Forgive Mel Gibson

Shakespeare’s Sister doesn’t reckon Mel Gibson should be forgiven for his recent drunken anti-Semitic tirade: http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2006/08/mel-wants-help-from-jews.html

Mel acknowledged that his statements in a “moment of insanity” might carry weight because of his celebrity. Mel’s apology is just not good enough for the sister of the bard:

“A moment of insanity? Nice try. Normally when people get drunk, their honest thoughts come out, not some crazy shit they’ve never thought before.

(snip)

The problem isn’t so much what’s in his heart, but what’s in his head—and that seems to be some pretty nasty stuff. And that’s the problem with the kind of “faith” to which conservatives subscribe; it’s not meant to be of the mind. One’s “heart” may have embraced a faith that forbids hatred, but unless the mind follows, unless the mind constructs and embraces a framework of genuine equality, that faith is impotent.”

I strongly disagree. Mel was probably brought up to distrust Jews, and there is a place in the back of his mind where that early instruction in Jew hating is lurking and looking for a chance to express itself. Like when you’re drunk and pissed off royally.

I was raised to believe that Roman Catholics aren’t Christians and that they are untrustworthy, idol worshipping good for nothings. When I learned that Mel was not only a Roman Catholic, but some kind of retro medeival Catholic, I had to fight the prejudice that welled up in me and use reason to overcome my sudden distrust of the man. I have sought over the years to overcome my revulsion for Catholics and have succeeded in befriending (and even marrying) Catholics. I even attend Catholic services on occasion. I have learned that Catholics are indeed Christians and that most of the ones I know are decent folks. I assume, based on reason, that Catholics are no worse than members of other denominations solely by virtue of their Catholicism. Nonetheless, the old anti-Catholic lessons are still rattling around in my head.

And if you get me drunk and piss me off, I might just let some anti-Catholic nonsense rip. I won’t mean a word of it; it will just well up from one of those programs of visceral prejudice that society intsalled in me at an early age. I wish I could uninstall those programs altogether, but it isn’t that simple. You can overwrite them, but they may always be there in your dark side.

I also learned a lot about Jews and black folks and Arabs that turned out not to be so. Nevertheless, those early lessons are doubtless still in the recesses of my mind, attached to some emotional buttons, and I hope that they never pop up in an inconvenient moment. This is one good reason to avoid public drunkenness. You can get you’re a** kicked pretty good if you start spouting off some racist or ethnic slurs in a moment of rage or inebriated dumassery. Also, I know from experience (I was a bit of a binge drinker one year in college) that it is embarrassing to confront an acquaintance the morning after an anti-Semitic or racist outburst.

I give Mel a lot of credit for his apology and for confronting his prejudices. Neither Mel nor I set out to develop our prejudices. They were gifts of our “culture”. They are in our heads, but not our hearts, and the commitment to overcome prejudice and love one’s fellow man is commendable. If you were brought up without prejudice, you were lucky, and you ought to show some solicitude for those of us who were handicapped with irrational ideas from an early age.