Promise Keepers stand behind Gibson

Promise Keepers stand behind Gibson

Promise Keepers president Dr. Raleigh Washington believes that God is continuing to use Mel Gibson as a messenger -- despite his many public problems.

The head of the prominent Christian ministry -- which threw tremendous support behind Gibson's 2004 film The Passion of Christ -- says the troubled actor still has a powerful message for Christians.

"I believe that God used Mel Gibson mightily for the Passion of Christ," Washington tells USA TODAY. "And I believe He is going to continue to use him."

Christian leaders who had supported Gibson during his film have been remarkably quiet in the wake of the actor's widely publicized woes from last summer, which came on top of the fallout from his infamous 2006 drunk driving arrest in Malibu.

But Washington says that movie-goers and Christians should forgive the actor whose new film, The Beaver, opened to a poor box office take last weekend.

"The times a person is granted forgiveness is directly related to the times that person takes responsibility and genuinely repents," says Washington. "If this is his second or third time, it doesn't disqualify him."

Washington says he's interested in seeing The Beaver and is inclined to give the same support as he gave The Passion of Christ.

"That was a religious movie from beginning to end. It would have been shame on us to not get behind that one," he says. "In the case of The Beaver, the story looks like it's about the redemption of mankind. I can support that."

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