Mel Gibson, Robert Downey Jr., and Forgiveness

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Arizona_Mike

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I have never understood the ongoing vilification of Mel Gibson. He has tried to make amends with the jewish community, a senior rabbi reached out to him and Mel accepted his invitation to learn more about the jewish culture, history and faith.

He is now a personal friend of Alison Weiner a jewish journalist who initially joined in on the maligning and then changed her mind once she got to know him. He attended her son’s bar mitzvah. Her article on why he should be forgiven is below.

She actually dug around and found out that Mel has donated hundreds of millions to jewish and catholic charities around the world. No you won’t see a picture of him flashing his pearly whites and posing for a photo handing out the cheque. He did a lot of it before the bust up.

He has quietly donated over 50 million over the years to NIDA in Sydney. The National Institute of Dramatic Arts where he studied along with Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett and 4time Oscar winner Catherine Martin.

I found it an interesting statement about the movie industry when they allowed Mike Tyson who was convicted of rape, imprisoned and known for beating his women to have a role in the Hangover (granted it’s a ghastly movie) yet the cast/crew would not under any circumstances work with Mel Gibson who was also offered a role.

So Mel’s words in their eyes is worse than a convicted rapist who beat up women. Yes Tyson served his time, got ‘rehabilitated’ and found Allah in prison. Hasn’t Mel tried to make amends as well?

deadline.com/2014/03/mel-gibson-career-hollywood-deserves-chance-697084/
 
Wow. I learned something today. Thanks fro the remarks, and also thanks for the link to the article to the OP.
I’m actually kind of relieved. I had no idea. The press is a fickle mistress.
Peace.
 
Robert Downey, Jr. is a class act. I admire him for overcoming his addictions. I did not know he had asked Hollywood to forgive Mel Gibson who has been personna non grata for a long time in Hollywood.
The journalist from The New Yorker might have misinterpreted the remark Robert made and I am sure it is not easy for actors to sit down for so many interviews with the press when they promote their movies.
They don’t have a clue what questions they will be asked. I commend Robert for standing up for Mel after Mel helped him out when he was down and out.
 
This reminds me of the Chesterton story about the priest and forgiveness. We as a culture only want to forgive when it’s something we really don’t think was a problem in the first place. For me at least forgiving is very difficult, and it’s good to have a reminder that forgiveness should be placed highly.
 
AMFV said:
This reminds me of the Chesterton story about the priest and forgiveness. We as a culture only want to forgive when it’s something we really don’t think was a problem in the first place. For me at least forgiving is very difficult, and it’s good to have a reminder that forgiveness should be placed highly.
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👍 very true.
 
AMFV said:
This reminds me of the Chesterton story about the priest and forgiveness. We as a culture only want to forgive when it’s something we really don’t think was a problem in the first place. For me at least forgiving is very difficult, and it’s good to have a reminder that forgiveness should be placed highly.
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Using that standard, as an outsider looking into American society I might think Americans don’t have a problem with forgiving a convicted rapist and woman beater but someone like Mel is unforgivable.
 
I like the article author’s subtitle: “Would you rather live in Robert Downey Jr.’s world of ‘do unto others as you’d have them to do you,’ or The New Yorker’s, where any weakness is an excuse to write people off forever?”
 
Arizona_Mike said:
I like the article author’s subtitle: “Would you rather live in Robert Downey Jr.’s world of ‘do unto others as you’d have them to do you,’ or The New Yorker’s, where any weakness is an excuse to write people off forever?”
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👍
 
Arizona_Mike said:
I like the article author’s subtitle: “Would you rather live in Robert Downey Jr.’s world of ‘do unto others as you’d have them to do you,’ or The New Yorker’s, where any weakness is an excuse to write people off forever?”
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👍
 
SAVINGRACE said:
So Mel’s words in their eyes is worse than a convicted rapist who beat up women. Yes Tyson served his time, got ‘rehabilitated’ and found Allah in prison. Hasn’t Mel tried to make amends as well?
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I still don’t understand what his crime is.
 
