religion pg: Local pastors react to Gibson's rant

Published in The Post-Star (D1)
8/12/06

When actor Mel Gibson was pulled over for driving drunk in Malibu last month, he put new meaning in the term "slurred speech."

"Are you a Jew?" he asked the arresting officer, adding some expletives as he declared: "The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world."

This apparently racist diatribe by a public figure quickly gained momentum in the press, especially since Gibson had already been accused of anti-Semitism after he produced "The Passion," an extremely graphic film depicting the crucifixion of Jesus by the Jews. About the same time, Gibson's father publicly denied the reality of the Holocaust, and Gibson did little to distance himself from that view.

When "The Passion" came to local movie theaters in 2004, pastor Steve Van Dixhorn urged his congregation at Pine Knolls Alliance, a conservative Christian church in South Glens Falls, to see the film.

After reading about Gibson's latest comments, Van Dixhorn said last week that his view of Gibson's work is now tinged with "some sadness," but he would still recommend that people see the film.

"It had some interesting interpretation, and was very emotional," he said. "I think in some ways, the movie now has more meaning, because the message was that Jesus died for people who are pretty broken and messed up...and (Gibson) is making a statement that he's somebody like that."

Gibson issued several thorough apologies for his statements in the days after his arrest, but many Jewish leaders around the nation have said they remain unconvinced.

"He may have retracted his remarks for publicity reasons, but...it's much easier to apologize than to refrain from doing something. The damage has been done. It's not like it was isolated from any other statements or actions on his part," said Rabbi Cathy Nemiroff, who replaced retired Rabbi Richard Sobel this month at Temple Beth-El in Glens Falls.

She's never been a Gibson fan, she said, and intentionally skipped seeing "The Passion."

"At the time, I wondered about his motivations for making the film, and I still wonder," she said. "I want to give him the benefit of the doubt, but it seems to point in the direction of his being anti-Semitic."

But Rev. Rich Weihing, pastor of the United Methodist Church of Queensbury, sees a sliver of silver lining in the cloud of ugly speech hanging over Gibson's head.

"Part of me wishes he would keep his stuff to himself, but there's part of this that's a gift because it makes us look at the stuff that might be in us," he said. "There's plenty of darkness within each of us, too."