Thursday, September 14, 2006
I know this is an old item, but I still think it's interesting and I've been meaning to post about it for weeks, so I better get it done now or I never will. Yes, it's about Mel Gibson. You all remember his little run-in the The Law and his anti-Semitic outburst. No need to rehash it. He apologized, let's forgive but not forget and be embarrassed by Abe Foxman saying that Gibson should be investigated for hate crimes...
I did, however, find some of Mel's background extremely interesting -- not just his father, Hutton, who we all know is an old-fashioned anti-Semite, and who's foibles we were reluctant to hold the son responsible for (though not so much so after a little more research) -- no, there really is much more to it than that [h/t to Adam Holland for most of these links].
As a reminder, Gibson isn't a Roman Catholic, he's a "Traditionalist Catholic." They're the guys who didn't like the whole Vatican II thing -- you know, where the Church told everyone to stop calling the Jews "Christ Killers" among other things. Specifically, he's a Sedevacantist.
He has his own private Church in Malibu, where I understand one of the priests he's brought in is one, Father Louis J. Campbell, some of who's sermons are very interesting. For instance: The New Judaizers
...In his time St. Paul had to confront the Judaizers, certain Jewish Christians who wanted to impose Jewish customs including circumcision on all new converts. We are facing the New Judaizers, who want to turn the Catholic Church into a servile religion, subservient to the new false Jewish religion of the Talmud. We could turn like cowards and simply walk away, but we have to stand up and fight for our holy Catholic Faith...
Following some links around [bottom of page], one may be lead to some interesting sites, like this one: THE TORTURE AND DEATH OF SAINT SIMON OF TRENT
When night fell, the twin brothers Saligman and Samuel, with Tobias, Vitalis (Veitel), Moses, Israel and Mayr, undressed the little boy and unmercifully butchered him. While Moses strangled him with a handkerchief as he lay across Samuel’s knee, pieces of flesh from his neck were cut with a knife and the blood collected in a bowl. At the same time, they punctured the naked offering with needles and murmured Hebrew curses. They then cut pieces of flesh from the boy’s arm and legs and collected the blood in pots...
Oh, it's endlessly fascinating, and you could follow links around for a long while (like checking out their -- controversial even amongst Sedevacantists -- pope). Very little of it will make you feel any better, but feel free.
Then there's the Australian political party Mel was involved with:
Is Mel Gibson an anti-Semite? Is the Pope...nevermind. Mel Gibson's relationships with Jews (good) and all this stuff seething in the background is probably worthy of a book-length study and a long couch session. I wasn't (and still am not) one of those who found The Passion in the least bit anti-Semitic, but all these connections swirling about certainly begin to take the wonder out of the sources of a drunken outburst. In vino veritas.
Glad you posted this information! I'll send it to people on my email list.
Yea, that flurry of punches is pretty much it. Obviously something that runs deep, almost atavistic levels, seemingly conflicted as well, but all this has to be regarded as more than merely troubling. On the other hand there is stuff like the following in the links:
Movie producer Dean Devlin, who is Jewish, said he considered Gibson one of his best friends in Hollywood
"If Mel is an anti-Semite, then he spends a lot of time with us, which makes no sense," Devlin said.
And when Schlussel targets someone like Foster for simply portraying Riefenstahl (whom many believe was a great documentarian, not merely anti-Semites by a long shot), it's another indication that some overarching judgements are being employed.
Still, it has to be regarded as more than merely "troubling" and a volte face on Gibson's part, in large measure a public one, needs to be heard or some conclusions, regardless of the Foxmans and Schlussels of the world, need to be reached, that much in undeniable.
Wow. It's hard to believe such groups exist. The secular press--thinking it too must be separate from religion because the government has to be, and both of those are incorrect assumptions to begin with, but it's too confusing to sort it out, so far from logic are they--rarely reports on such aberrant thinking and behaving out there. So lots of weirdness is going on under the radar. Good to stay home! Re the The Passion: It wouldn't have mattered what the movie did, in my opinion. Its very existence was anti-Semitic in that any sane non-anti-Semitic person would have avoided inflaming the anti-Semitic situation in the Middle East and in Europe. Producing that movie when Gibson did so, and the way he did it and the way he promoted it, was like throwing gasoline on a car bomb. It was a horrible thing to do, and it could have led to many deaths and much suffering. That's why it is interesting to read of these other anti-Semitic groups he has associated with. It fuels my deep suspicion of his motives for making the movie. He can't have been so stupid as to not be aware that his movie would stir up the embers of hatred in the Middle East toward the Jews.
Your statement that Mel Gibson is not a Roman Catholic is completely wrong. Traditional Catholics most certainly are Roman Catholics, who adhere to the traditional Latin Mass and teachings of the Mass before Vatican II. Vatican II's changes did not abrogate that Mass, in fact, both John Paul II and Benedict have allowed for wide use of this Mass. This is too deep a topic to detail for you here, but you best do some research.