{meliologie} {ivyologie}

Well, the world now knows that Mel Gibson said bad stuff about Jews while drunk. Now, I'm not the biggest Mel fan... I kinda think he's a bit of a nutjob. Though, he's a couple rungs down from Tom Cruise on the ladder of nutjobia. BUT. I kinda feel bad for him- who hasn't said stupid things while drunk? Who hasn't driven a car entirely sober? (besides me, of course ;) Should he have done these things? No, he's famous- and thats so STUPID. But sheesh, it makes me laugh when I hear all the people who judge him because of it. The only reason its a big deal is because he's famous... a famous Catholic, even.

I was pissed at first when I heard about all this going down. (And I did get some sick little pleasure that I knew about it before Ryan Seacrest dropped it as BREAKING NEWS on his morning show). But, the more I thought about it, the more I kinda felt bad for him. A little. Because we've all been there. Swearing at someone on the road, laughing at a dumb joke, things said while being drunk. Racial epithets get used. Most people don't MEAN anything by them and wouldn't say it to a persons face, for fear they'd offend them. It doesn't make it right... it just makes it common. I don't think Mel has any excuse for what he said. But I really think that his apology is the BEST apology I've ever heard.

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MEL SAYS SORRY TO THE JEWS
Tue Aug 01 2006 11:10:45 ET

August 2, 2006 -- 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 am a public person, and when I say something, either articulated and thought out, or blurted out in a moment of insanity, my words carry weight in the public arena. As a result, 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.

I’m not just asking for forgiveness. I would like to take it one step further, and meet with leaders in the Jewish community, with whom I can have a one on one discussion to discern the appropriate path for healing.

I have begun an ongoing program of recovery and what I am now realizing is that I cannot do it alone. I am in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display, and I am asking the Jewish community, whom I have personally offended, to help me on my journey through recovery. Again, I am reaching out to the Jewish community for its help. I know there will be many in that community who will want nothing to do with me, and that would be understandable. But I pray that that door is not forever closed.

This is not about a film. Nor is it about artistic license. 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.

END

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I think he did a good job.