the relentless rhetoric by people like ADL director, Abe Foxman and the antics of Rabbi Avi Weiss (who convinced a group of followers to wear holocaust prison uniforms and picket a theater in New York showing the film) did not help matters. There was potential for a real blow-up in the ever increasing good relationships that were developing between Jews and Evangelicals on the one hand… and Jews and the Catholic Church on the other. All that good will built up in recent years trashed by a few misguided individuals, in the mistaken belief that the movie would dredge up old anti-Semitic feelings laying dormant in many Americans. Just as passion plays of the past did in Europe. Thank God those protests died down. Christians across America saw the movie, not as a tool for anti-Semitism but as an illustration of the suffering of their Christ. My faith in the American people was once again re-enforced.
But, although I was right about the movie, I was wrong about Gibson. He has now revealed himself to be a true anti-Semite. It is well known rabbinic adage (found in the Talmud) that a man’s true character is revealed when his inhibitions are removed under the influence of alcohol. Under such conditions, the truth comes out. And it did.
A drunken Mel Gibson revealed his innermost thoughts about Jews. And it wasn’t pretty. He has since apologized and said it was the alcohol talking. Well his apology is not accepted. All it really means is that he is sorry that his true feelings were revealed. If he wants absolution from the Jewish people he will have to do a lot more than say he is sorry. The burden of proof is on him to convince us that his innermost thoughts are no longer like that. It’s easy to say the right thing when you are in control of your true feelings.
And words alone will no longer suffice. He will now have to do it with deeds. It requires the kind of deeds that will leave no doubt about his innermost thoughts. I’m not even sure how he can do that. Right now he has a presumption of guilt. And I regret ever giving him a pass. I was misled by his seeming sincerity. And, I am not going to be misled by him again.
