One of our good members, John Boone from Woodland, California, recently sent us a back issue of a newspaper called The Christian Activist. Published by James Buchfuehrer out of Mt. Hermon, California, the publication fancies itself as "A Journal of Orthodox Opinion." But from what we’ve read, it sounds more like a journal of orthodox anti-Catholicism. Indeed, [...]
Frances Kissling, president of oxymoronically entitled organization, Catholics for a Free Choice (CFFC), is second to no one when it comes to putting a spin on issues. She proved herself once again to be the spin master with her publication, "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About The Catholic Vote." It is Kissling’s determination to convince [...]
On a new Comedy Central program called Pulp Comics, which aired October 9, Paul Provenza, a comedian and writer of the program, first discussed sex and AIDS, making the point that one can’t afford to have unprotected sex with anyone. "You could sleep with Mother Teresa, wake up the next day with a Chia Pet growing out of [...]
Fox’s Mad TV is a program which shows skits that parody many people and institutions including Catholics. Two such skits were considered offensive by the league. One, which aired October 7, featured a Catholic teacher discussing safe sex to her high school class; a crucifix was prominently displayed on the wall. She loaded her commentary with off color [...]
Lisa Schwarzbaum, a writer for Entertainment Weekly, had some pretty frank things to say about Hollywood and Catholics in the October 11 edition. "At the risk of sounding like Michael Medved," she said, "I’ve got to add this magnified-on-video footnote: In The Craft, Fleming emphasizes Sarah’s alienation at St. Benedict’s Academy with a shot of the bleeding Jesus [...]
On October 19, the CBS program, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, aired a segment that raised the eyebrows of the Catholic League. Printed below is a transcript of the offending exchange. REVEREND: Your godparents must be very, very special people indeed. You understand they do much more than step in, in case of tragedy. DR. QUINN: I must [...]
Rep. Patrick Kennedy apologized on November 1 for saying that "I hope in the near future the [Catholic] Church crawls out of the Stone Age." Kennedy was referring the Church’s teachings on ordination. But his apology sounded more like a clarification of his position than a really contrite response. Kennedy said "I regret my choice of [...]
In the July-August edition of Catalyst, we ran a story about the badgering that a Catholic student experienced during an interview for a scholarship at the University of Virginia. As it turns out, UVA does not have a monopoly on harassing Catholic students during interviews. After our article appeared, we received a letter from a member who [...]
Christopher Durang, the playwright who gave us "Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You," and has now offered us "Sex and Longing," says that his detractors "claimed that my criticism was anti-Catholic." He adds that they "confused criticism with bigotry." Really? If that is true, then it means that the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, [...]
In last month’s Catalyst, we ran an article about Grimsley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. We printed a letter from Dr. Donohue to the Superintendent of the Guilford County Schools, Dr. Jerry Weast. At issue was the propriety of assigning a patently offensive book, The Old Gringo. The final vote by the school board was 6-5 to [...]
