Did anyone catch the “Concert for New York”? I didn’t tape it so I don’t know the exact quote but somehow this fucking moron thought it would be appropriate to state something to the effect of “This is not the time to be seeking revenge”. Uh, excuse me, Mr. Awareness, was it not apparent to you that the first hundred or so rows were filled with New York firefighters, police officers and EMT’s. Do you know how lucky you are that they did not parade down the street with your head on a fucking stick?!?! Take your Hollywood bullshit and shove it up your ass. Yes, peace is a wonderful idea. Not so wonderful however to people picking up the arms and legs of their co-workers for a month straight. Are you so fucking clueless that you thought it appropriate to share your politics at a fundraiser for the victims of this horrendous act. What an inconsiderate prick, you two-bit rats ass of an actor.
I did a search and all I could find was that he asked for compassion and understanding…
I think getting booed for that is sad because the world does need compassion and understanding
I completely agree with the OP; I’d read (here actually) that he had said similar things before the concert and was equally disgusted.
If anyone is curious I have the concert on tape and can look up the quote. But in general he said “I hope we can harness our anger and turn it in a peaceful direction.”
The implication being that war is never appropriate, that letting criminals run free is better than fighting.
I loved what he said.
He said we should take the positive energy from the event and channel it towards the things you mentioned.
And I think he handled it with aplomb when the narrow-minded pricks in the audience had the audacity to boo him.
The man is a long-time devoted Buddhist. He is exactly the right person to credibly put forth that sort of idea. Sure, it’s not popular. We’re pissed, and we live in a culture that is decidedly non-buddhist in our approach to world affairs.
And let’s be clear here. Gere didn’t say “Let’s kiss some Taliban/bin Laden heinie and forget this all happened.” He was non-specific, but I took his message to mean we needed to continue to see the people in Afghanistan for what they are (victims of the Taliban), to see the muslims and non-christians in this country and worldwide as our brothers, not our enemies. What the flying fuck is so goddamned wrong with that?
It’s funny, my respect for the man went up immeasurably after the Concert. Not for what he said at first, but for his calm and his understanding about the boos and hisses. He’s a class act, which is more than I can say for the people who booed him.
What a cynical interpretation.
Nothing like going off half-cocked, 'ey musicguy?
Gere expressed a desire for understanding and compassion. My God, how shocking, coming for a Buddhist! Not once did he say “Hey, we shouldn’t be bombing the Taliban.”
I understand the depth of emotion involved that would cause the firefighters/police/etc. at the concert to boo. I don’t understand, however, ranting about a call for compassion. (Though I think Gere is a schmuck, personally, just not for his actions at the concert.)
I wondered how long it’d take for this thread to pop up. Took longer than I thought.
It is an absolutely correct approach for a Buddhist to urge non-violence, under any circumstances. In the Buddhist view, any person who uses violence against another living creature incurs a karmic debt, which will affect your rebirth. It is of no moment that others have used violence against you, because they have already incurred a karmic price for their action.
This makes perfect sense if you accept that life is inherently suffering, that the cause for this suffering is your attachments, that the way to free yourself from suffering is to free yourself from attachments, and that someone who does this successfully will “win” by not being reborn, thus ending the cycle of continual rebirth.
To most of the audience, however, these were not postulates with which they were prepared to agree. In my view - understandably so. Although I believe in a Heaven, and eternal rest there for the souls of the departed, and that it’s a happy place, I would never chortle happily at a funeral because the deceased is in Heaven, or on his way to heaven.
I think there’s a time for sharing your particular philosophy, and a time not to do it. With all due respect to Richard Gere, who is by all accounts a devoted and honest follower of Buddhism, and sincere in his comments… perhaps that was not the best time to share that particular philosophy.
- Rick
Thanks Cranky for saying what I was trying to say, much better than I did. 
And Bill, nice job of twisting words there. “I hope we can harness our anger and turn it in a peaceful direction” means “War is wrong and we should turn tail?” Fuck man. Guess I’m out of touch with reality.
