The Catholic League has been getting many phone calls and e-mails regarding Sen. Obama’s support for infanticide. To read more about how, while in the Illinois state senate, Obama led the fight to deny medical care to infants born alive as a result of botched abortions and let them die unaided in hospital rooms, check out the links below.

Rick Santorum, The Philadelphia Inquirer, 2/28/08: “The Elephant in the Room: Obama: A harsh ideologue hidden by a feel-good image”

Terence P. Jeffrey, Cybercast News Service, 1/9/08: "Obama Is the Most Pro-Abortion Candidate Ever"

Jill Stanek, American Conservative Daily, 4/14/08: “Obama Blocked Born Alive Infant Protection Act”

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Click here to read the Pew Forum's findings on the image Americans have of Pope Benedict XVI in the wake of his recent visit.

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Michael Preisler, a member of the Catholic League, is a Polish Catholic who survived Auschwitz. Click here to read about his work educating others on the reality of life in Poland during the Holocaust.

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“What if the greatest story ever told was a lie?” This is the tag line to “Bloodline,” a new film opening in New York this Friday. Bruce Burgess, the producer, has previously made documentaries exploring the Bermuda Triangle and searching for Bigfoot. So it comes as no surprise that he is floating claims that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, sired children, and that His body is still entombed in France today.

Such charges are nothing new. The folks behind the Jesus Seminar have been floating such theories for years. The ridiculous lies behind the fictional Da Vinci Code and the more recent Discovery Channel airing of “The Lost Tomb of Jesus” have been debunked time and again. Yet the hucksters are still at it.

“Bloodline” is playing in limited locations. We’re betting the reactions of the audience will be limited too. The producers sent the Catholic League a free copy of the film. We can safely say that anyone who buys a ticket will be thinking, “I can’t believe I paid ten bucks for that.”

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April 23, 2008

Yesterday, the Rev. John Hagee appeared as a guest on Dennis Prager’s radio show. On the program, Hagee denied that he is anti-Catholic, claiming, “The charges made against me by specifically the Catholic League are simply false.”

For his part, Prager mentioned his long-standing friendship with the Catholic League and his intention to bring Bill Donohue on his program soon. However, he also praised Hagee as one of the most “courageous” and “important” leaders of the day. The radio host declared, “There are times in life where there are conflicts and there are times where there are gratuitous conflicts. This is gratuitous. There should be no conflict between any Catholic institution and John Hagee.”

John Hagee is a man with a history of bandying about false accusations against the Catholic Church—one of his favorite lies is that Hitler was acting in accordance with the Vatican and the “Roman Church.” He also isn’t fooling anyone by saying he wasn’t speaking of the Catholic Church when he threw out insults like “false cult system” and the “great whore.” He used them while slamming the Catholic Church. Furthermore, anti-Catholic Protestants have used such demonizing language against the Church for years.

Donohue would welcome the chance to go on Prager’s show and discuss Hagee. The preacher can spin all he likes, but he won’t convince the country he isn’t anti-Catholic. His record is too long and too vitriolic.

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What His Holiness said at the White House on Wednesday was the truth, and nothing but the truth: “Any tendency to treat religion as a private matter must be resisted.”

We hope all those who would like to privatize, if not censor, religion are listening. What the pope said will surely embolden millions of Catholics to take a more aggressive public role exercising their religious liberty rights. We also hope that the ACLU, the ADL and Americans United for Separation of Church and State get the message.

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Rabbi Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, who represents North American Orthodox synagogues as executive vice president of the Orthodox Union, dismissed the controversy surrounding the Latin version of the Good Friday prayer for the Jews. “Their prayers are their business, our prayers are our business,” the rabbi told the press. We hope everyone takes note of his sensible and considerate take on the issue.

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Pope Benedict XVI has done everything he can to remain faithful to Catholic teaching on the subject of salvation and at the same time reassure Jews that the Latin prayer is not being used as cover to ignite a conversion war. While most Jews have accepted the pope’s recent statement on this subject, the ADL has not. Instead, in its news release of April 4, it says, “the statement does not go far enough to allay concerns about how the message of this prayer will be understood by the people in the pews.”

There is something downright disturbing about this language. Is it the ADL’s contention that those rank-and-file type Catholics are just waiting to beat the conversion drums and go out and find Jews to proselytize? It’s time the ADL gave this a rest before it triggers a backlash.

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March 20, 2008

WTOP, a news radio station in Washington, D.C., is currently playing a commercial that ridicules the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The spot, paid for by a Presbyterian Church in the nation’s capital, mimics a man confessing his sins to a priest. The priest repeats the man’s sins back to him, and with each sin (e.g., having lustful thoughts while viewing lingerie ads and coveting a neighbor’s lawn equipment) a cash register clicks, as if to tally up the sum of each sin. At the end, a voice tells listeners that with the Presbyterian Church, their spiritual journey doesn’t have to be “a guilt trip.” According to station managers, this ad has been aired for two runs a year since 2004.

It is interesting that those who made this spot felt that in order to spur interest in their church, they had to mock a Catholic sacrament. Rather than boasting of a strong faith formation or meaningful religious services, these folks must rely on trivializing attack ads to gin up their declining membership.

It is also troublesome that such an ad is running during Holy Week. This most sacred season is often the time when those with an animus toward the Church level their assaults. We’re used to it. What we are not accustomed to, however, are these assaults coming from our fellow Christians. We hope that in the future, those responsible for this advertisement will choose to highlight Presbyterianism, rather than to belittle Catholicism. 

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March 17, 2008

On March 13 & 14, The Cavalier Daily, a student-run newspaper at the University of Virginia, ran two cartoons, both of which were offensive to Christians.  We blasted the newspaper for their bigotry and pointed out its hypocrisy.

On March 15 the newspaper removed the cartoons from its website and issued a statement of regret.  The editor has pledged to review their cartoon policy.

We are happy that the staff at The Cavalier Daily came to their senses and recognized that anti-Catholic bigotry has no place on the pages of its newspaper.

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Last night, ABC’s “World News with Charles Gibson” ran a story about the health benefits of being an optimist. At the end of the segment, viewers on the East Coast were presented with a scene from “Monty Python’s Life of Brian” in which crucified men (one is the character Brian, mistaken in the plot for the Messiah) sing and whistle the song “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”

It didn’t take ABC long to realize that airing a scene mocking the crucifixion was completely unnecessary and inappropriate. Not wishing to further offend Christians, the network changed the scene for subsequent broadcasts in other time zones and apologized to those viewers who voiced their objections.

We are pleased that officials at ABC acted quickly to correct their actions, and appreciate their willingness to convey their apologies. Their handling of the problem speaks well of the network. We can’t help but wish, however, that instead of a trivial and offensive closer to the segment, something with real substance had been chosen.

