The culture war that has gripped the nation is nowhere more clearly evident than in the annual attempt to stamp out Christmas. Things got out-of-hand this year, in particular. Some thought the events of 9-11 would bring us together, but as the following examples demonstrate, there are some who are absolutely determined to divide us. · Government officials... [Read more...]
Thanks to the Catholic League, employees in King County, Washington, were allowed to say “Merry Christmas” this year. But if the Seattle-area county executive Ron Sims had his way, the ban he instituted would still be in place. Sims, who is a Baptist minister, issued a memo on November 14 mandating that King County employees use “religion-neutral”... [Read more...]
On December 7, menorahs were removed from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in West Palm Beach. On December 10, they were restored. The initial complaints were made by those who contended that the menorah is a religious symbol and should therefore not be displayed on government property. The second round of complaints came from the Jewish War Veterans.... [Read more...]
The Catholic League triggered a media frenzy in Arizona that embarrassed its Attorney General for supporting a ban on Santa Claus in public areas of her office. It began when Gale Garriott, chief counsel of the Agency Counsel Division of the Arizona Attorney General’s office, issued a memo banning the display of Santa Claus from areas open to the... [Read more...]
A New York City principal, Dr. Fran Levy, came under fire from the Catholic League when she discriminated against Christians. By putting the media spotlight on Levy, principal of PS 22 (The Thomas Jefferson Magnet School of Humanities in Flushing), we were able to force her to reverse her decision that allowed teachers to bring Jewish and Muslim religious... [Read more...]
In December, the Catholic League charged the New York City school system with discrimination against Christians. It plans to sue New York once a family with children in the New York City public schools agrees to be party to the suit; this is a requirement for the league to achieve standing. Working cooperatively with the Catholic League in this effort... [Read more...]
Every December we uncover greeting cards that obscenely portray Christmas. In this regard, NobleWorks, a greeting card company from Hoboken, New Jersey, is arguably the worst offender. NobleWorks has two categories of greeting cards: “nice” and “Extra” (which they call “naughty”). There are no cards in the latter... [Read more...]
Makers of holiday greeting cards show great unevenness in their handling of Christian, Jewish and Muslim holidays. Here is what our review of the greeting cards available on the home page of Yahoo! revealed: There are over 350 Christmas cards yet only 25 have a religious content. There are at least 8 objectionable cards in the “Humorous”... [Read more...]
The University of Northern Iowa hosted the Terrence McNally play, “Corpus Christi,” December 12-14. The play depicts Christ having sex with the 12 apostles. Catholic League president William Donohue jumped on this issue and made headlines in Cedar Rapids as a result. The public was largely on our side. Here is the text of Donohue’s remarks: “The... [Read more...]
by Sr. Margherita Marchione, M.P.F. (Catalyst 1/2002) An extraordinary new book, a scholarly compedium of vital historical documents, Pius XII and the Second World War: According to the Archives of the Vatican (Paulist Press, 1999) by Father Pierre Blet, S.J., greatly expands our knowledge of what Pope Pius XII did to help victims of Nazi oppression... [Read more...]