—– Mel Gibson’s Wife Files For Divorce (Fox News; April 13)

Mel Gibson’s wife has filed for divorce from the actor after 28 years of marriage.

Robyn Gibson cited irreconcilable differences in the papers, which she signed last Thursday. [Mel has filed papers of his own - also citing irreconcilable differences.] According to TMZ, there is no prenuptial agreement between the couple, who married in 1980.

Gibson is worth an estimated $900 million. Robyn Gibson is reportedly seeking spousal support, joint custody of their child Tom (the only minor of their 7 children together) and attorney fees.

But some sources say that those “irreconcilable differences” may include Mel vacationing with another woman.

According to RadarOnline.com, the “Braveheart” star was recently spotted at his Costa Rica vacation home with a stunning Russian musician named Oksana.

On March 4, Radar caught the two in a loving embrace on the beach. According to the report, several of his sons, their girlfriends and other guests were all on hand for the trip.

Still, according to People magazine, the couple has been separated for three years, reportedly breaking up shortly after his DUI arrest in Malibu. According to that report, the couple’s separation has been quite amicable….

Irreconcilable differences, eh?

Funny, but I don’t think the Bible’s Jesus ever listed that as a reason to end a marriage. In fact, he seems to have taken a pretty hard-ass position on the subject even while remaining silent on slavery and homosexuality and abortion. Does that mean divorce is morally worse than enslaving others or engaging in gay sex or having an abortion? If I were a Christian, I don’t think I’d bet against it….

On the other hand, I can see how tough it might be for a woman to be married to a man who apparently believes she’s destined to burn in hell for all eternity despite being a saintly Episcopalian. As I mentioned in the entry I posted on April 4, 2004, Mel expressed that view in a 2003 interview with The New Yorker. Here’s the exact quote (courtesy Wikipedia): “There is no salvation for those outside the [Catholic] Church… I believe it. Put it this way. My wife is a saint. She’s a much better person than I am. Honestly. She’s, like, Episcopalian, Church of England. She prays, she believes in God, she knows Jesus, she believes in that stuff. And it’s just not fair if she doesn’t make it, she’s better than I am. But that is a pronouncement from the chair. I go with it.” Can YOU imagine yourself remaining married to a man who is so unwilling to stand up for you even in the face of what he himself sees as profoundly unfair treatment?

On the third hand…. Mel is famously Christian – the driving force behind that awful The Passion of the Christ movie. Fox News says he was actually named the most powerful Christian in Hollywood by Beliefnet.com in 2007. And as this diary has reported several times (including here), he’s not just a Catholic but a so-called Traditionalist Catholic who has poured millions into his own church compound where those Vatican liberals who have been corrupting Catholicism for the last 50 years or so can be avoided. Perhaps if he had spent less time trying to save the world and more time trying to save his marriage, his marriage wouldn’t be ending the way it is now. And perhaps his 7 children (the youngest turns 10 on Tuesday according to the AP) would still be able to say that they come from the sort of family gOd allegedly loves best….

On the fourth hand, I can’t say that I’m terribly shocked. As I’ve pointed out several times (including here), Christians seem at least as likely to divorce as non-Christians despite the alleged admonitions of Jesus and the Catholic Church. And as recent events in the Palin family remind us, issues involving romantic love and marriage have a way of swamping the castles of even the most famous holier-than-thou Christians. And not even Billy Graham – the alleged savior of millions – managed to convince his Presbyterian wife to join him in his Baptist faith (as reported here)….

Still, I have to say that I’m… what? Hopeful that Christians will look at this latest example of a Christian marriage going down in flames and be a bit more humble and modest and less judgmental? Well, no – not quite… but that perhaps comes the closest to what I’m thinking right now.

Although part of me would really like to stand up and shout out my window “Hey, Christians! Please be absolutely sure your own damn house is in order before you even *think* about telling the rest of us how to live our lives!”

But that would be rude, so I won’t.

If there’s anything you’d like to say at this point, feel free. I’d love to hear *your* thoughts.