The audience would have been well served to be reminded that faith in God also is beneficial to your health. A study from the University of Pennsylvania found that people who regularly practice their faith have lower rates of drug and alcohol abuse, depression and other health ailments. Other studies from Duke University Medical Center have found that religious people spend less time in hospitals and recover from illness more quickly than their secular counterparts. Additionally, using date collected over thirty years, scientists at the California Department of Heath Services, the Public Health Institute and the University of California, Berkeley, found that those who attend church services weekly tend to live longer than others.

This is the sort of information that would have made a fitting end to ABC’s story.

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Tonight, Comedy Central will premier a new show, “Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil.” The show will feature the cantankerous Lewis as a “judge” who must grapple with two other comics, each trying to argue a side of a supposedly humorous question. The first episode, “Oprah vs. the Catholic Church” will ask whether the talk show host or the Bride of Christ is more “evil.”

According to preview videos and printed reviews, Black charges that the Church hinders “social progress” and that the pope gives lectures bashing other religions. The program features abundant jokes about molester priests. One would hope that a network devoted entirely to comedy would be able to come up with a few new gags rather than rely on the old bigoted chestnut about the priest and the altar boy. But Comedy Central has a long history of attacking the Church, and this is just more of the same.

We’ve read several reviews of the premier show. Some indicate that there will be minor jabs at the Catholic Church, and others that the attack is quite vicious. We’ll report back tomorrow to weigh in.

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Everyone is pointing out the obvious: Eliot Spitzer is an arrogant man who thought that the same rules that apply to everyone else don’t apply to him. Yes, his hubris is insufferable, but there is something else going on as well.

One would be hard pressed to find a public official anywhere in the nation who entertains a more libertine understanding of sexuality than Eliot Spitzer. For example, his unbelievable passion for abortion rights led him to declare Crisis Pregnancy Centers the enemy when he was New York Attorney General. He intimidated them, harassed them and used bogus arguments to try to shut them down. But he met resistance, from the Catholic League and others, and had to pull back.

The majority of the residents of New York State—including the majority of those who live in New York City—are opposed to same-sex marriage. Spitzer favors it. He’s not satisfied with civil unions—he wants gay marriage.

Spitzer has been working hard to declare abortion a “fundamental right,” one so inviolate that it could never be overturned by the courts. He has also warned that no institution could “discriminate” in forbidding abortion services. Though officials in his administration have told us this would not mandate Catholic hospitals to perform abortions, the fact that the issue has been raised is worrisome.

Now he has been involved in a prostitution ring for years (allegedly practicing unsafe sexual acts) and declares his behavior to be “private” in nature (evidently, he believes the laws against prostitution—laws which he previously prosecuted and is now sworn to enforce—do not address public matters). His comment that politics is not about individuals, but ideas, is similarly bizarre. It’s not my persona that matters, he seems to be saying, it’s my ideas. Ideas, he adds, that are “progressive.”

It is also revealing to note that the group he was scheduled to meet with—before being told that he had an emergency meeting with the Feds—was Family Planning Advocates. This is the lobbying arm of Planned Parenthood.
 
In other words, in addition to his arrogance, the man is a walking embodiment of the Playboy Philosophy: He is a true libertine. And like all libertines, he not only destroys himself, he ineluctably destroys those around him.

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We previously wrote about attempts by Colorado lawmaker Rep. Gwyn Green to pass House Bill 1011. The bill would lift the statute of limitations on all future cases involving the sexual abuse of children and grant a two-year period that offers those who are currently barred from doing so the chance to file a lawsuit.

Our concern with this piece of legislation was that it would only affect private institutions, such as Catholic schools, while public institutions would largely be immune. (A separate and wholly unequal bill was aimed at public schools.) We are pleased to note that the Colorado’s House Judiciary Committee killed Green's objectionable bill yesterday.

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On February 19, we commented on a proposed Maryland bill that would suspend the statute of limitations on child sexual abuse cases for almost two years. We took issue with this piece of legislation because while it would effect private institutions like Catholic churches and parochial schools, government institutions such as public schools would largely be exempt.

We are happy to report that after facing harsh opposition, the delegate who sponsored the bill, Eric Bromwell, has withdrawn it. According to The Examiner, Del. Bromwell states he will give “serious consideration” to resubmitting the bill during the next legislative session. As we said previously, any legislation on such matters should apply equally to all institutions—public and private. If that were the case, the Catholic League would not object. 

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We received several phone calls and e-mails about a situation in Albany, Oregon. A public school principal suspended two teenage boys for refusing to remove crucifixes and rosary beads from around their necks. Because the educator had reason to suspect the students’ wearing of these religious symbols was related to gang activity, the Catholic League has no problems with his action.

Though a flat-out ban of religious symbols worn by students would certainly be objectionable, this is not the case here. The principal has stated that religious items are permitted. However, he reserves the right to order their removal on a case-by-case basis, should he have reason to believe they are meant to indicate gang affiliation.

It is unfortunate that gangs are a problem in our country’s schools, and unfortunate that many gangs pervert Catholic symbols and devotionals in order to identify themselves and intimidate others. The Oregon principal seems to be doing what he must to protect all of his students, and keep the kids focused on education.

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In response to the Catholic League’s news release of February 7, “Politics of Sex Abuse in Colorado,” state Representative Morgan Carroll sent us this e-mail:

Attacking a fellow member or her religion is not a particularly professional way to argue a bill on the merits.  If you have policy problems with removing the SOL protecting sex offenders, please share your reasons, but so long as you are simply attacking a colleague or her motives, I, for one, find it offensive.  It hurts your credibility on the issues and instead makes it look like you guys are about politics over policy.  In an effort to be more effective, you may wish to reconsider your approach and simply debate the pros / cons of the issues.

Thanks,

Morgan

Catholic League president Bill Donohue responded to Carroll as follows:

One of your colleagues makes a libelous remark about the Catholic Church, wears her Catholicism on her sleeve, boasts of her support from the abortion industry and introduces a bill that discriminates in its application against private institutions vis-à-vis public institutions, and you have the gall to lecture me about politics?

No wonder the American people hold politicians in such a low regard. You, sir, are Exhibit A.

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Last week Bill Donohue was asked on the Fox News Network to comment on his charge that Bill Maher is “Americans #1 bigot.” In his concluding remarks, Donohue opined that he would love to get in the ring with Maher in Madison Square Garden so he could “floor him.”

When Maher was asked last night by Larry King to respond to Donohue’s quip, he said—in a serious tone—that Donohue “threatened to beat [him] up” and that he would “defend” himself if necessary.

To which Donohue said today, “At 6 feet 2 inches tall and 235 pounds, Maher is lucky to know that I don’t pick on people who are not my size, and this is doubly true when they’re half my size.”

It is obvious that this humorless “comedian” needs to get a life. He also needs to see a shrink about his pathological obsession with all things religious, especially Roman Catholicism.

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This week, Pope Benedict XVI had to cancel a talk at Rome’s Sapienza University because 67 professors said they would stop him from speaking. The high priests of tolerance explained their exercise in censorship by saying they disagreed with the pope’s writings on science. The few instances they cited were all erroneous.

