Mad Mel's boozy meltdown

Rock star John Mellencamp tells of a time his grandfather asked if he wanted to go to church with him.

''No, there are too many hypocrites in the church,'' Mellencamp told him. ''I'm going to the bar.''

''Oh, and there aren't any hypocrites down at the bar?" his grandfather sagely replied.

I was reminded of that story when it was reported over the weekend that Mel
Gibson had not only been arrested for drunk driving, but had also threatened and
berated deputies, who were simply doing their jobs, with repeated profanities
as well as anti-Semitic and sexist comments.

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''Are you a Jew?'' Mel asked the arresting officer, claiming that the "[bleeping] Jews" were responsible for every war in history
(notwithstanding the fact they weren't even a nation or a force as a people
from 70 A.D. until 1948!).

When he sobered up, Mel apologized – blaming his outburst on a lifelong battle with
alcoholism – and calling the comments he made ''despicable.''

Well, at least he used the right word.

For many in the mainstream media and Hollywood itself who criticized Mel
Gibson's ''The Passion of the Christ'' as being blatantly anti-Semitic, and
who tied that charge to the age-old persecution of Jews by those who claimed
to represent Christ, the incident over the weekend is what they might call
"a two-fer" – i.e., not only was the sanctimonious star arrested for
driving drunk, but he was caught on tape spewing the very kind of
anti-Semitism (hateful, irrational, historically-untrue) that they accused
him of when "Passion" was released two years ago.

Many will be tempted to write Mel off as another Christian hypocrite who is
a closet bigot, a Jew-hater who is following in the footsteps of Christians
through the centuries. But that would be a tragic mistake on two counts.

First, in speaking of "Christianity," we must separate biblical
Christianity from religious or organized Christianity in its various
sects. The Bible is the authoritative text of Christianity and, as such,
contain its true teachings – teachings which have been twisted and
perverted all through history by tyrants, pagans and, yes, anti-Semites. So
we must go back to the original and unimpeachable source to determine who
Christ really was and what He really taught.

In the Bible, we see Christ (a thoroughly Jewish Messiah and Savior, by the
way) commanding His disciples (all of whom were Jewish, as were all the men
whom God inspired to write the New Tesatment) to love even their enemies, to
bless even those who persecuted them, and to do good even to those who
maliciously abused them (Matt. 5:44). Needless to say, such commands leave
no room for hate, torture, murder or coerced conversions (since the Bible
teaches that salvation is a matter of the heart, and therefore cannot
be compelled).

Furthermore, Christ taught that salvation, God's greatest gift to the world,
is ''of the Jews'' (Jn. 4:22), and thus the apostle Paul wrote by inspiration
of the Holy Spirit that salvation is ''for the Jew first and then also for
the Greek [Gentile]'' (Rom. 1:16). The Bible is not a book of hate,
but one of love – specifically, God's immeasurable love for the whole
world, Jews and Gentiles alike.

Secondly, Christianity is not a religion of perfect people who live out the
teachings of Christ purely and perfectly, looking down their noses the whole
time at the throngs of unwashed masses who are mired in sin and depravity.
No, the Bible teaches that "all have sinned and fall short of the
glory of God" (Rom. 3:23, emphasis mine).

As Christians, we should always strive to follow Christ's teachings and the
Bible's tenets. But that doesn't change the fact that we've all missed the
mark in thought, word and deed, and we continue missing the mark to one
degree or another through the course of our lives. That's why we all need a
personal Savior, and it's why God the Father – not the Jews – put
Jesus on the cross.

Isaiah 53:4 tells us He was ''smitten by God'' and Isa. 53:10 elaborates that
''it pleased the Lord [God the Father] to bruise Him [God the Son]'' – not
because God is some sort of a masochist, but quite the opposite. He loves
each one of us so much that He was willing to sacrifice His beloved only Son
for our redemption, knowing it was the only way for us to be saved.

This is not to in any way excuse or condone Mel's behavior. It was truly
atrocious, and he deserves whatever lumps he takes for it. But don't
confuse it as being somehow representative of biblical Christianity, or
those who practice it (evangelical Christians). And don't mistake the
deranged beliefs of Mel's Holocaust-denying dad, at least some of which have
apparently permeated Mel's thinking, to in any way mirror those of
Christians who base their beliefs solely on the Bible.

To do so would be as unfactual as anything Mel said about the Jews.

Tom Flannery writes a weekly political column called "The Good Fight" and a continuing religious column called "Why Believe the Bible?" for a hometown newspaper in Pennsylvania. His opinion pieces have appeared in publications such as Newsday, the Los Angeles Times, and Christian Networks Journal. He is a past recipient of the Eric Breindel Award for Outstanding Opinion Journalism from News Corp/The New York Post, in addition to winning six Amy Awards from the Amy Foundation.