earthmann

An Open Letter to Mel Gibson:

Are you too steeped in your own old school Catholic theology to recognize you own prejudices?

Whenever the first accusations of anti-Semitism arose, you had in me a sympathetic supporter. That harsh charge is leveled far too easily these days in the name of tolerance.

Having been raised in a fundamentalist Zionist church I am very familiar such accusations. Many accuse the church of anti-Semitism simply for acting on Christ’s command to go unto all the world and spread the good news. Many feel a faith that Jews receive salvation through conversion akin to Jew bashing. For these reasons my hunch was to consider the charges against you unwarranted. We can’t sacrifice authentic religious expression on apolitically correct altar.

But something happened on the way to the theatre, Mr. Gibson.

Given Christianity’s bloody history of persecuting Jews, including its complicit approval of the treatment of Jews in the first half of last century, I do understand why some might harbor concern for a dramatization of the verses forming the underpinnings Christinity’s historic anti-Semitism. Therefore, at least an ounce of empathy for the reasonable worries of the Jewish community were in order.

Instead, what you delivered were flippant denials of anti-Semitism intended to deflect questions not resolve issues.

Meanwhile, your Dad used the smoldering controversy as a platform to spew backwoods diatribes, flatly denying, for instance, the holocaust ever existed: Where did are those Jews go if they didn’t end up in a gas chamber? They’re all in New York, you fool. [paraphrase]

When you finally sat down for a formal interview with Reader’s Digest you were given a softball question, an opportunity to address the accusations swirling around your movie: “Do you believe in the holocaust?” Your response is beyond belief.

You tepidly distanced yourself from your father’s stance: “A lot of people died in World War II, some of them were Jews in concentration camps.”

Easy Mel, keep your hood on. I’m only kidding, but my ears did prick up. I found it curious that you defended yourself with a position with which even your father couldn’t argue with rather than taking the opportunity to alleviate some valid concerns of the community.

One concession you did make was to remove the words: “Your people are cursed for all time.” However, you didn’t cut it out of the movie really, just erased the subtitles, leaving the words to be heard in Aramaic. You recognized the inflammatory nature of those words, yet allowed them to be fester in the tender box that is the region that understands Aramaic.

When you were asked about the deleted subtitle you flimsily replied: “All Jews aren’t cursed for all time.” [your emphasis]

I went to the theatre to see a movie acclaimed for eloquently documenting humanity’s tendency to fall prey to our worst tendencies, a movie that asks the question: Can we be saved?

Having some time waiting for the “Fog of War” to begin, I popped in to have a gander at your movie. I entered a scene familiar to all such movies: Pilate, the reluctant executioner, bless his heart, listening to the mass of Jews call for Jesus’ death.

What are the odds, I thought to myself, of catching the most controversial scene. Twice as good as the chances should have been. For in your non-Biblical version, Pilate initially spares Jesus’ life; instead Jesus suffers fifteen movie minutes of being beaten to a nearly skinless pulp. Jesus is then paraded before another angry, hungry crowd. Once again the horde of blood thirsty Jews chant for his crucifixion.

I hadn’t read the Bible since that redhead in Florida, and even I recognized you were using artistic license to stake a very strange editorial position.

I had your back when you didn’t want to trade Biblical accuracy for politically correct accommodations. From the same heart, I detest that accuracy being traded for unwarranted amplification of those one or two versus that our religion has historically used to fuel flames of hate.

Disturbed, I left the theatre, sitting down in an empty matinee, waiting for the lights to dim in the “Fog of War”.

One more than thing, Mr. Gibson. Before writing this letter I went back and read Matthew to make sure I hadn’t forgotten a second scene of Jews clamoring for the death of Christ, and I noticed something else.

About your little comment about a curse not being on all Jews for all time…

I don’t know what your daddy taught you in Sunday school, but the Bible doesn’t condemn any Jews for any time. The Bible reads that Pilate said “His blood be on us, and on our children”.
See? Those aren’t God’s words, they’re the executioner’s. However let’s pretend for a moment the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit possessed Pilate, making his word the Word:
He said “we.” He said “we.”
He words hold true for both the gentile and the Jew.
We are all cursed. We are all sinners.
We are all awash in his blood.
That blood is not a curse of justice but a promise of grace.