Ironically, the pope was to talk on one of his favorite subjects—the need to embrace both faith and reason—and was stopped by those who obviously believe in neither.

Oh, yes, the fascist professors owe their livelihood to Pope Boniface VIII: he founded the university in 1303 (it became independent in 1870). That’s what the Catholic clergy do—they promote faith and reason.

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On the January 9 edition of “The View,” panelist Joy Behar made it plain that she needs a shrink. She said the reason why there are so few saints anymore is because of “psychotropic medication.” She continued, “I think the old days, the saints were hearing voices and they didn’t have any Thorazine to calm them down.”

Besides being flatly wrong—a record number of saints have been named over the past few decades—it is Behar who needs to consult a shrink. Her musings about all things Catholic suggests a pathological condition so severe as to make those who hear voices positively sane by comparison.

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On December 21, 2007 we posted a statement on Mike Huckabee’s scheduled appearance at Rev. John Hagee’s church on December 23. We have subsequently learned that presidential hopeful John McCain reached out to Hagee last fall.  Hagee introduced McCain on September 20, 2007 during his “No Surrender Tour” at an event in South Carolina.

The Catholic League has long considered Rev. Hagee to be a bigot, and the reason we are citing the McCain appearance now is because we want to treat the Arizona senator the same way we treated the former governor of Arkansas.

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As we begin the New Year, we'd like to share with you this moving account of one inmate's conversion story. (Posted with permission of the author.)

My name is Pornchai Moontri, and I am prisoner #38284 in the New Hampshire State Prison. I come to the Catholic faith after a painful journey in darkness that my friend, Father Gordon MacRae, has asked me to write candidly. This is not something I do easily, but I trust my friend.

I was born in Bua Nong Lamphu, a small village in the north of Thailand near Khon Kaen on September 10, 1973. At the age of two, I was abandoned by my mother to be sold. A distant teenaged relative rescued me. He walked many miles to carry me away to his family farm where I worked throughout my childhood raising water buffalo, rice, and sugar cane. I never attended school, however, and never learned to read and write in Thai. Though my childhood involved hard work, I was safe and happy.

When I was 11 years old, my mother re-emerged in Thailand with a new husband – an American air traffic controller from Bangor, Maine. I was taken from Thailand by them against my will, and brought to the United States. This transition was a trauma to be endured. A month after my arrival in Bangor, my new stepfather’s motive for importing a ready-made Thai family became clear. I was forcibly raped by him at age 11, an event that was to be repeated with regularity over the next three years. I was a prisoner in his house, and resistance was only met with violence against me and against my mother. I was all of 100 pounds. I cannot describe this further. Welcome to America!

Being one of only three Asians in 1985 Bangor, and speaking little English, I did not readily comprehend my new names. “Gook,” “V.C.” and “Charlie” meant nothing to me, but I could sense the scorn with which such names were delivered. Because my English was poor, I was treated as though I was stupid. Part of my humiliation was that I had to get a paper route at age 12, and my earnings were taken from me to pay for the “privilege” of living in my captor’s house. Stephen King’s home was on my paper route. Mr. King once gave me a Christmas bonus of 25¢ for delivering his newspaper all year. The horror stories he wrote about Maine are all true. Remember the one with the evil clown? It’s true.

When I was 14, my English was better. I was a little bigger, and a lot stronger – and nothing but angry. Anger was all I had. So with it I fled that house and became a homeless teenager in and around Bangor. One day the Bangor police actually picked me up and forced me to go “home.” I would rather have gone to one of the ones Stephen King wrote about. I just fled again and again, and ended up at the Good Will Hinckley School for people like me. I was there for a year and got kicked out for fighting. I was always fighting. I fought everyone.

Back on the streets of Bangor, I began to carry a knife. At 17 and 18, a lot of people were after me. I lived under a bridge for a while and sometimes my mother would bring me things. I tried to climb out of the deep hole I was in by signing up for night classes at age 18 to finish my high school diploma. I was kicked out of Bangor High School for punching the principal.

One night, at age 18, something that lived in me got out. I got very drunk with friends, and we walked into a Bangor Shop & Save supermarket to buy cigarettes. I barely remember this. In my drunken state, I opened a bottle of beer from a case and started to drink it. The manager confronted me and ordered me to leave. I tried to flee the store, but the manager and other employees tried to keep me there. I tried to fight them off to flee. When I got outside, a manager from another Shop & Save had witnessed the incident and pounced on me. I was 130 pounds and was pinned to the ground by this 190-pound man. I think something snapped in my mind. IT was happening again. I fought, but his dead weight was suffocating me. The newspapers would later tell a different story, but this was the truth, and it is all I remember.

In jail that night, I was questioned for three hours. I was told that I had stabbed a man and was charged with attempted murder. I have no memory, to this day, of stabbing the man. The next morning, I awoke in a jail cell and was told that I was charged with Class A murder. The man had died during the night. I was told that I blew a .25 on the Breathalyzer, but the result was so high it was discarded as an error.

My stepfather could have hired expert counsel, but it was clearly not in his best interest that my life be evaluated so I was left in the care of a public defender who wanted this high profile murder off his desk. There was talk about the Breathalyzer, and “level of culpability,” and things like “defensive vs. offensive wounds,” but in the end there were no theories, no experts and no defense. I was terrified of being abandoned. My mother came to me in jail and pleaded with me to protect her and “the family” by not revealing what happened in my life. So I remained silent. I offered no defense at all. My co-defendant told the truth of my being pinned down, but he was not believed. I was convicted of “Class A murder with deliberate indifference” and sentenced, at age 18, to 45 years in a Maine Prison. Maine has no parole.

I was also sentenced with the soul of the innocent man whose life I took – despite my being unable to remember taking it. The mix of remorse and anger was toxic in prison, and I gave up. Prison became just an extension of where I had already been. My anger raged on and on, and I spent 13 of my 15 years in prison in Maine’s “supermax” facility for those who can’t be trusted in the light of day.

Five years into my imprisonment, I learned one night in my supermax cell that my mother and stepfather had relocated to Guam where my mother was murdered. She was pushed from a cliff. The only suspect was her husband but there was no evidence. I was now alone in my rage.

After 14 years of this, the Maine prison decided to send me to an out of state prison. I had no idea where I was to be sent. I arrived in the New Hampshire State Prison on October 18, 2005 dragging behind me the Titanic in which I stored all my anger and hurt and loss and loss and loss – and guilt.

I started my time in a new prison by getting into a fight and ended up in the same old place – the hole. When some moths went by, I was given another chance. I was sent to H-Building where I met my friend JJ, an Indonesian who was waiting to be deported. JJ introduced me one day to Gordon, who he said was helping him and some others with appealing their INS removal orders or with preparing themselves to be deported. He seemed to be the only person who even cared. JJ trusted Gordon, so I had several conversations with him. A few months later, I was moved to the same unit in which he lives in this prison. We became friends.

