Joho the Blog: What I'd do with Mel

August 02, 2006

What I'd do with Mel

Mel, Mel, Mel. What are we going to do with you, my boy?

I do appreciate your apology and your offer to meet with leaders of the Jewish community. But I think you've got it wrong.

But so do the leaders of the Jewish comunity cited by the newspapers who say they first want Mel to go visit some death camps.

Here's what I would do.

First, Mel, get yourself sober. Do the Twelve Steps. Keep them up. I have trust in your ability to do this. I know you love your family. dlo it for them. (The cited Jewish community leaders agree with this advice.)

Then, skip the death camps for now. If you're really a Holocaust denier, you won't be convinced, because you probably believe that some Jews were murdered in the camps, just not six million of us. Besides, the death camp tour is unseemly. Get your ticket stamped at six death camps and you're cured of anti-Semitism? It don't work that way. And, frankly, the cited Jewish leaders are confusing being a Jew with being a victim. Your beliefs about the Holocaust are secondary.

The conspiracy theory you use to explain why the rest of the world has been duped about the holcaust is, on the other hand, primary .What's really dangerous, Mel, is your apparent belief that Jews are diabolical. Your portrayal of us in your pain-porn film did real harm in the world. Even worse is your belief that not only did my folks kill your G-d, but my folks are still the money-grubbing, law-without-heart, unevolved folks your folks outgrew.

So, here's what I'd have you do, Mel. Screw meeting with Jewish leaders. Put off the death camp tour until it'll mean something to you other than taking a private jet to a half dozen penitential photo opps. Instead, start going to shul. A little shul like the one my wife and son go to. Hang out there with a bunch of old Yids who wouldn't recognize you if you came dressed up as Mad Max. They'll notice you eventually. Explain you're a Christian interested in learning about Judaism. They'll half ignore you and half teach you. Maybe stay for some Torah discussion. Definitely try the herring.

Mel, this isn't the religion you think it is. It's not Christianity-without-Christ. It's something really different. And really rather wonderful, even to an agnostic like me and, I'm confident, to a Jew-hater like you. [Tags: mel_gibson judaism anti-semitism]

Posted by D. Weinberger at August 2, 2006 01:57 PM

Comments

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Posted by: Mel Gibson | August 2, 2006 05:15 PM

I am actually surprised it took the media so long to come up with a defaming trashy lead on Mel. I bet there is not one person out here that could not be brought up on the same accusations. Who knows what people really think when it comes to other religions or races. It is natural for a person to favor his own race and condemn those which has limited knowledge of especially when the media gets involved.
We must remember their purpose...keep the shit flowing and the blood pressure growing!

Posted by: Ron | August 2, 2006 08:44 PM

@Ron - "to favor his own race..."
WTF are you talking about? There is only one race - human race.

Posted by: Markus Pirchner | August 3, 2006 03:32 AM

The journalists are ready on all to earn more money.

Posted by: Lesard Generators | August 3, 2006 04:28 AM

Your beliefs about the Holocaust are secondary. The conspiracy theory you use to explain why the rest of the world has been duped about the holocaust is, on the other hand, primary.

Thanks for saying this. I did some reading on Holocaust denial some years ago (after the Faurisson affair) and this was a real lightbulb moment for me. Holocaust denial isn't about debating the numbers who died in the camps or even why they died; it's about what the world would have to be like in order for the historically-attested version of the camps to be a fiction. And I do say 'the historically-attested version', not 'what we regard as yadda yadda'; the point is precisely that historians all over the world take broadly the same version as factual. If the deniers were correct, those people would all have been duped - and you can't be duped without somebody doing the duping.

Pah, pah! Give me an ounce of civet, good apothecary

Posted by: Phil | August 3, 2006 05:19 AM

David,

While we're at it, let's start a belated summer reading list for Mel.

I'll lead off with Harold Bloom's "Jesus and Yahweh: The Names Divine."

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1573223220/sr=1-1/qid=1154625972/ref=pd_bbs_1/104-4104052-4002303?ie=UTF8&s=books

Anyone have any others?

Posted by: Jon Cahill | August 3, 2006 01:34 PM

I'd thought about mentioning Wiesenthaler's Kaddish as a great book to get a sense of what Orthodox Judaism feels like.

Posted by: David Weinberger | August 3, 2006 02:44 PM

Perhaps coming at the issue from the other direction may help Mel (and possibly some other Christians as well) understand their own faith in the context of Judaism: Rabbi Jesus, An Intimate Biography, by Bruce Chilton. (Amazon link)

Posted by: Mark Federman | August 3, 2006 04:36 PM

@Markus: there are as many races as you can bother to count. No doubt your statement purports a "higher" thinking, but as long as there are noticeable differences in the physique and a predominantly uniform cultural legacy, you'll have a race.

All men/persons/humans are equal? Sure. In a VERY connected world, differences tend to disappear and cultural borders blur? You see it every day.

But I'm still a latino in the US, sudaca in Spain, white in Africa, gaijin in Japan and goy everywhere two jewish guys (or whatever euphemism you prefer) notice me.

The problem arises when those mere definitions/adjectives become preconceptions (e.g. when some angelino assumes that because I'm latino all I can do is mow his lawn).

Posted by: Andres B | August 3, 2006 04:43 PM

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