William A. Donohue Several years ago, a woman who was setting up a new Catholic lay group asked if it would be okay for her to attend one of our staff meetings; she admired the success of the Catholic League and wanted to learn how I handled such matters. She was told that I could not [...]
William A. Donohue I'm often asked how the Catholic League decides what it should do and how it should proceed. Suffice it to say that there are no barometers, metal detectors or replay cameras in this business—it's always a judgment call that cannot be reversed. Once we verify the facts of a case before us, we [...]
William A. Donohue Ever since Rabbi Shmuley Boteach and I squared off against each other on the December 8 edition of MSNBC's "Scarborough Country," there has been considerable chatter over my comment, "Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular." Context is always important, so let's take a look [...]
The year 2004 was a bad one for our cultural elites. They began the year by calling Christians who liked Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” anti-Semites, and they finished the year by calling Christians who favor the traditional understanding of marriage gay bashers. But they lost both battles: Mel’s movie was a monumental success, [...]
William A. Donohue The issue of separation of church and state proved to be quite alive during this election year, but as the lead story in this issue of Catalyst shows, it is not tied exclusively to politics. To say this issue is laden with myths would be an understatement. The words “separation of church and state” nowhere [...]
Recent surveys on religion in public life reveal that America is still a vibrantly religious nation. But there is also evidence that the raging culture war is a reflection of the burgeoning disharmony between believers and non-believers. The believers are numerically stronger, but it is the secularists who staff the cultural command posts. A recent Pew [...]
William A. Donohue It’s often been said that it’s wise for friends and family members to avoid discussions about religion and politics. These are volatile issues in any given year, but they have become more so this year because of the presidential campaigns of President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry. And by reading this [...]
William A. Donohue If you haven't read pages 8-9 yet, please do so before reading this article; it will facilitate what I'm about to say. The late philosopher Hannah Arendt wrote brilliantly on the causes of totalitarianism, especially as it occurred in Nazi Germany. Perhaps her most memorable phrase—used to describe the way in which Germans became almost [...]
William A. Donohue Few things in life are more contemptible than intellectual dishonesty. It's one thing to be wrong from time to time (true of all of us), quite another to make a living advancing an ideological position that is wholly without principle. Unfortunately, many discussions on church and state are of this sort. And now [...]
William A. Donohue The Catholic Church rightfully emphasizes that all human beings share an inherent dignity. It matters not a whit what a person's race, ethnicity, national origin, sex, sexual orientation or age is—all are equal before God. Because we do not choose any of these attributes, they are of no moral consequence. It's only when [...]
