Wednesday, August 02, 2006

The Real Problems in Society....

Did you hear? If not, you were probably dead or maybe vacationing in Guatemala, but Mel Gibson was caught drinking and driving and alas, verbally abused the Jewish people of the world while getting arrested. It's a big scandal. People of all religions were shocked and horrified. Many are ready to boycott his movies.

Did I miss something here? Since when has verbally bashing Jews been a bigger crime than drinking and driving!!! Mel Gibson could have run over a pedestrian, ran into a bus full of school children, or drove over the side of a cliff onto a bunch of beach hippies. Nobody cares about that, though. No, nobody seems surprised or concerned that he felt he could drink and drive and risk not only his own life but the people around him.

No, because he had a few bad words to say about Jews, he's off the hook for drinking and driving. It's the anti-Semite defense.

"You killed your wife, three children, and the pet dog. What do you have to say for yourself?"

"It's those damn Jews! It's all their fault! They're the cause of all the world's wars and problems!"

"Well, shoot, that's just wrong. We're going to boycott your movies! So there! You can go home now."

Now don't get me wrong. I have nothing against Jews myself. In fact, my first girlfriend was Jewish, and although it did not work out between us, her religion was the least of our problems. My thought it is that drinking and driving is a far more dangerous, far more disturbing problem than a few bad words against Jews. This should be a time to educate the masses about the dangers of drinking and driving. This should be a time to remind people that even famous movie stars are expected to follow common sense and respect the safety of others.

But no, sadly, it's just turned into an opportunity that a small minority in this country can use to educate the masses on their problems. I can't blame them for that--they're actually pretty smart doing this. Grab attention for their woes when they can. I only wish Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the police, and the news media would focus on the bigger crime--the one that could very well have ended in death.

2 comments:

W&MGrad said...

I'm not defending Mel Gibson, his behavior or his beliefs here...but I will admit that this blown-up incident sounds like a lot of people who had a grudge against him are using this as the proverbial nail in the coffin. But I agree with you--as terribly as anti-semitism is (especially considering the events in the world!), the real issue is that he was driving drunk.

W&MGrad said...

sigh...you really shouldn't get on my case. I had a post on August 13th and your last post is on August 2nd. And I have a good excuse! ;-D