Bill Donohue comments on the anti-Islam cartoon event in Garland, Texas that left two gunmen dead and one security guard wounded:

According to some media outlets, minutes before Elton Simpson started shooting, he tweeted, “If there is no check on the freedom of your speech, then let your hearts be open to the freedom of our actions.” He was shot dead quickly thereafter, never realizing that his plainly irresponsible position—no limits on speech means no limits on conduct—was the proximate cause of his death. Absolutism also explains his attraction to Islamism.

There is no role for absolutism in a free society. Yet there are those who, like many members of the PEN American Center, embrace it, at least when it comes to speech. Tonight they will honor Charlie Hebdo in New York City, the French magazine that was tied to the Paris murders. Officials from the publication will receive an award for “freedom of expression courage.” But other PEN members are objecting, saying that freedom of expression has limits: by depicting Muslims as savages, Charlie Hebdo is promoting bigotry.

Both factions of PEN are phonies. In October 1998, I led 2,000 demonstrators in the street outside the theater that featured “Corpus Christi,” a play that depicted Christ having sex with the apostles. “From the beginning,” I wrote in the November 1998 issue of Catalyst (our monthly journal), “the league has argued that the play should not be censored by the government but that the producers of the play should have cancelled it in the name of common decency.” On that same rainy night there were 300 counter-demonstrators: they came to protest our constitutional right to freedom of speech. Among them was a contingent from the PEN American Center.

The other phonies are the ones who don’t want to honor Charlie Hebdo. They have no problem offending Christians, but when it comes to bashing Muslims, they are horrified. The entire organization is corrupt.

Here’s my take: It is wrong to honor Charlie Hebdo, and it is equally wrong to intentionally bash people of faith.

Contact Suzanne Nossel, Executive Director: snossel@pen.org

Bill Donohue comments on the status of the so-called End of Life Option Act now being considered by the California legislature:

No one in public life would ever say it is morally licit to entice the burdensome—the mentally ill, the disabled, uninsured immigrants, and the like—to kill themselves, yet that is what many lawmakers in California are plotting to do. They can scream all they want about how pure their motives are, but the fact of the matter is that the impending assisted-suicide bill delivers exactly that outcome.

The bill passed the Assembly Health committee yesterday and now goes to the Finance committee. It is modeled after Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act, a law that has made suicide so respectable that Oregonians now kill themselves at a rate 41 percent higher than the national average. This figure does not count the 859 people who elected to kill themselves with a lethal injection, kindly provided to them by their doctor.

We know from evidence collected in Europe and the U.S. that the most vulnerable segments of society are overrepresented among the doctor-assisted dead; conversely, the affluent able-bodied are underrepresented. Why? Because the rich and powerful have access to the best health care, and are not presented with the kinds of “got-ya” type options that the dispossessed are afforded. This is particularly true in a state like California where millions receive government-subsidized health care. Moreover, we know from many studies that suicide requests are more often made by those suffering from depression and related maladies.

Even the politics of this bill are obscene. Because it previously stalled in committee when going through conventional channels, it is being jammed through now in a special session called to address Medicare financing. That is one reason why Gov. Jerry Brown opposes it.

Catholic League members in California are urged to contact their legislators. See the website ahardpill.org for information.

Bill Donohue comments on the activities of atheists and Satanists:

American Atheists and Satanists say they are opposed to all religions, but they lie: it is Christianity that they really hate. The proof is evident every year at Christmas.

American Atheists is rolling out its annual billboard displays, this year targeting cities such as Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Lynchburg, Virginia. Both cities are home to prominent evangelical organizations: Focus on the Family and Liberty University, respectively. One of the billboards reads, “Atheist Christmas: The More, the Merrier”; the other says, “Make Christmas Great Again—Skip Church!”

Notice the billboards only mock Christmas, saying nothing about any other religious holiday, such as Hanukkah.

The Satanic Temple of Detroit is perhaps the most active branch of the Satanists, and once again this year it is erecting “Snaketivity” on the Capitol lawn in Lansing. It is being placed in a spot near the traditional nativity scene. The display features a cross, a red snake, and a sign that reads, “The Greatest Gift is Knowledge.”

