The following article and petition appeared in the 2017 December issue of Catalyst.
MAHER SPARKS PETITION DRIVE; TIME WARNER & HBO GUILTY
Time Warner has a pathological problem with Catholicism. Consider the following.
On November 10, Bill Maher proved to be both a bigot and a coward. His commentary on Jesus, Mary, and Joseph was despicable: He used an obscenity to describe Joseph and Mary having sex. He showed his cowardice when he refused to comment on his perverted friend, Louis C.K.
Maher’s bigotry triggered a petition drive demanding that HBO respond to Maher the way it did when he offended African Americans in June. Thousands signed it online. You can sign it by filling out the form on p. 15 and mailing it to HBO chief Richard Plepler.
HBO is a Time Warner company. So is TNT. Within a week of Maher’s assault on the Holy Family, a TNT show, “Major Crimes,” portrayed a priest as a child abuser, indicting the entire Catholic Church. That was on November 14.
TBS is also a Time Warner company. During the same week, “comedian” Samantha Bee mocked the Immaculate Conception. That was on November 15.
This led Bill Donohue to write an open letter to Time Warner Chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes.
“Could you please tell me how many practicing Catholics—the ones who actually accept the teachings of the Magisterium of the Catholic Church—work for Time Warner in the production and writing of the programs? I am not expecting a definitive tally: a guesstimate will do.”
Donohue explained his reasoning. “I ask this because many producers and writers in your employ obviously hate Catholicism. Moreover, as someone who touts his commitment to diversity and inclusion, perhaps you can tell me what’s driving this double standard.”
Donohue pointed out that when Maher dropped the “N-word” on June 2, HBO called his remark “completely inexcusable” and “tasteless.” Maher quickly apologized.
When news of Louis C.K.’s sexual perversions surfaced—to cite one example, he found it fun to masturbate in front of women—HBO pulled all of his programs from its website and removed his past projects from its On Demand services.
The petition drive was occasioned by HBO’s duplicitous response. Maher gets reprimanded, Louis C.K. gets sanctioned, and Catholics get nothing!
On November 17, Maher had another chance to slam Louis C.K. He balked again. Worse, he made a half-hearted defense of Al Franken, another one of his sick buddies. He finished with a vile statement about Jesus and Our Blessed Mother.
Maher, Louis C.K., and Franken are all cut from the same cloth. Their anti-Catholic bigotry is sickening. They’ve long made sweeping generalizations, blaming all priests for the behavior of some, but are now closing ranks protecting each other.
Sickos and hypocrites all.
