Mel Gibson on Seeking Forgiveness!

We were all stunned with the reports of Mel Gibson's drunken display of denigrating anger. His abuse of a police officer. His use of the f word. His remarks about the Jews.


Yep, he did it. No doubt.

He's guilty!

But what I do admire about it all is his publicly asking for forgiveness. Read this statement.

August 2, 2006 -- There is no excuse, nor should there be any tolerance, for anyone who thinks or expresses any kind of Anti-Semitic remark. I want to apologize specifically to everyone in the Jewish community for the vitriolic and harmful words that I said to a law enforcement officer the night I was arrested on a DUI charge.

I am a public person, and when I say something, either articulated and thought out, or blurted out in a moment of insanity, my words carry weight in the public arena. As a result, I must assume personal responsibility for my words and apologize directly to those who have been hurt and offended by those words.

The tenets of what I profess to believe necessitate that I exercise charity and tolerance as a way of life. Every human being is God's child, and if I wish to honor my God I have to honor his children. But please know from my heart that I am not an anti-Semite. I am not a bigot. Hatred of any kind goes against my faith.

I am not just asking for forgiveness. I would like to take it one step further, and meet with leaders in the Jewish community, with whom I can have a one on one discussion to discern the appropriate path for healing.

I have begun an ongoing program of recovery and what I am now realizing is that I cannot do it alone. I am in the process of understanding where those vicious words came from during that drunken display, and I am asking the Jewish community, whom I have personally offended, to help me on my journey through recovery. Again, I am reaching out to the Jewish community for its help. I know there will be many in that community who will want nothing to do with me, and that would be understandable. But I pray that that door is not forever closed.

This is not about a film. Nor is it about artistic license. This is about real life and recognizing the consequences hurtful words can have. It's about existing in harmony in a world that seems to have gone mad.

What I like about this statement is it is the proper way to seek forgiveness:
1. He humbled himself- a broken and contrite spirit
2. He acknowledged his sin- it was a sin and he says so
3. He took ownership of it- it was his and his alone - didn't blame someone else
4. He asked for forgiveness- didn't say 'sorry if'- acknowledge he did and asked forgiveness
5. He sought restoration- sought to be reconciled with those he offended

Forgiveness 101- we should follow his example of how to seek forgiveness should we do a big piece of stupid.