By patience and especially by example, Gordon helped me change the course of my life. He is my best friend, and the person I trust most in this world. It is the strangest irony that he has been in prison for 13 years accused fictionally of the same behaviors visited upon me in the real world by the man who took me from Thailand. I read the articles about Gordon in The Wall Street Journal last year. I know him better, I think, than just about anyone. I know only too well the person who does what Gordon is wrongly accused of. Gordon is not that person. Far from it. It is hard for me to accept that laws and public sentiment allow men to demand and receive huge financial settlements from the Catholic Church years or decades after claimed abuse while all that happened to me has gone without even casual notice by anyone – except, ironically, Gordon MacRae.

On September 10, I will be 34 years old. I have been in prison now for nearly half of my life, but in the last year I have begun to know what freedom is. My anger is still with me and it always lurks just below the surface, but my friend is also with me. We both recently signed up for an intense 15-week course in personal violence. He is doing this for me. I spend my days in school instead of in lock-up now, and I will soon complete my High School diploma. Gordon helped me obtain a scholarship for a series of non-credit courses in Catholic studies at Catholic Distance University. In the last year, with help and understanding, I have completed programs offered in the New Hampshire prison. One day I felt strangely light so I looked behind me, and the Titanic was not there. I parked it somewhere along the way. I have put my childhood aside. Now I am a man.

In March of this year, after 15 years in prison, I was ordered by an I.N.S. court to be removed from the United States and deported to Thailand at the end of my sentence in 17 to 20 years or so. Gordon hopes that I can seek a sentence reduction so that I can return to Thailand at an age at which I may still build a life. There are many obstacles. The largest is that I do not speak Thai any longer and I never had an opportunity to learn and to read and write in Thai. We are working hard to prepare me for this. Though years away, it is a very frightening thing to go to a country only vaguely familiar. I have not heard Thai spoken since age 11, 23 years ago. There is no one I know there and no place for me to go. I have no home anywhere.

Along this steep path, I have made a decision to become Catholic. The priest in my fiend has not been extinguished by 13 years in prison. It is still the part of him that shines the brightest. Gordon never asked me to become Catholic. He never even brought it up. It is the path he is on and I was pulled to it by the force of grace, and the hope that one day I could do good for others. Gordon showed me a book, Jesus of Nazareth, in which Pope Benedict wrote: “The true ‘exodus’…consists in this: Among all the paths of history, the path to God is the true direction that we must seek and find.”

I am taking a correspondence course in Catholic studies through the Knights of Columbus and I look forward to the studies through Catholic Distance University. I go to Mass with Gordon when it is offered in the prison, and our faith is always a part of every day. When I return to the place I haven’t seen since age 11, I want to go there as a committed Catholic open to God’s call to live a life in service to others. It is what someone very special to me has done for me, and I must do the same.

My friend asked me to sit down today and type the story of my life and where I am now. He asked me to let him send this to a few friends who he says may play some role– directly or indirectly – in my life some day. The account is my own. What Gordon added was hope, and somehow faith has also taken root. In prison, hope and faith are everything. Everything!

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December 21, 2007

Reporters have asked us what we think about Rev. John Hagee now that Mike Huckabee is going to appear with him on December 23 at Hagee’s church. Here’s a quick glimpse, written by Bill Donohue.

Over ten years ago, I wrote to John Hagee asking him to stop with his Catholic bashing. Specifically, I complained about the falsehoods told about the Catholic Church in his video, Southern Steps: Jerusalem & Bible Prophecy. Hagee never replied.

On April 3, 2000, a Polish Catholic Holocaust survivor, Michael Preisler (Auschwitz No. 22213), wrote to Hagee saying the following: “On May 11, July 11 and December 23, 1999, I asked you to remove the falsehood in your book, Final Dawn Over Jerusalem, accusing Polish Catholics like me of creating the ovens at Auschwitz.” Hagee never replied. Preisler is co-chair of the Holocaust Documentation Committee of the Polish American Congress and a member of the Catholic League.

More recently, Hagee, in his latest book, Jerusalem Countdown (revised edition, 2007), wrote (on p. 114) the following: “Most readers will be shocked by the clear record of history linking Adolf Hitler and the Roman Catholic Church in a conspiracy to exterminate the Jews.”

I could go on and on. Hagee has a long and disgusting record of Catholic bashing. Here are a few more gems from Jerusalem Countdown:

·     “Anti-Semitism in Christianity began with the statements of the early church fathers, including Eusebius, Cyril, Chrysostom, Augustine, Origen, Justin, and Jerome.... This poisonous stream of venom came from the mouths of spiritual leaders to virtually illiterate congregants, sitting benignly in their pews, listening to their pastors. They labeled the Jews as 'the Christ killers, plague carriers, demons, children of the devil, bloodthirsty pagans who look for an innocent child during the Easter week to drink his blood, money hungry Shylocks, who are deceitful as Judas was relentless.'"

·    "The Roman Catholic Church, which was supposed to carry the light of the gospel, plunged the world into the Dark Ages.... The Crusaders were a motley mob of thieves, rapists, robbers, and murderers whose sins had been forgiven by the pope in advance of the Crusade.... The brutal truth is that the Crusades were military campaigns of the Roman Catholic Church to gain control of Jerusalem from the Muslims and to punish the Jews as the alleged Christ killers on the road to and from Jerusalem."

·     "The Spanish Inquisition was perhaps the most cynical plot in the black history of Catholicism, aimed at expropriating the property of wealthy Jews and converts in Spain for the benefit of the royal court and the Roman Catholic Church."

·     "Adolf Hitler attended a Catholic school as a child and heard all the fiery anti-Semitic rantings from Chrysostom to Martin Luther. When Hitler became a global demonic monster, the Catholic Church and Pope Pius XII never, ever slightly criticized him. Pope Pius XII, called by historians 'Hitler's Pope,' joined Hitler in the infamous Concordat of Collaboration, which turned the youth of  Germany over to Nazism, and the churches became the stage background for the bloodthirsty cry, 'Pereat Judea'.... In all of his [Hitler's] years of absolute brutality, he was never denounced or even scolded by Pope Pius XII or any Catholic leader in the world. To those Christians who believe that Jewish hearts will be warmed by the sight of the cross, please be informed—to them it's an electric chair."

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Bill Donohue got a surprise gift in the mail today, courtesy of New Line Cinema. Two copies of the Leaders’ Resource DVD for the New Line film, “The Nativity Story,” was sent, along with promotional material.

Donohue promptly called John Gooden in California to thank him, mentioning that though the Catholic League had its problems with New Line’s “The Golden Compass,” we were happy to promote “The Nativity Story” last year and would do so again now that it is out on DVD.

So we are happy to recommend “The Nativity Story,” and we are even happier that New Line Cinema was gracious enough to send the gift.

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New Line Cinema has a dud on its hands. They spent upwards of $180 million making “The Golden Compass,” and American audiences just aren’t buying it. After debuting with a mere $26 million, it plummeted to a measly $9 million its second weekend out.

