In mid-December, B.J. Rudell, a staffer for Congressman Bob Clement of Nashville, Tennessee, posted via e-mail and the Internet an offensive statement about the pope. In The Hotline: Daily Briefing on American Politics, Rudell submitted a list of the “Top Ten Surprising Confessions Made by the Pope.” Included in this “humorous”... [Read more...]
Recycled Paper Greetings publishes cards that are supposed to be funny. Some are. But others are offensive. To Catholics, that is. The 1996 catalog of Hanukkah and Christmas cards offers many examples of what passes as humor at Recycled Paper Greetings. While many could be objected to, the league decided to concentrate its efforts on the two most offensive... [Read more...]
The Catholic League has threatened to take action against a school district in Northwestern Pennsylvania. After learning that students were barred from creating artwork that depicted a nativity scene, Dr. Donohue sent the following letter to the offending party. December 13, 1996 Ms. Alice Niebauer President, Millcreek Township School District Education... [Read more...]
In December, the Catholic League was inundated with complaints across the country that public school teachers have been diluting the meaning of Christmas while simultaneously trumpeting the meaning of Hanukkah and Kwanzaa. It has become commonplace for public schools to teach about Hanukkah but not about Christmas, to display menorahs but not nativity... [Read more...]
On December 14, two shows were aired that treated with disrespect Jesus, Mary and Joseph and generally caricatured Catholic beliefs and traditions. Saturday Night Live andMad TV were replete with comedic attempts that disparaged Catholicism. In Saturday Night Live, Rosie O’Donnell and Penny Marshall were portrayed as buffoon nuns. The nun played... [Read more...]
There are any number of activist organizations that, for one reason or another, find cause to bash the Catholic Church. Catholics for a Free Choice—which is neither Catholic nor an organization—comes immediately to mind (we didn’t bother to log their work because to do so would require a whole volume unto itself). But it is also true that there... [Read more...]
1996 In a catalog of its books, Barnes & Noble featured a long description of a book called The Love Affairs of the Vatican. Calling the book “controversial,” it read: “He [the author] also reveals that the immorality of the Catholic clergy was the direct result of the law of enforced celibacy imposed by Pope Gregory VII (himself... [Read more...]
January A Catholic high school student applied for the Jefferson Scholars Program at the University of Virginia. He was asked the following questions about his religion during the course of an interview: “What is your relationship with God?”; “Do you believe in the infallibility of the Pope?”; “What if the Pope said something... [Read more...]
1996 Austin, TX - Living Truth Ministries distributed a video, The Pope Over Jerusalem, which discusses the “unholy” plans of the Pope to reign over Jerusalem. Among the topics explored are the “hidden agenda of a high-ranking Catholic prelate…who acts as the chief strategist of the Vatican plot to conquer Jerusalem.”... [Read more...]
If a Martian were to descend on our shores in the month of December, he would no doubt conclude that Christmas is a fun time. What else he would conclude is uncertain, but it is not likely that he would identify the holiday season with the birth of Jesus Christ. Each year it gets worse. Department store employees are instructed not to say “Merry... [Read more...]