Notice the display only misappropriates a Christian religious symbol, leaving other religious symbols—the menorah and crescent and star—unscathed.

What is the difference between American Atheists and the Satanists? Not much: both hate Christianity and both lie for a living.

Contact David Silverman of American Atheists: dsilverman@atheists.org
Contact Jex Blackmore of Detroit Satanists: jex@thesatanictemple.com

Bill Donohue comments on the way the pro-abortion group, NARAL, responded to the Doritos ad that aired during the Super Bowl:

The Doritos ad that showed an ultrasound picture of the baby carried by the baby’s mother was condemned by NARAL for “humanizing the fetus.” It did just that. What else could it have done?

In 2013, Scottish professor Malcolm Nicolson co-authored a book, Imaging and Imagining the Fetus: The Development of Obstetric Ultrasound, published by Johns Hopkins University Press. He noted the “humanizing effect” of ultrasound and the enthusiastic reception it is receiving from pregnant women. In fact, he said, some women report not feeling pregnant until they’ve seen the pictures.

Anti-women feminists such as Allison Benedikt also acknowledge the effects of this technology. In a Salon article in 2012, she lashed out at pregnant women who were sharing pictures of their unborn babies on Facebook. She exclaimed that the more women share these pictures, “the harder it will be to deny that they are people.” She is exactly right: When photos of humans are shared, their humanity is confirmed.

Similarly, in 2007, author Melody Rose published a pro-abortion book wherein she decried the way “recent developments in imaging technique certainly have facilitated a reliance on powerful pictures that humanize the fetus in a way not possible two decades ago.” Imagine how human these humans will look two decades from now!

In 1994, the great English historian Paul Johnson, author of Modern Times, compared abortion to slavery. He noted that advances in medical technology have had a dramatic effect. “The fetus is being humanized,” he said, “just as the slave was humanized.” That’s what worries NARAL.

Contact NARAL’s president, Ilyse Hogue: IHogue@ProChoiceAmerica.org

Bill Donohue comments on the anti-Christmas efforts of the Freedom from Religion Foundation (FFRF):

Secularists are not necessarily anti-Christmas, but the radicals in their ranks are. At the top of the list is FFRF. Its tactics are twofold: If religious Christmas symbols and events cannot be banned, secular symbols and events must compete with them. Consider the following.

For many years, the northern Michigan town of Menominee has displayed a nativity scene on public property. It was taken down this year after a complaint by FFRF. Chicago’s Daley Square has long been host to a life-size nativity scene, and in recent years that spot has been shared with a display by FFRF: it is celebrating seasonal climate changes (the change from autumn to winter means a lot to these people); it is also saluting freedom from religion. Both the religious and the secular displays are now up.

FFRF reflexively chooses censorship over competition. It feels at home with censorial tactics because that is what it is good at (it is now threatening the city of St. Bernard, Ohio with a lawsuit over its crèche). But when that fails, faux competition is its default position. For example, the local Chicago chapter of FFRF explains its dummy secular display by saying “the holidays should be all-inclusive.” But they are not.

With the exception of national holidays, such as the 4th of July and Thanksgiving, most holidays are properly exclusionary in nature.

Martin Luther King Day celebrates the contributions of this American civil rights leader. No one else is celebrated on his holiday; to do so would be to neuter his heroics. Similarly, Veteran’s Day excludes all non-veterans from its celebrations. If everyone were included, it would negate the honors that veterans deserve.

To those who still don’t get it (they are largely post-graduates), try this thought experiment. What makes our birthdays special? Still need help? One of the wonderful things about our birthdays is that they exclude most of the world from celebrating with us. We get the gifts—everyone else gets nothing.

Three cheers for exclusion!