Compare the numbers for “Golden Compass” with those of the Will Smith flick “I Am Legend,” also rated PG-13: “Legend” brought in over $76.5 million opening weekend. And “Alvin and the Chipmunks” opened at number two, raking in $45 million.

The success of “Chipmunks,” “Legend,” and the recent Disney film “Enchanted” (which opened with $34.4 million and took in $16.4 the next week) gives lie to the claim that the problem is just that people aren’t going to the theater. While it may be a tough time for studios across the board, there are still plenty of families willing to plunk down the cash for movie tickets. That is, of course, if the movie isn’t based on the first book of a profoundly anti-Christian and pro-atheist trilogy.

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In the “People” section of the December 17 issue of Time magazine, it is reported, “The Catholic League called for a boycott of the film THE GOLDEN COMPASS, saying it promotes atheism. The league previously boycotted The Da Vinci Code.”

In fact, the Catholic League did no such thing about either the book or the film version of “The Da Vinci Code.” We did ask the producers to run a disclaimer before the movie stating it was based on fiction, not fact (on the intro page to the novel, author Dan Brown had claimed otherwise). However, at no time did we start, or join, a boycott.

This is an indication of sloppy journalism. But Time doesn’t stand alone. On November 30, the UK paper the Telegraph wrote that the Catholic League “wants the film [“The Golden Compass”] banned or, at the very least boycotted.” While we did call for a boycott of “The Golden Compass” (as Time indicated) we never tried to ban or censor anything. We respect the author and filmmaker’s First Amendment rights, and we simply exercise our own.

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Several groups are waging campaigns to salvage Christmas from the denizens of multiculturalism who seek to downplay the birth of Jesus as just another day in the “holiday season.” The low-priced items described below are a great way to let others know you wish them a very Merry Christmas..

The Catholic Daughters of the Americas, Court John Paul II, are offering car magnets and pins reading “It’s OK to say Merry Christmas to Me!” Proceeds from these items will be donated to charity. To reach the Catholic Daughters, call 845-893-6368 or email cdjpii@aol.com.

Parishioners at Our Lady of Victories in Harrington Park, NJ are not only offering Christmas bumper stickers, but they came up with the novel idea of “calling cards.” Customers bothered by a retailer’s decision not to recognize Christmas in their “holiday” advertising can leave behind a card stating “In response to the secularization of Christmas; we choose to support Christmas friendly vendors. See you next year? Merry Christmas!” Contact the members of OLV at 201-244-5130 or 201-895-4456.

Operation: Just Say Merry Christmas has designed rubber wristbands that boldly let others know what words they can say to acknowledge the true meaning of this Holy Season. Visit OperationJustSayMerryChristmas.com or dial 513-608-7608.

Lastly, a coalition called the Pilot Program to Keep Christ in Christmas is offering car magnets depicting a silhouette of the Nativity scene and the words “Keep Christ in Christmas.” Log on to www.kcnativitysets.com or leave a message at 847-380-2404.

Merry Christmas!

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According to Catholic News Service, the review of “The Golden Compass” that was released on Nov. 29 by the Office for Film and Broadcasting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has been withdrawn.

The USCCB has not stated why the review has been pulled.

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In her review of Mitt Romney’s historic speech last week, columnist Kathleen Parker took an insulting—and wholly gratuitous—stab at Catholics: “No religion can bear close scrutiny if we go literal. Who among Christians wants to explain the Immaculate Conception? A talking snake? The rather peculiar ritual of ‘grokking’ Jesus by eating stale wafers and sipping cheap wine?”

“Close scrutiny” of her own words makes us wonder what her problem is. That she ends her piece by congratulating Romney for promoting religious tolerance suggests that she is clueless about her own contribution to religious intolerance.

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Matthew Murray, the gunman who stormed a Christian youth mission center and then a nearby church this on December 9, held a deep hatred for Christianity, according to the Associated Press and CNN affiliate KUSA. Murray, who took the lives of four people before dying himself during a shootout with a security guard, targeted his victims because of their religion.

A look back at an internet-message board he frequented, aimed at those who have left evangelical churches, reveals that on the morning of his killing spree he raged “You Christians brought this on yourselves.” He also wrote, “All I want to do is kill and injure as many of you…as I can especially Christians who are to blame for most of the problems in the world.”

In the past, other posters to the website Murray frequented had recommended he seek professional counseling. One poem he posted, “Crying all alone in pain in the nightmare of Christianity,” spurred a psychologist to offer such services, but Murray dismissed the idea.

Murray was once associated with the youth center that he shot up, having been rejected from a mission trip to Bosnia. According to the center’s director, the young man was not able to go on the trip for health reasons. Additionally, he had performed a song by Marilyn Manson (a self-described Satanist) at a mission concert.

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To learn what’s on the minds of contemporary atheists, check out Mark Morford’s piece in today’s San Francisco Chronicle. With lines such as "they [Christians] raise their flags and cock their Bibles and pat themselves on their arrogant backs, conveniently forgetting that the only real difference between radical Islam and Christianity's own bloody, murderous past is, well, a bit of time, with a splash of geography" he illustrates the hate so many hold toward people of faith.  

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In today’s edition of the Washington Times, a group of mostly lefty Christians has charged that Bill O’Reilly, John Gibson and Bill Donohue should stop fighting the secular war on Christmas and instead join their efforts to combat poverty and war. They are particularly incensed by Donohue’s use of the term “cultural fascists.” Donohue replied as follows:

“As someone who taught in the ghetto helping the urban poor to lift themselves out of poverty, I need no lectures from those whose idea of helping the poor is opening a can of soup for them. And as a veteran, I have done more to promote the cause of peace than all the surrender types have ever done. Indeed, they owe their very existence to people like me.

As for the term “cultural fascists,” I suggest my critics get up to speed: See my news release of 11-27-07—I use the term “multicultural monsters.”

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 The Catholic League has long noted that incidents of anti-Catholicism receive scant attention in the press. One recent example can be found in today’s issue of Newsday. The paper, dealing with Don Imus’s return to radio, includes a list of other prominent people who have paid a price for making offensive remarks. Mentioned are those who have insulted blacks, Jews, and the Chinese. Not listed are men such as Penn Jillette and Bill Maher, both of whom have made outrageously bigoted and disrespectful comments towards Catholics.

On his Showtime program, Jillette called Mother Teresa “Mother F--king Teresa” and referred to her fellow religious sisters as “F--king c--ts.” On his CBS radio talk show, he also discussed a rumor that Paris Hilton would portray the saintly nun in a film, saying “Paris Hilton is so far above Mother Teresa on the moral scale, she should not lower herself" by accepting the role.