Buncha fucking McCarthyites.
Be a Buddhist, if you want.
Be a pacifist, if you want.
Be a jackass to people who have been through a horrible ordeal? No.
I think we’ve been over it before: There’s a difference between having a belief and having the brains to know when to not express it. I won’t accuse him of being a rabble rouser, but he shouldn’t have said what he said.
-L
I don’t see why it makes one a jackass to express a belief in compassion to people who have experienced a trauma. That’s a beautiful message. And it was far, far more tasteful, I thought, than some of the bin Laden jokes.
I would completely understand a negative reaction if he were saying “The United States is wrong to be taking action” or “You can’t feel peeved about your lost colleagues” or “my way is the right way” or “Here is what Buddha says about this.” But I heard what he said, and those were not his messages.
I’m stunned beyond belief that anyone thinks that talking about love and compassion is an inappropriate topic in the Unites States right now. Even W is in on the act–you don’t see him asking schoolchildren to send in bullets to the White House, do you? He asks them to send in dollars to help Afghanis. That is a peaceful, compassionate act, at least to my eyes.
Any Doves wanta justify this one?
“In a situation like this, of course you identify with everyone who’s suffering. [But we must also think about] the terrorists who are creating such horrible future lives for themselves because of the negativity of this karma. It’s all of our jobs too keep our minds as expansive as possible. If you can see [the terrorists] as a relative who’s dangerously sick and we have to give them medicine, and the medicine is love and compassion. There’s nothing better.” --Richard Gere, in an interview with ABCNEWS Radio, October 10
Or how about at the 1993 Oscars, when he asked the audience and the millions watching the awards ceremony on television to send “love and truth” to then-Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping to persuade him to pull Chinese troops from Tibet?
Well, gee, that sounds almost as bad as that guy who said to turn the other cheek-what was his name again?
:rolleyes:
Bill hon, if he’d said that at the concert, I woulda thrown the first rotten tomato. I think that would have been very inappropriate in that context.
What he said above, expressing his beliefs based on his religion, is certainly a hard viewpoint to share. But I won’t complain about that because he didn’t blather about it at the concert. He’s welcome to share his ideals one-on-one like that with any reporter who chooses to listen and report upon it.
Well, maybe it was my knowledge of the previous context that caused me the disgust. I knew what he meant. I suspect others did as well.
*I know the OP was a little over the top but it’s my first pit rant and I wanted to make sure it was “ranty” enough. So many on this board have a true gift in this area. *
The medicine is love and compassion? Anyone else really feel like giving the terrorists “love and compassion”?
Look, I don’t have a problem with him being true to his beliefs and I get his point. But I thought it was incredibly insensitive in that situation. These people don’t want to show love and compassion. They want the people that intentionallyentombed their innocent loved ones and friends under tons of concrete to pay for their actions. Asking them to turn the other cheek to an event so fresh in their minds is so unfeeling it is sickening. As someone stated, there is a time and place to express your views. This was not it.
Guin,
Possibly the very same dude who said something about forgiving someone 70 times 7 times.
By “narrow-minded pricks”, you mean the victims of this tragedy, correct? And he is more of a “class act” then the firefighters who risked their lives to save the 20,000 or so potential victims. Sorry but I can’t condone pushing personal beliefs/agenda on mourning, hurting people at such an inappropriate time.
With all due respect Monty, you didn’t feel all that forgiving in the thread about the kid who laced brownies with pot, you wanted him to be heavily punished, as an adult, no less. Yet you think forgiveness is an appropriate part of a discussion in regard to the terrorists who slaudered thousands of innocent people. That seems just a bit inconsistent. I’m a forgiving person but in this case, I just ain’t there yet and if I’m not, then I highly doubt that the NYC emergency workers are either.
yes, I know. Should have been “slaughtered”
Man, it’s been such a long day:)