# Is Mel Gibson a fundie whacko? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 23, 2003, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391 "2003-07-23T16:03:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Edlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8797f3/32.png) [@Edlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edlyn)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391/21 "2003-07-25T00:28:46Z")
Carrying your thought forward, **spectrum** , I guess that would make Jesus an illegitimate Jew, wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391/22 "2003-07-25T01:05:31Z")
Not _illegitimate_, but heretical or apostate. Of course, before we get there, we have to have the whole dispute over how far Jesus intended to carry his ideas as opposed to how far they were changed and redirected by his followers after his death (and resurrection). ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391/23 "2003-07-25T01:12:52Z")
Going by the extremely gory and graphic (IMO) trailer for the movie, I’d say he’s a sadomasochistic wacko. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391/24 "2003-07-25T01:26:44Z")
Why’s that, vivalostwages? Think he made up the crucifixion story by himself? ---
**Author:** ![Nomadic\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/858c86/32.png) [@Nomadic\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nomadic_One)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391/25 "2003-07-25T02:40:31Z")
> [@](#): > > He’s a Catholic wacko, not a fundie one. There is a difference. LOL… ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391/26 "2003-07-25T03:56:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SnoopyFan \* > \*\*Why’s that, vivalostwages? > > Think he made up the crucifixion story by himself? \*\* No. But the trailer turns me completely off of the movie. That’s all I’m saying. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391/27 "2003-07-25T04:11:14Z")
It’s pretty intense, I agree, viva. I downloaded it last night and had to pick up my jaw after the trailer ended. Bloody, yes. No worse than other movies out there today, though. I predict this movie is going to cause a huge stink when it opens. Just MHO, we’ll wait a year and see what happens. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391/28 "2003-07-25T04:33:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spectrum \* > \*\*However, there are those who go so far on either direction that they cease to be genuinely Catholic. They ipso facto excommunicate themselves when they step outside the Church and rebuke it. \*\* The relevant point here, I think, is that _they step outside_ to do their criticism. Now, personally, I think that dissent is essential to the health of the Church. But joining a community of faith - be it Catholic, Unitarian-Universalist, Buddhist, whatever - is like a marriage. You’ve made a committment. Doesn’t mean you won’t fight - indeed, “loving combat” is one of the definitions of a good marriage - but it _does_ mean you honor that committment. Criticism from outside may very well be sincere, but it does often sound like carping. By the by, an excommunicated Catholic is still a Catholic, albeit one who’d better wear sunscreen in the coffin. Cecil addressed this in a column once - I’ll post the date if I can find it. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391/29 "2003-07-25T04:44:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by slowmovingvehicle \* > \*\*By the by, an excommunicated Catholic is still a Catholic, albeit one who’d better wear sunscreen in the coffin. Cecil addressed this in a column once - I’ll post the date if I can find it. \*\* January 16, 1998. And I misspelled “commitment.”:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Orual](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orual](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orual)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391/30 "2003-07-25T05:12:14Z")
How can Mel’s movie be Anti-Semitic? There aren’t any Semites in it! (Apparently Judaea was entirely populated with Caucasians at the time of Jesus.) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391/31 "2003-07-25T07:15:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Diogenes the Cynic \* > \*\*There are quite a few significant doctrinal differences between Catholicism and fundamentalist Christianity. The authority of the Pope is an obvious one. They also have quite a few differences in interpretation of scripture and in liturgy. \*\* You’re kinda missing the point here. Where, exactly, is “non-Catholic Christian wacko” implied in the term fundamentalist? Just because he isn’t a _Christian_ fundie, which is debatable, given that Catholics are, of course, Christians, doesn’t mean he isn’t a “fundie”. As I recall, Khomeini and Bin Laden are often described as fundamentalists, and last I checked, Islam wasn’t a sect of Christianity… ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391/32 "2003-07-25T17:37:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spectrum \* > \*\*Actually, Guin, Gibson’s not really a Catholic. If he rejects Vatican II and places himself among the sede vacantists, then he’s really a latter day sort of more-Catholic-than-the-Pope Protestant. > \*\* That does not make him a Protestant, at least if one has the faintest idea of what a Protestant is. It makes him the follower of a _Vagante_ hierarch, but that’s not the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391/33 "2003-07-25T17:55:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SnoopyFan \* > \*\*It’s pretty intense, I agree, viva. I downloaded it last night and had to pick up my jaw after the trailer ended. > > Bloody, yes. No worse than other movies out there today, though. > > I predict this movie is going to cause a huge stink when it opens. Just MHO, we’ll wait a year and see what happens. \*\* I didn’t dare open my jaw for fear I would retch. And I have seen a lot of gross stuff, but somehow this is different. Well, since I won’t be attending, I will wait for your review. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391/34 "2003-07-25T18:34:44Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*What I’m saying is that Gibson isn’t a fundie, he’s a Catholic-well, a Sedevacantist, but still, he’s far from being a fundie. \*\* “Fundamentalism” does not refer to any particular religion, but to an _attitude_ toward religion. One can be a fundamentalist Catholic, or a fundamentalist Muslim. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2003, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391/35 "2003-07-25T19:29:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Edlyn \* > \*\*Mel Gibson is a devout traditional Catholic and I don’t question his faith or love for Our Lord. [Here](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26264-2003Jul22.html) is a recent article concerning Mel and his “Passion” screening the other day in D.C. > > It’s rather amazing to witness such opposition to this project. Before it’s release, it’s already sifting the wheat from the shaft. I anticipate it will be a powerful witness and Libertarian and I are looking forward to viewing “The Passion”. > > Please, let’s not trash a man and his character. If you don’t want to view it, don’t, and leave it at that. \*\* Why should Gibson be immune to the kind of backlash Martin Scorsese experienced for the _Last Temptation of Christ_? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-mel-gibson-a-fundie-whacko/190391.md?page=1)