Love the Other as Yourself

It is the commandment of The Christ, and it is a wonderful dream, but at the moment, it is only a dream.

Anger and hatred poison in the entire planet.

Love the Other as Yourself:

Thank heavens for Mel Gibson. How could we have a conversation about an important social issue in this country without a celebrity?

As everyone who doesn't live on Mars knows by now, a couple of weeks ago, in a drunken rage, Gibson spewed anti-Semitic venom on some Malibu police officers who were arresting him for driving under the influence of alcohol.

He later 1) apologized to the police officers without mentioning his anti-Semitic remarks; 2) then apologized to Jews everywhere for his anti-Semitic remarks; 3) then promised to make amends for his anti-Semitic remarks; and 4) checked himself into rehab. The only question now is whether he will go on Letterman or Leno when he comes out.

During a time when Israeli troops were hammering Lebanese civilians and Hezbollah fighters, when American generals finally used the words 'civil war' and 'Iraq' in the same sentence, and when Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman lost his Democratic political life as payback for supporting George Bush's war-mongering policies, why should it matter what Gibson thinks about anything?

Because of what his remarks revealed about him: his deep-seated belief in The Other.

For Gibson, The Other is the Jews. 'The Jews started every war in the world,' is his now-famous quote. (I don't think Hitler annexed Poland just to get at its Jews, though, Mel. The Poles would have gladly handed them all over and kept their country.)