Reply #4: Read the article you referenced, and... [View All]

[LeahMira]

... apparently the elder Gibson also thinks that the Holocaust didn't happen.

I'd imagine that growing up in that sort of environment would tend to make a person suspicious of Jews and anxious to cast them in the role of persecuters and murderers of the Christian saviour. But certainly, Mel Gibson should not be held responsible for what his father says... unless he says the same things.

The Christian gospels are anti-Semitic. There are historical reasons for this, which have been discussed in other threads but basically large numbers of the Jewish people of Christ's time were not interested in the sect that Jesus started and the apostles and disciples continued. It was necessary to recruit followers to that sect from outside the Jewish people, from among the Romans and others, if it was to continue to survive and grow. In order to recruit, a lot of Jewish traditions (i.e. circumcision) had to be eliminated and an honest portrayal of the Romans as cruel executioners needed to be downplayed and/or "excused" by making it seem that the Romans of the time were somewhat taken by Jesus and would have let him off, but it was the "evil Jews" who insisted that he be executed. The gospels and epistles, in addition to the real value they have for some as inspirational works (Jesus, after all, preached Judaism), are also plain and simple anti-Jewish propaganda, written to flatter prospective Roman converts. No one should be surprised if Mel Gibson's strictly bible-based film comes off as anti-Semitic. The original text is also anti-Semitic.

It is sad that in the post-Holocaust times in which we live, when so many people (including Catholics) are coming to understand how the Christian gospels have been used as justification for some of the most degraded impulses of which mankind can be guilty, that Mel Gibson has chosen to dredge up the old libels and slanders. I can't believe that he really doesn't know what he is doing. Perhaps he doesn't, but I just can't believe that. IMO, he either intends to use his film to make a whole lot of money for himself, preying on the bigotry of some Christians and the stupidity of others, or else the man is a callous criminal... in which case, what goes around usually comes around and he'd best change his plans before it's too late for him to turn back from the edge. From Pharoah to Haman, and continuing on into the present, the Creator has dispatched those who would persecute the Jewish people. It has never been pretty.