Bill Maher, who has a long history of bigotry against Catholics, has said things such as: It's easy to start a religion! Watch, I do it for you: I had a vision last night! A vision! The Blessed Virgin Mary came to me--I don't know how she got past the guards--and she told me it's high time to take the high ground from the Seventh Day Adventists and give it to the 24-hour party people. And what happens in the confessional stays in the confessional. Gay men, don't say you're life partners, say you're a nunnery of two. 'We weren't having sex, officer; I was performing a very private Mass, here in my car. I was letting my rod and staff comfort him. Take this and eat of it, [our emphasis] for this is my roommate Barry. And for all those who believe there is a special place for you in Kevin.’

But Maher and Jillette, for all their hate, don’t merit mention in Newsday’s list. And that is because no one ever suffers a penalty for attacking the Catholic Church. While folks lose their jobs over slurs against other groups, anti-Catholic bigots barely merit a raised eyebrow. The double standard is amazing.

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Poor Kathy Griffin. At the pinnacle of her career, she’s consumed by hate. When she received her Emmy award in September for her reality show, she shrieked “Suck it, Jesus, this award is my God now.” And last night on her Bravo special “Kathy Griffin: Straight to Hell,” she lashed out again.

Griffin warmed up by attacking the Catholic League for its criticism of her September stunt, saying “Don’t pull your Catholic kid f**ker bulls**t with me, mother f**kers.” What is most disturbing is that she went on to abuse all Catholics and paint all priests as molesters by saying, “The Catholics, they should f**king talk. They got bigger fish to fry than my little jokes. I remember Father Porter.”

So that’s how it is. This ex-Catholic and self-proclaimed “complete militant atheist” gets her jollies by smearing the reputations of the innocent, trashing the Church and knocking Jesus. It’s sad that she feels she must resort to puerile attacks to get laughs. And sadder still that her audience eats it up. Pity Miss Griffin. Being driven by rage can’t be all that much fun.

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According to USA Today, the latest FBI data shows that in 2006, there was an increase in the number of hate crimes motivated by bias against religion. While hate crime against people of faith in general shot up 19% from 2005, the increase in hate crimes against Catholics increased by approximately 33%. (The increase for crimes against Muslims and Jews was 22% and 14%, respectively.)

Anyone wishing to read the full report may do so by visiting the FBI's website at http://www.fbi.gov/page2/nov07/hatecrime111907.html

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Never before in American history have more people known about, and used, condoms than today. And now comes a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that “A new U.S. record” has been set: chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis are rapidly increasing.

Two months ago, it was reported that New York City health officials had found a startling increase in syphilis, and that “the increase appears to be concentrated mostly among men who have sex with men.” According to the Associated Press, “The increase in syphilis cases came in the same year that the city distributed more than 17 million free condoms in an effort to step up its condom giveaway efforts to help reduce sexually-transmitted diseases.”

But is anyone listening? The condom hoax is in high gear. The blame goes to city officials, the health community and those who engage in reckless sex. Not until promiscuity is curbed will the rates decrease. And that’s something no condom can fix.

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Many fans of crosswords look forward to tackling the New York Times’ Sunday issue. Several enthusiasts contacted the Catholic League, however, to report that they were troubled by a question in yesterday’s puzzle. The work, titled “Putting on Some Weight,” featured several answers that contained the word “ton.” For instance, the clue “I’m not interested in having tea!” led to the answer, “DON’T GIVE ME ANY LIPTON.”

Puns are standard fare for crossword puzzles, but one example from yesterday’s game is a little too cute. The clue for Number 98 across asked “Crucifix?” The corresponding answer was “SEXTON SYMBOL.” Surely the authors of the puzzle, and the editors of the New York Times, would do well to avoid such cheekiness when it comes to the figure of Christ crucified.

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Believe it or not, President Bush did not pick a pro-abortion scholar to be the new Vatican ambassador. He picked Harvard professor, and Catholic League board advisor, Mary Ann Glendon. This is obviously a big surprise to the Associated Press (AP).

In one of the AP’s stories on Bush’s nomination, the headline read, “Bush Picks Anti-Abortion Harvard Professor To Be Vatican Ambassador.” Now imagine how it would sound in reverse: “Bush Picks Pro-Abortion Harvard Professor To Be Vatican Ambassador.”

To top things off, in the body of the article Glendon is called “an anti-abortion scholar and opponent of gay marriage.” Has anyone ever heard of “a pro-abortion scholar”? And what exactly is so remarkable about being in favor of traditional marriage? There isn’t a single poll that indicates Americans want gay marriage, and indeed every time voters get a chance to express their view on this issue, they vote against it.

The media elites just don’t get it. They live in a world of their own. To call them parochial would be a colossal understatement.

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Yesterday on National Public Radio’s “Talk of the Nation,” Northwestern University professor Garry Wills argued that because the Bible doesn’t specifically mention abortion, it’s not a religious issue. He further added, “Is the fetus a person, and when? It’s not by definition a person and the Catholic Church and others didn’t consider it to be that down through the ages.”  Wills claimed that St. Thomas Aquinas did not consider an early-stage fetus to be infused with a soul.

News flash for Wills: Thomas Aquinas never approved of abortion, and in fact outright condemned it.  Aquinas’ ideas on the soul were based on 13th century science’s understanding of early human life, which was lacking in today’s prenatal technology that leans heavily in favor of the belief that life begins at conception.

Wills also failed to mention that many of the Church’s earliest thinkers, treatises, and councils – the Didache, the Letter of Barnabas, Athenagoras, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, the Council of Ancyra, and others – all specifically condemned abortion.

It’s true that “abortion is wrong” never appears in the Bible.  Neither does “embittered ex-seminarians shouldn’t distort Church teaching to serve their own agendas.” But both are implied.

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Jerry Springer, who makes his living interviewing sad-sacks, bigots and the sexually depraved and then selling the vile vignettes to viewers, featured a guest today named Jerry Pope who calls himself “the Pope.” Claiming to be the Vicar of Christ, Pope drapes himself in red vestments and a miter. He also claims to be a pimp, and trotted some of his prostitutes onstage along with him. (He boasted of having “sampled the merchandise his call girls have to offer.) When Pope’s daughter came from backstage and begged her father to change his life, he ordered one unfortunate woman to attack her.

Amidst all of this degeneracy, Springer and a guest by the name of Reverend Shnorr (who appeared to be a drunk in a wrinkled suit waving a Bible) chastised Jerry Pope for mocking the Catholic Church.

Save it, Springer. Rather than criticizing guests for impersonating the Holy Father, perhaps you could cease setting the stage for such antics. Decent people do not exploit gigolos and prostitutes (or anyone pretending to be either) to make money. But those responsible for “The Jerry Springer Show” certainly do.

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Michael Gerson, former chief speech writer for President Bush, notes in today’s Washington Post that not only do secular Americans prefer the Democrats over Republicans by a margin of 3-1, they bear a strong animus against Christians.