SAVINGRACE said:
Using that standard, as an outsider looking into American society I might think Americans don’t have a problem with forgiving a convicted rapist and woman beater but someone like Mel is unforgivable.
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This is true, I think that if both of them have paid their debt to society as dictated by the crime committed they should both be forgiven.
 
DaddyGirl said:
Actually, sometimes the celeb is given a list of questions they will be asked before the interview. Often the publicist has some control, telling journalists to please not ask certain questions. Not that we always listen, tho… 🙂

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Yes I realize that is the case sometimes. Downey recently walked out of an interview because I think the person conducting the interview asked him about his past issues with drugs.
 
On Gibson, what is his current religious status?

I know that at one time he was basically a type of traditionalist Catholic, but his marriage fell apart and he was living with a Russian girlfriend, certainly not something traditionalist or Catholic in any sense.

Has he found is way back to the Church, or what’s going on with him generally?
 
Yeoman said:
On Gibson, what is his current religious status?

I know that at one time he was basically a type of traditionalist Catholic, but his marriage fell apart and he was living with a Russian girlfriend, certainly not something traditionalist or Catholic in any sense.

Has he found is way back to the Church, or what’s going on with him generally?
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I haven’t heard anything about Mel Gibson in a long long time.
I had heard he was going to do a movie on Macabbees, but don’t know.
 
I’ve heard Gibson described as a sedevacantist, but I don’t know for sure or if he still holds those views.

Gotta love Robert Downey Jr. for wearing a shirt like this:

(Please Note: This uploaded content is no longer available.)
 
Yeoman said:
On Gibson, what is his current religious status?

I know that at one time he was basically a type of traditionalist Catholic, but his marriage fell apart and he was living with a Russian girlfriend, certainly not something traditionalist or Catholic in any sense.

Has he found is way back to the Church, or what’s going on with him generally?
Click to expand...
Gibson has publicly stated that he has never left Rome.

Gibson was raised a traditionalist Catholic. When asked about the Catholic doctrine of “Extra Ecclesiam nulla salus”, Gibson replied, “There is no salvation for those outside the Church … I believe it. Put it this way. My wife is a saint. She’s a much better person than I am. Honestly. She’s… Episcopalian, Church of England. She prays, she believes in God, she knows Jesus, she believes in that stuff. And it’s just not fair if she doesn’t make it, she’s better than I am. But that is a pronouncement from the chair. I go with it.”

When he was asked whether John 14:6 is an intolerant position, he said that “through the merits of Jesus’ sacrifice… even people who don’t know Jesus are able to be saved, but through him.”

Close acquaintance Father William Fulco has said that Gibson denies neither the Pope nor Vatican II.

Boyer, Peter J. The New Yorker. September 15, 2003
people.com/people/archive/article/0,20059176,00.html Adato, Allison (August 14, 2006).
 
DaddyGirl said:
He considers himself a very traditional Catholic–the *truest * kind of Catholic.
(and yet…he lived with and had a baby with a woman he wasn’t married to. So how he reconciles it all, I dunno…)

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t

It must be hard, to have ones failings so publicly displayed. Thanks be to God that he and his girlfriend chose life for their child.
As for reconciling his sins, perhaps he does so in the way Christ gave to us all-in the confessional.
May God bless him and all who stumble, as they attempt to grow ever closer to Him.
Amen.
 
DaddyGirl said:
He considers himself a very traditional Catholic–the *truest * kind of Catholic.
(and yet…he lived with and had a baby with a woman he wasn’t married to. So how he reconciles it all, I dunno…)

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Funny how other people are allowed to fail, but Catholics don’t receive such understanding about their faults. I love tolerance!
 
jeannetherese said:
t

It must be hard, to have ones failings so publicly displayed. Thanks be to God that he and his girlfriend chose life for their child.
As for reconciling his sins, perhaps he does so in the way Christ gave to us all-in the confessional.
May God bless him and all who stumble, as they attempt to grow ever closer to Him.
Amen.
Click to expand...
:clapping::clapping:
 
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