more from Mel Gibson:
"I am not a bigot," Gibson, a staunch Catholic, wrote in today’s statement. "Hatred of any kind goes against my faith."
I’ve said all I want to say about Mel Gibson’s outburst and the kind of alcoholic syndrome it represents. Pathological Intoxication [below] is neither an excuse, nor an indictment, just something one sees along the way in the life of being a Psychiatrist.
But I’ve got plenty to say about, "Hatred of any kind goes against my faith." In fact, I have a tirade of my own. We’ve heard enough of that in the recent years to be nearly nauseated by the sound of the words. The very notion that one can "unfeel" something because of one’s "beliefs" is an absurdity that defies everything we’ve learned about the mind since the dawn of time. One can aknowledge a feeling as wrong. One can not act on that feeling. One can try to understand the roots of that feeling. But the notion that one can have a belief system that negates deep-seated feelings is ridiculous. It’s the kind of thing the Ex-gay movement tries to push – saying homosexuality is a "choice."
In Gibson’s case, making a brutal movie about Christ’s crucifixion betrays an inner relationship with brutality that cannot be denied. The antisemitic tirade from the other night bespeaks a similar inner struggle with intense hatred – whether his faith allows it or not. I hope that rehab program he’s checked into doesn’t expect either his shame at what happened or some kind of blind faith to remove anything. His only way out is to get in touch with what he really feels directly and attempt to understand it. "Faith bandaids" and denial aren’t going to be of very much help to Mel Gibson.
Which brings me to my point in writing this. We have endured six long years of this kind of thinking – self righteous religious people who want to right the wrongs of the world with faith. In the process, they’ve started two wars and are itching for more. They’ve ignored the Geneva Conventions and made torture and indefinite imprisonment a national policy. They’ve eavesdropped on America secretly. They’ve stacked our courts with idealogues who start with a bias, then hear their cases. They’ve fostered unheard of corruption and cronyism in Congress. They’ve controlled and manipulated information to the point where we have no idea what to believe. They’ve jury-rigged every aspect of our form of government. All under the guise of faith, beliefs.
Enough! After this last six tragic years, "my faith" is a dead currency. my faith is a private matter. my actions are what count…
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