Foxman [head of the ADL] offered to treat Gibson’s outburst as a case of individual pathology which needs a therapeutic approach… [The] offer implies that a person has to be insane to be anti-Semitic. This easy way out enables us to avoid the key issue: that, precisely, anti-Semitism in our Western societies was and is not an ideology displayed by insane people, but an ingredient of spontaneous ideological attitudes of perfectly SANE people, of our ideological SANITY itself. This, then, is where we stand today: a sad choice between Gibson and Foxman, between the obscene bigotry of fundamentalist beliefs and the no less obscene disqualification of problematic beliefs as cases of insanity that need therapy.
[It's a dense article, but worth a look if you're interested. Slavoj Žižek, the famous Slovenian philosopher, argues pretty convincingly against using therapeutic language to debase our adversaries. But I do think he's overreaching here. He's stubborn about the suggestion of therapy – as if it's always a step away from empathy, away from your neighbor. Of course that depends on what you make of therapy. Those who stigmatize it are likely to see Ariel Foxman's position as a kind of haughty rebuke. Maybe Foxman meant it that way. On the other hand, I've been in therapy for nearly ten years over the course of my life. To suggest that Gibson could use therapy doesn't seem like a put-down to me, nor an absolution of his political beliefs or inclinations. If anything, effective therapy underscores the centrality of our ideas, especially our half-baked ones. Substitute the word "reflection" with "therapy" and all controversy fades. In the end, what's the honest difference? -Ed.]
Douglas Faneuil is the founder of Living Proof Productions, a not-for-profit devoted to suicide prevention based in New York City. He also designs database solutions for companies throughout the Northeast.