Matthew Newton is at it again – bashing women and beating up workers. The Underbelly star is proving that life does imitate art. CCTV footage now shows that he is in denial and a liar. Despite his behaviour, there seems to be no end of people who are lining up to defend him. Few of us are surprised when his lawyer Chris Murphy uses the mental illness defence. “Can’t cure mental illness with ‘You stop that!’. Bipolar sufferers need patience & support. Matthew Newton has mine. Treatment continues.” he tweets. But it seems that many Australians have become so star-stuck that we are prepared to defend the indefensible. “The problem is not Matthew Newton, the problem is the debilitating disease that he suffers from” – or so the line of argument goes. Why do some people advocate such twisted logic?
Mental Illness?
Avoiding responsibility is a classic response. If we are not responsible for our sins, then God would be unjust in sending us to hell. If we can blame mental illness (or other external disease), then we can not only deny responsibility, but also blame others or even God for our behaviour. If anyone asks us to be responsible, then we can accuse them of being ‘un-compassionate’ or ‘un-Christian’. I have great compassion for those who genuinely struggle with mental illness. However, the majority of those with mental illnesses do not bash taxi drivers, beat up their girlfriends, or punch hotel workers. The genuine supporters of mental illness suffers should be outraged and leading the exposure of celebrities who hide behind mental illness as an excuse. The genuine battlers of mental illness are heros. Matthew Newton is a coward who is hiding behind their brave and daily fights.
Sinful Nature
The truth is that we all have a sinful nature. The sad truth is that many celebrities habitually indulge the sinful nature to increasingly depraved degrees. We can expect more ‘moral messangers’ to be shot as the ‘excuse industry’ responds to our reprobate society. In days gone, society would have drawn and quartered such offenders. My view is that if Rachel Taylor or Brook Satchwell was my daughter, then as a father, my moral and righteous duty would be to introduce Matthew Newton to a baseball bat. I see such a response as both
1. a compasionate defence of women, and
2. a just response of a righteous society to serial beast.
A Just Response?
I expect that some people will say ‘what about repetentence? and ‘what about not repaying an eye for an eye? I fully believe that Matthew Newton is not beyond God’s grace, and repentance could be possible. Those of death row can still be saved by God. Repentance does not negate the consequences of their sin. God’s command in Genesis 9:6 still applies where he says, “Whosoever sheds man’s blood, by man shall his blood be shed?” A good wallop may just be what Matthew Newton needs for him to realise what he has done to others. The baseball bat may be the tool that God uses to bring about repentance – because let’s face it – the status quo has failed.
Bad Parenting
Ultimately, I surmise that it is bad parenting that has created the degree of rebellion and bad behaviour in society today. Bert and Patti Newton’s softly softly rationalisation of his behaviour is the biggest offence in this whole saga. I am by no means blaming parents for the behaviour of their adult children. Adult children are accountable. But good parents don’t sweep their little angel’s behaviours under the carpet. Bert and Patti’s public statements provide a sorry insight into how they trained up their Matthew. (Proverbs 22:6) A truly godly response would have been for them to show compassion for Matthew’s victims and to commit to justice being done.
If society was righteous we would be seeing a unanimous response to badly behaving celebrities. The fact that sin in celebrities lives and our lives is tolerated so much, shows just how unrighteous we have become. We are not going to see a righteous society this side of heaven. While we should still stand up and call for justice for Matthew Newton’s victim’s, we must also long the Jesus to return so that he can bring ultimate justice and righteouness to all.
Blessings
– JC
5 Comments
Lyndee
If only life were so simple that the bad people were bad and got punished, the victims of sin were healed, or even better that there were no victims at all. Unfortunately that is not real life.
I agree the actions of bashing women is horrendous and should never happen, but I also believe the meddling of Satan in people’s lives and the chemical imbalances of the physical brain that trigger mental illness should also not happen. But it does.
The author of this article has no personal relationship with either Mathew Newton, nor his family and therefore has NO BUSINESS proclaiming judgment. This shows a complete lack of understanding of the Bipolar illness and ignorant condemnation is exactly what the world expects from loud mouthed Christians.
Thanks for reinforcing the stereotype of the judgmental, ignorant Christian. Next time, try to remember that we are meant to be known by the Love of Christ for ALL the victims of sin on both sides of such horrendous crimes.
Jeremy crooks
Lyndee. Thanks for your comment. I find it ironic that you have judged me to be judgmental. If you read my article, you would have found that I described those battling genuine mental illness as heroes.
The true tragedy is that your line of thought enables the Matthew Newtons of the world to use real sufferers of mental illness as human shields in his PR battle.
Apo
Jeremy, I appreciate your views on this topic. Though, have you considered that the reason why society hasn’t seen the actions listed above is because some genuine mental health sufferes do not access the mainstream of society? I work with people with mental illness and let me tell you if given the chance, these people can do serious harm to property and people.
Jeremy Crooks
Apo.
You raise some good points. We absolutely need caring and firm places to ensure the safety of sufferers and society. Thank you for your daily work in this area.
The intent of my post was to highlight the celebrity rehab/PR industry which piggy backs off mental health, but it seems the genuine challenges of the broader mental health issues in society are significant. This topic may deserve a separate post. I would welcome more of your thoughts Apo.
Apo
Yes, I hear you. As the posts describes, many people are not taking responsibility for their actions and we as a society are feeding into this behavior. I’ve been somewhat perplexed at how celebrities are generally treated with regards to breaking the law. How they are so easily let off because they have a bad reaction to it, or their follows do not approve, or mental health etc. etc. a good post all round.
With regards to mental health, there is still so much unknown with regards to causes, how to best treatment etc. though, there have been significant improvements within the industry. I suppose if I were to offer anything it would be more practical ways with dealing with these people who are also made in the image of God.