Try educating FFRF: info@ffrf.org

Bill Donohue comments on how a gay group has intruded on the internal affairs of a Catholic church in Rhode Island:

A man accepts a job in the private sector, knowing what the house rules of the organization are, and then intentionally violates them. Subsequently, he is fired. There is no defensible moral or legal argument that can be made on his behalf. Yet that is exactly what the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), a radical homosexual organization, is doing in a case that involves the Catholic Church.

Michael Templeton was fired from his post as music director at the Church of St. Mary in Providence. He was fired for violating employment strictures, rules he voluntarily assented to upon taking the job. To be specific, he was terminated after he violated Catholic teachings on marriage: he married his boyfriend. HRC has now stepped in, saying he is a victim.

HRC has no more business sticking its nose into the internal affairs of the Catholic Church than it has in trespassing on the autonomy of Jewish, Muslim, Mormon, or Protestant houses of worship. Interestingly, HRC is able to dodge the latter criticism: it has no record of attacking non-Catholics—just Catholics.

On its website, HRC lists “Religion & Faith” as an area of interest to the organization. Under that heading it has two generic subtopics, “Coming Home Series” and “Brave Spaces”; it also has one specific subtopic, “Catholic Initiatives.” It does not say why Catholics are singled out, but a look at its activities makes it obvious: HRC is expressly anti-Catholic.

Co-founded by an accused child rapist, Terrence Patrick Bean (the other founder died of AIDS), HRC strongly defended gay leader Howard Gutman as U.S. Ambassador to Belgium, even though he was accused of soliciting sex from children. In short, its moral credentials are shot, which is why George Soros likes to fund it.

Contact Chad Griffin, president, HRC: chad.griffin@hrc.org

Bill Donohue comments on anti-Catholic incidents at a high school football game:

Last Friday, prior to a football game in Scottsdale, Arizona between a Catholic and public school—Notre Dame Prep and Desert Mountain High School—a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the Notre Dame Prep campus was desecrated. A sex toy was attached to the statue’s lower half, and a Hillary Clinton mask was put over its head.

Then during the game, a student dressed up as Jesus romped up and down the sidelines dancing. Parents asked a security guard to get the student to stop, but the “dancing Jesus” returned to the sidelines and continued his act throughout the game’s second half.

Some might dismiss these as harmless student pranks, but a number of parents were rightly offended by what in other contexts—say, the sacred icons of any other religion being similarly mocked and desecrated—would be regarded as hate crimes. Imagine the outcry if a “dancing Mohammed” had made an appearance on the sideline.

Rick Hinshaw, Catholic League director of communications, contacted officials at both schools. While what he learned is not definitive, we are pleased that a spokeswoman for the Scottsdale Unified School District said the incidents are being investigated. If it is found that any students of the district were involved, she promised, “appropriate action will be taken.” We will continue to monitor this situation to be sure that they follow through.

Contact Kristine Harrington, School District Officer: kharrington@susd.org

Below is the text of a letter Bill Donohue sent to Debi Gray, executive director of the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art in Virginia Beach:

Dear Ms. Gray:

Opening next week at the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art is an exhibition that features a painting by Mark Ryden, “Rosie’s Tea Party.” It depicts a young girl in her First Communion dress, wearing a crucifix around her neck, cutting a piece of ham with the words “Corpus Christi” (Body of Christ) inscribed on it. There is a bottle of wine on the table with a picture of Jesus in it; nearby, there is a rabbit pouring a teapot with blood coming out of it.

When one of the commissioners on the Virginia Beach Arts and Humanities Commission objected to this work, you defended it, saying, “Art is intended to be controversial.” Ryden defended his painting by saying, “I am really not poking fun at religion,” adding that “Someone ought to poke fun at those Christians, though.”

I have a suggestion. Why not substitute a young Muslim girl in a hijab, wearing a machete around her neck, cutting a piece of ham with the words, “Allahu Akbar” inscribed on it. In place of Jesus in the wine bottle, display a picture of Muhammad. And yes, please keep the blood.

When Muslims complain, tell them that “Art is intended to be controversial,” and “Someone ought to poke fun at those Muslims anyway.”

Please be sure to let me know the outcome.

Contact: debi@virginiamoca.org