According to Gerson, “One study found that strongly Democratic voters are 5 percent less favorably disposed toward Roman Catholics than are strongly Republican voters, 10 percent less favorable toward Protestants and 23 percent less favorable toward Christian fundamentalists.” Gerson further observes that two election scholars who looked at the data concluded that “One has to reach back to pre-New Deal America…to find a period when voting behavior was influenced by this degree of antipathy toward a religious group.”

We might add that it was Jeanne Kirkpatrick who first noticed the secular penetration of the Democratic party. It began with the presidential election of 1972 and is more evident today than ever before. This does not bode well for either the Democrats or Christians.

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When asked by the New York Daily News about Britney Spears's latest photo shoot, which depicts racy scenes with a priest in the confessional, Catholic League president Bill Donohue had this to say: "This is all the puzzle pieces coming together. This girl is crashing. She's not even allowed to bring up her own kids because she's not responsible enough. Now we see she can't even entertain."

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Every Halloween, the ghouls come out of the woodwork. But these ghouls are not supernatural. Rather, they are those who take a fun children’s holiday and turn it into a chance to bash the Catholic clergy.

A number of costume stores are carrying two particularly odious getups. Made by Spirit Halloween, a division of Spencer Gifts, the “Happy Priest” outfit makes the person who wears it look like a priest with a visible erection, and the “Thank You Father Nun” disguise depicts a pregnant religious woman. What you won’t see in stores, however, are offensive costumes depicting rabbis or imams in vulgar positions. Apparently, Spencer Gifts prefers to attack only Catholic leaders. (The company did not respond to a letter from the Catholic League asking about this.)

Haunted houses are another venue for those who wish to mock the Church to have their fun. According to the Chicago Sun Times, visitors to Evil Intentions in Bolingbrook, Illinois will see “skeletons dressed as priests and nuns—crucified upside down.” This is because, according to the attraction’s owner, “We try to attack everything…We attack the whole religious aspect of things.” Yet no mention is made of any other faiths being maligned at Evil Intentions. Even more disturbing is that the house treats visitors to “dead babies strung up on barbed wire.” This sort of sickness is unfathomable.

Moreover, the Chicago Tribune has reported that another Illinois haunted house has recently gotten in on the act. Dungeon of Doom in Grayslake had one cast member dressed “as a priest with a large, bloody cross ‘burned’ on his forehead.”

While it can be frustrating for parents taking their kids out for some Halloween fun to be confronted with such sights, they should remember that speaking up about it can truly effect change. As a store owner in Vails Gate, New York told the Times Herald Record when asked about why he sells the costumes described above, “If I’d gotten a complaint, I would have thought it over.”

Update, 10-31-07: The Times Herald-Record has reported that the manager of The Party Store in Vails Gate, New York (quoted above) has removed the offensive costumes from his aisles. He is to be commended for listening to the concerns of Catholic shoppers. 

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James Watson, the Nobel Prize winner and co-discoverer of DNA, resigned from his position as chancellor of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory after an uproar over remarks he made questioning the intelligence of blacks. It is not only recently that Watson has made such comments—in 2000, he told an audience at the University of California at Berkeley that African Americans are genetically prone to laziness, obesity, and have more active sex drives than whites. Furthermore, Esquire’s January edition of this year quoted Watson as condoning anti-Semitic remarks because “some anti-Semitism is justified.”

What is interesting is that those who have been crying foul over Watson’s recent remark don’t seem too upset over the scientist’s position on infanticide. He has long held that only an infant more than three days old should be considered a “person,” and suggested handicapped children should be killed at birth.

It sounds like in today’s society, offending blacks is cause for termination, but advocating the murder of babies won’t even raise any eyebrows. We’re glad that Watson is no longer at the helm of Cold Spring Harbor, but we think his exit should have been called for a long time ago.

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We noticed with interest that “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” bleeped a comment by Halle Berry that its in-house censors didn’t like. According to today’s New York Post, on October 19 Berry pointed to photos of herself using a computer program that distorts images. Upon seeing a picture of herself with a big nose, she exclaimed, “Here’s where I look like my Jewish cousin.” The last part was bleeped.

What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. So the next time Jay makes an offensive crack about priests, we look for equal treatment. But we won’t hold our breath as those who write his monologues get paid to offend. Catholics, that is.

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The Catholic League commends Martha Irvine and Robert Tanner of the Associated Press (AP) for their 3,272 word article “Sexual misconduct plagues US schools.” AP reporters studied disciplinary records of teachers in every state and the District of Columbia and “found 2,570 educators whose teaching credentials were revoked, denied, surrendered or sanctioned from 2001 through 2005 following allegations of sexual misconduct.” This thorough investigation reveals how deep the problem of sex abuse in public schools truly runs.

We regret, however, that the writers didn’t take the teachers unions to task for failing to do more to make sure offending teachers never return to the classroom. Though certainly some offenders are punished, many teachers who are suspected of serious offenses are protected by union rules, and merely moved to another classroom. This practice is so common it is called “passing the trash.” In New York City, for instance, it is virtually impossible to fire a teacher because of molestation. In some cases, teachers are assigned to sit in empty classrooms (collecting paychecks), in the wake of serious charges.

We do appreciate why the teachers unions feel strongly that the rights of accused teachers must be remembered along with the accusations of students. We agree, and add that the same consideration should be shown to anyone under suspicion of a crime, including Catholic priests. It is all too often that people legitimately concerned about sexual abuse of children wish to toss out clerics at the slightest suggestion of offense, whether the accusation has merit or not.

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As we noted in a recent news release, on October 9 ABC’s “Boston Legal” featured a Catholic nun in full habit uttering a sexual innuendo having nothing to do with the storyline at hand. We branded the show’s creator, David E. Kelley, “Tinseltown’s Ace Bigot.” Kelley has a long-standing animus toward Catholicism. 

On October 16, Kelley was at it again. That night’s “Boston Legal” episode featured a Mexican father who wanted to take his son back to Mexico so that the boy could participate in bullfighting. The same nun from the previous episode translated the father’s testimony:  

“Bullfighting is a tradition in my country. I would have done it if I had the gift. To climb in, see that big bull stallion. To have that big bull charge me, just me and that stallion bull. One time, me and a big horny bull. Oh, oh … !” She became increasingly excited as she spoke. 

We're not holding our breath waiting for "Boston Legal" to feature such a gratuitous scene with an imam or a rabbi. When it comes to ridiculing religion, Kelley's sexually charged brand of "humor" only seems to cut one way.

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“My Sweet Jesus,” another life-sized chocolate sculpture of a naked crucified Jesus by artist Cosimo Cavallaro, will be displayed in a New York gallery on West 22nd Street from October 27 through November 24. Unlike last spring, when we launched a boycott against Manhattan’s posh Roger Smith Hotel (the boycott was dropped when the hotel cancelled the exhibition of an identical Cavallaro statue, “My Sweet Lord”), the Catholic League will not protest this showing.

