My role models are people who have the courage of their convictions, a quality that is becoming rarer in todayÆs homogenized society where climbing onto the popular bandwagon is more acceptable. Moral relativism suggests that ôanything goes,ö blurring the lines between right and wrong and encouraging people to do whatever they feel inclined to do and then justify it intellectually. Those who depart from the popular mentality to risk disapproval are generally ostracized and find that they have to suffer rejection as well as the tough road that goes with walking their talk. Standing for unpopular views is like swimming upstream while those going with the flow take potshots at you. People willing to endure this are laudable for their courage, commitment, and authenticity.
One of the people who embodies these things to me is Mel Gibson. In the decadent world of Hollywood, where filmmakers try every day to make wrong look right, Gibson risked his highly successful and lucrative career, not to mention $25 million of his personal fortune, to make ôThe Passion of the Christ.ö He did this based on his personal convictions, knowing that the vast majority of the public and virtually all of Hollywood did not share his views. It was a tremendous risk on several levels, and yet he did it unflinchingly simply because it was a story he felt needed to be told. His personal vision was so deeply held that it drove him past reasonableness. It was his own passion that pervaded the movie, and in spite of themselves, most of his detractors had to admit that it was a great movie. Fortunately, in spite of opposition and criticism by a vocal few, the movie was a blockbuster at the box office, and GibsonÆs courageous stand was vindicated. Still, this does not minimize the difficulty of taking an unpopular stance.
My other role model is President Bush. He likewise has been the object of much unmerited abuse in Hollywood and in the media,...