Oh, I was so looking forward to doing my Scary Places blogs, but this story just cannot be ignored.
I like actress Susan Sarandon. I even go all the way back to Rocky Horror Picture Show with her. I have rarely agreed with her liberal view of politics, however, I can usually separate acting ability from views in most cases.
In this case, I may not be able to draw that line any further. I think Sarandon was way out of line this week when she referred to the current Pope, Benedict XVI, as a “Nazi.”
And, I am not the only one. Quite obviously, Sarandon has been blasted by the Catholic community, but the Jewish community is outraged as well.
It all started when the Academy award-winning actress did an interview at the Hamptons Film Festival. She told the interviewer that she had sent a copy of the book “Dead Man Walking” to the Pope. Sarandon then qualified it with “The last one, not this Nazi we have now.”
You might remember that Sarandon won her one and only Oscar (she’s been nominated five times) for playing a nun (Sister Helen Prejean) in the film Dead Man Walking.
Was it just a case of “open mouth, insert foot?” Maybe not, as Sarandon went on to call Pope Benedict XVI a “Nazi” a second time in the interview.
She may be basing her comments on the fact that the Pope was indeed a part of the Hitler Youth movement of Nazi Germany, albeit briefly. William Donahue, of the Catholic League, points out that the Pope refused to go to meetings and deserted the organization at his first opportunity.
While Donahue says, “Susan Sarandon‘s ignorance is willful: Those who have hatred in their veins are not interested in the truth,” the Anti-Defamation League is calling for her to apologize. It issued a statement, which read in part, “Such words are hateful, vindictive and only serve to diminish the true history and meaning of the Holocaust.”
Although I am neither Catholic, nor Jewish (Presbyterian for those keeping score), I have to agree. There was no call for her to say that other than to inflame certain groups.
So far, the Sarandon camp has remained closed lipped about the statement.