When the Roger Smith Hotel originally planned to host “My Sweet Lord,” the work was set to be unveiled on April 1, Palm Sunday, and run through Easter Sunday. In addition, the midtown hotel’s gallery is located on street level, easily visible through windows to the public. Any child strolling with his parents through the popular area could have been subjected to the piece. And comments by the artist certainly didn’t help matters—he previously invited the public to come inside and take a bite of Jesus.

Since “My Sweet Jesus” isn’t going to be displayed on the ground floor of an established hotel in midtown, and since Halloween is more appropriate for Cavallaro’s crafts than Easter, our central objections are not applicable this time around. The Catholic League doesn’t approve of the piece, but this upcoming display won’t be as public, nor will it be an ostentatious assault on Christian sensibilities during Holy Week. 

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On Monday October 22 at 7:30 pm, The King’s College will host a debate between Dinesh D’Souza and Christopher Hitchens. The subject will be “Is Christianity the Problem.” 

The debate will be held at the New York Society for Ethical Culture, 64th Street and Central Park West, in New York City. For more information, visit The King's College website at http://www.tkc.edu/advancement/media/newsrelease.asp?id=55.

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“Elizabeth: The Golden Age,” a new film about Queen Elizabeth opens today in theaters. There is nothing new, however, about the way British Catholics are depicted compared to their Protestant counterparts.

According to the New York Times, the portrayal of the “Catholic-led holy war” waged by Spain’s King Philip II against Elizabeth, “with its ominous monks and Latin chants, reeks of ‘The Da Vinci Code.’”  And the National Catholic Register's  critic reports that the flick shows that “everything bad, evil and corrupt in the world ultimately is the bitter fruit of…Catholicism.” In contrast, Protestantism represents “conscience, religious freedom, and of course heroic resistance to Catholic oppression.”

Such bigotry against Catholicism is rather old-fashioned. The notion that Catholics are conspiratorial, socially backward and not to be trusted by their enlightened, Protestant neighbors was abandoned long ago by many across the pond. It is far from dead, however. Even now, in the twenty-first century, neither a Catholic nor anyone married to a Catholic may hold the throne in the United Kingdom. This is one of the lingering effects of Elizabeth’s reign.

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October 9, 2007

"The Catholic League is pleased to announce that it has been contacted by the office of the New York State Division of Human Rights regarding the controversy over the public display of religious objects at Country Pointe at Coram in Medford. We are encouraging owners of condominiums who have a grievance to lodge a formal complaint with the Division of Human Rights. The community’s homeowner’s association is entitled to establish any legal strictures it wants, but it has no right to violate religious liberty.  Whether it has or not is not certain. What is certain is that this confrontation could have been avoided altogether had respect for diversity been operative."

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The September 30 episode of the CBS show, “Cold Case,” featured sexually active Christian teens enrolled in an abstinence program. In the show, a trampy girl was stoned to death for breaking her chastity vow. To top it off, the Jerry Bruckheimer production depicted a minister preaching the virtues of abstinence while masturbating.

We have an idea for “Cold Case.” Do an episode on kids who reject abstinence and use condoms. But do an honest episode. Depict the way teens normally use condoms—which is to say improperly—and then show pictures of the aborted babies. It might also be worthwhile to show a Planned Parenthood counselor doing what they often do—covering up cases of statutory rape.

Bet Bruckheimer never thought of that one.

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The CW television network premieres a new sitcom, “Aliens in America,” tonight. The show is about a family called the Tolchucks that takes in a Pakistani Muslim foreign exchange student. While the Tolchucks are portrayed as slightly dysfunctional, the Muslim boy is friendly, helpful and devout—a real joy to be around. The contrast between the foreign Muslim boy and the American family is integral to the plot. As producer David Guarascio told The Times Union, “We wanted to bring a character who had a sense of his own faith, and who had a strong relationship with God into this family that really doesn’t have one.”

According to USA Today, the pilot “includes scenes that satirize perceptions about terrorism” and was screened by the Islamic Center of Southern California. Additionally, the Hollywood bureau of the Muslim Public Affairs Council provided advice to the producers about the show’s religious and cultural content.

It is admirable that the show will include a positive character who is devoted to God—something that is pretty hard to find in today’s television lineup. Christians are hoping they too will see a positive reflection of their faith in the upcoming season, though we won’t hold our breath waiting for the networks to screen any shows with Catholic or Protestant organizations.

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According to this article from Cybercast News Service (CNS News), House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked about the poster for the Folsom Street Fair (it depicts the Last Supper with men in S&M outfits replacing Christ and the apostles and sex toys replacing the Eucharistic) she responded as follows. Her response, and the full question asked by the CNS resporter, is below:

CNSNews.com:  "I'd like to get local for a second and talk about what's going on in San Francisco. Your spokesman told the Bay Area Reporter that the Folsom Street Fair advertisement mocking the last supper would not harm Christianity. I'm wondering if you find the advertisement personally offensive."

"And as a follow up, the city's Grants for the Arts program, funded by the city's hotel tax, subsidizes the fair. Do you think that it's fair to tax everyone who visits San Francisco and stays in a hotel to support the fair?"

Pelosi: "Well that's not really a local question. That's a constitutional question. That's a religious question. That's as big a global question as you can ask. I'm a big believer in First Amendment and therefore, as I said in my statement, I do not believe that Christianity has been harmed by the Folsom Street Fair advertising."

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September 28, 2007

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino dropped the ball today when asked by Baltimore reporter Les Kinsolving to comment on the Miller boycott.

Kinsolving:  “The President does not believe that the First Amendment prohibits him from speaking out against the Miller Brewing Company’s widely reported financing of an obscene parody of ‘Jesus Christ’s Last Supper’ in San Francisco, does he?”

Perino: “Well, you’re clearing the room, Les. I’m going to decline to comment.”

Well, we won’t decline to comment on Perino.

She was asked a legitimate question about an viciously obscene and anti-Christian event—one that President Bush would never speak approvingly of—and she got cold feet. Perino did so because she followed the lead of NBC reporter Kelly O’Donnell who stormed out of the room muttering her disapproval of Kinsolving’s question.

We’d love to know what is bugging O’Donnell (does she like public displays of S&M and Christian bashing?), but the larger issue is why the Bush administration appointed a coward as its press secretary. Tony Snow would never have allowed a member of the press corps to set the table.

Many thanks to Les for having the courage of his convictions.

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Click here to read Father Jonathan Morris's response to the Time magazine article suggesting that Pope John Paul II was euthanized. Father Morris brands the piece "blatantly irresponsible" and points out "the author's false statements about what the Catholic Church teaches regarding end-of-life care."

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According to the Associated Press, the Italian doctor who suggested Pope John Paul II was euthanized "acknowledged she didn't have access to John Paul's medical records." Despite this, and other errors in her argument that have been countered by the Vatican, the doctor continued to allege that the pontiff's death was the result of assisted suicide.

Click here for the full story. 

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John Aretakis, a trial lawyer who specializes in suing the Catholic Church, has been fined by a federal judge for a frivolous lawsuit. Click here to read a full account in the North Country Gazette.