c. 2006 Religion News Service

Mel Gibson Apologizes to Jews for Anti-Semitic Remarks

(RNS) Actor Mel Gibson issued an apology to the Jewish community Tuesday (Aug. 1) and asked for their help after a weekend incident in which he hurled anti-Semitic remarks at a police officer.

Gibson was pulled over on suspicion of driving under the influence on a highway in Southern California Friday night (July 28), according to a widely circulated police report.

The filmmaker behind “The Passion of the Christ” allegedly called one officer a “(expletive) Jew,” and said “Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,” according to the report. Gibson also allegedly asked an arresting officer, “Are you a Jew?”

“I’m not just asking for forgiveness,” Gibson said in his statement. “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.”

The Anti-Defamation League, which had previously blasted Gibson for his remarks, accepted his apology and welcomed his efforts to repair the damage that had been done.

“We would wait for an overture from him, that would be the first step,” said Todd Gutnick, a spokesman for the organization.

Gibson has attracted the ire of the ADL and other Jewish organizations in the past, particularly after Jewish groups said his 2004 film blamed Jews for the death of Jesus.

“Please know from my heart that I am not an anti-Semite,” Gibson’s statement said. “I am not a bigot. Hatred of any kind goes against my faith.”

William Donohue, president of the New York-based Catholic League, strongly defended Gibson’s film in the past and called Gibson’s apology a “model of contrition.”

_ Peter Sachs

Religious Groups Ask for Probe into Ohio Gambling Proposal

COLUMBUS, Ohio (RNS) Two religious groups have asked for a state criminal investigation of a committee trying to bring slot machines to Ohio, saying its campaign workers are misrepresenting the gambling proposal.

The Ohio Council of Churches and the Ohio United Methodist Anti-Gambling Task Force on Monday (July 31) said petition workers for the Learn and Earn Committee are promising riches for college-bound students but not telling voters that the proposal would be funded with gambling money.

“We think people have a right to know they are being duped,” the council’s Thomas Smith said at a Statehouse news conference.

Smith and the Rev. John Edgar of Columbus, a task force member, delivered letters Monday to the attorney general’s and secretary of state’s offices, asking for an investigation into whether the campaign workers are “intentionally deceiving Ohio citizens to get them to sign petitions.”

If they are, Smith and Edgar want the workers prosecuted, the campaign to change its practices and all signatures collected to be disqualified.

The attorney general’s office responded in writing, telling Smith and Edgar to make their request with county boards of elections. The boards would involve local prosecutors, who could request the attorney general’s help, said spokeswoman Kim Norris.

The secretary of state’s office said it is a first-degree misdemeanor to misrepresent the contents of a petition and that it would assist prosecutors if asked, said spokesman James Lee.

Learn and Earn needs 323,000 valid signatures by Aug. 9 for its proposal to qualify for the November ballot. The campaign says it has more than 600,000 names. Voters defeated previous efforts to bring gaming to Ohio.

Proponents hope voters will buy in this time, attracted by the promise of $900,000 in college tuition money each year for Ohio students. The money would be generated by gambling on 3,500 slot machines at seven racetracks and two downtown Cleveland casinos.

Learn and Earn spokeswoman Linda Siefkas didn’t deny that the campaign strategy is to sell the tuition benefit and mention gaming only if asked. But she added that workers carry summaries of the issue that people can read before agreeing to sign.

“Anybody that we know is working for us to gather petitions and is not representing this issue clearly, we want to know and we’ll take action,” she said. “But it is clear on the very front of the petition _ the very first sentence of that summary mentions gaming.”

_ Reginald Fields

Missouri Catholics Accused of Improper Politicking

(RNS) A former top director with the Internal Revenue Service has filed a complaint against the Missouri Catholic Conference, claiming the nonprofit group broke rules against politicking when it encouraged lawmakers to return campaign donations.

Washington-based lawyer Marcus Owens said the Catholic group tried to intimidate Missouri politicians into returning campaign donations given by supporters of embryonic stem cell research, according to media reports.

Owens worked for the IRS for 25 years, including 10 as director of the Exempt Organizations Division, according to a biography posted on his law firm’s Web site.

Owens’ secretary said he was not immediately available for comment.

IRS rules limit nonprofit organizations’ ability to take part in “issue advocacy” and political campaign activity.

Numerous religious groups in Missouri, including the Catholic Conference, are lobbying state lawmakers to reject a constitutional amendment that would protect embryonic stem cell research from efforts to ban it.

The Missouri Catholic Conference is the public policy lobbying arm for the state’s four Catholic dioceses.

In April, about 50 state lawmakers received letters saying that “the Missouri Catholic Conference is committed to informing Missouri voters about campaign contributions promoting human cloning and embryonic stem cell research and will report to Missouri voters regarding candidates who chose to associate themselves with this and similar organizations that promote such unethical practices,” according to The Associated Press.

The letters added that if candidates returned contributions from a group that supports embryonic stem cell research and could document it, the Catholic Conference would let diocesan newspapers know.

“This debate is so incendiary and there’s so much misinformation, we just wanted to let Missouri citizens know exactly what was happening,” said Larry Webber, the conference’s executive director.

Webber said “10 to 15” lawmakers had returned campaign donations. The conference will continue to fight the constitutional amendment despite Owens’ complaint, he added.

Though Webber characterized the letters as part of the MCC’s voter education efforts, Owens has a different take.

“We believe this letter, as well as numerous others like it that the MCC has sent, is a crude effort at intimidation, designed to threaten political candidates into submission by using church resources,” Owens said in his letter to IRS Commissioner Mark Everson, according to the AP.

_ Daniel Burke

Quote of the Day: Mian and Nahida Haq, parents of accused killer

(RNS) “We could not have imagined for a moment that our son would do this senseless act. We have always believed and practiced in fostering love, peace and harmony with everyone, irrespective of religion, race and ethnicity.”

_ Mian and Nahida Haq, parents of Naveed Afzal Haq, who was held on bail pending formal charges after a shooting rampage at the Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle on Friday (July 28) in which one woman died and five others were wounded. Their statement was quoted by the Associated Press.

KRE/PH END RNS