Mel Gibson - Against Jews?

[Bettina]

For me it has nothing to do with whether he's a conservative' date=' and it has absolutely nothing to do with forgiveness. I love him as an actor and still do. I've loved most of the movies I've seen him in.

 

However, as an alcoholic, I can tell you that being drunk is never an excuse for horrible behavior, no matter how much you want it to be. And being drunk doesn't put words in your head, it just makes you stupid enough to give voice to the words that are there already, no matter who they hurt. Alcoholism is not a disease, it's an addiction. Calling it a disease makes it somehow not your fault. And this was definitely Mel's fault.

 

But he merely showed us his prejudice, his opinion of Jews, so it's not up to me to forgive Mel Gibson for what he said while he was drinking. This is not something he did against me that needs my forgiveness. It's really not about the Jews forgiving him either. We now know he blames Jews for many things and it's up to us to decide whether or not we want anything to do with him anymore. Mel Gibson is entitled to his opinion about Jews. And I'm entitled to think less of him for it.[/quote']

 

That pretty much goes for me and all my friends too. I do, however, commend him for owning up to it and his apology seems sincere.

 

This will not hurt him financially but he seems like he doesn't want people to think less of him. It bothers him and thats a good sign.

 

Bee

[Pangloss]

I grew up in suburban Atlanta. I'm a white male, and my parents are midwesterners from a long conservative-but-Democrat tradition, and they raised me to be tolerant of other viewpoints. MLK was a personal hero of mine while growing up, and I was involved in many activities of a charitable nature. I was in Boy Scouting for many years, attaining the rank of Eagle, as did my father.

 

That having been said, as I was growing up I was consistently and frequently inundated by instances of "soft" racism. Use of the "N" word was not exactly common amongst the children of the white families I associated with, but it wasn't exactly uncommon either -- it happened from time to time, and it wasn't rejected by others in the community. It was sorta like cursing around children -- a technical wrong that you do anyway but you prefer not to do it around the wrong people.

 

Atlanta is (or rather "was" -- I haven't lived there in over ten years) one of the most segragated cities in the country, with white people focused on the northern communities and African-Americans focused on the central and southern parts of town. There was one black child in my high school.

 

Whenever I associated with people who used the "N" word, I felt peer pressure, because they were part of my social group. I wondered if that was a word that I was supposed to use. Others in my situation even, shall we say, "tried it on for size". And thus it was furthered and spread.

 

I suspect that I'm very lucky that I had the counterbalancing influence of my parents. My father, who never once actually spoke with me about the racism we encountered in other families, insisted that we spend time with a predominently black Scout troop in the inner city, working on projects with them even though it was extremely inconvenient for him to transport me there. I never understood why when I was growing up, it was just something we did.

 

Where I'm going with this is that while I've never used the "N" word, I'm strongly cognizant of it, especially when I'm around African Americans. Perhaps it's an aspect of "white guilt", or some other psychological issue, I don't know. I'm sure everyone has those moments where you worry that you might blurt out the wrong thing. When I have those moments, that's the thing I'm thinking about.

 

Is it really all that inconceivable that I might do that in a really bad personal moment, such as drunk and caught doing something I knew I shouldn't have been doing? I don't know the answer to that question, but I do know that if that happened, I don't think that it would have revealed any kind of hidden agenda or racism on my part.

 

Given the background I've just described above, can anyone honestly say that I'm a closet racist, and a ticking time bomb just waiting for a drunken moment to expose the truth about myself? Isn't it more likely that in a moment of extreme pressure and frustration with myself, I simply succumbed to a life-long fear?

 

Does this apply to Gibson? Damifino. I'm just saying that we're scientists and we're supposed to be above leaping to conclusions based on scanty evidence. We're the ones who are supposed to know better.

[ecoli]

As for Mel Gibson, the topic of this thread. Who cares really what he said about jews. Jews are constantly attacking everybody else, especially Christians but suddenly someone speaks out about jewish attitudes and the jews go ape about it... Ok, so what?

 

What are talking about? When have these supposed 'attacks against christians' been made and who exactly made them?

 

Proof, please.

[Phi for All]

Silkworm is the one who is being petty and being extreme about it.

"Staff" envy? * sigh *

Jews are constantly attacking everybody else, especially Christians but suddenly someone speaks out about jewish attitudes and the jews go ape about it... Ok, so what?

Have you been drinking?

[-Demosthenes-]

Why are the drunken mutterings (two mutterings?) of an aging hollywood star as important as a drunk driver.

[silkworm]

"Staff" envy? * sigh *

Have you been drinking?

 

I wouldn't be staff here. It would look horrible on my resume (wink). And the exchange with Pangloss had nothing to do with him being staff' date=' except for he's a bit triggerhappy.

 

Why are the drunken mutterings (two mutterings?) of an aging hollywood star as important as a drunk driver.

 

Good point. I think it's all because we have fear of being drunk drivers ourselves in certain circumstances, because everyone has an excuse made. Is that about right?

[-Demosthenes-]

Good point. I think it's all because we have fear of being drunk drivers ourselves in certain circumstances' date=' because everyone has an excuse made. Is that about right?[/quote']

 

Possibly, but are we not also afraid of the stupid things we might say while intoxicated?