“Ricanstructions” is an art exhibit by Juan Sanchez that is currently being sponsored and hosted by the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University.  Included in the exhibit is a display called “Shackles of the AIDS Virus,” a 1996 work by the artist that features such devotional items as scapulars and images of the Virgin Mary arranged in a circle.  Another display shows naked female torsos arranged in the shape of a cross; it is labeled “Crucifixion No. 2.”  And there is a display of torn up images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Many students have expressed their objections to university officials, including the school’s dean, Anne-Marie Slaughter.  She defends the exhibit by claiming that it was shown at a Catholic school, St. Bonaventure University.  While she is sorry that the exhibit has “caused pain for some of our students and faculty,” she maintains that it is proper to allow works that “have educational value.”

Catholic League president William Donohue commented as follows:

“We were contacted today by three Princeton students—one Catholic, one Protestant and one Jewish.  They wrote a sober yet impassioned letter registering their outrage.  They deserve a serious response and it should come from Princeton President Shirley Tilghman.

“From what we have learned, the offensive display that Princeton is hosting was not part of the St. Bonaventure exhibit.  ‘Ricanstructions’ is the generic name of the artist’s work; the displays under that name vary widely.  More important is Dean Slaughter’s comment that ‘some’ students and faculty have experienced pain at the display and that it is nonetheless of ‘educational value.’  I would like to have her explain to me, in a public forum on the campus, whether she considers it problematic that only some students and faculty are offended.  Are there some who take delight in it?  If so, what is she prepared to do about it?  Also, it would be instructive for her to educate me on the educational value of hate speech.  I have put my request in writing to her.”

The July issue of Playboy has a picture of Hugh Hefner praying with the three stars of “Charlie’s Angels 2”; Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore are dressed as nuns in full habit.  There is also a picture of Hefner with his arm draped around a large statue of the Virgin Mary.  It seems that “Charlie’s Angels” and Hefner were taking time out between scenes of the new movie when they decided to transform the Playboy Mansion into what they call “Our Lady of Perpetual Virginity.”

Catholic League president William Donohue was unimpressed:

“Hugh Hefner (affectionately known as Hef) was wearing his smoking jacket when he got religion.  Which makes me wonder—what was he smoking?  Now it is possible that Hef has genuinely been born again, but given the fact that he still has that same hallmark stupid grin on his face, it’s doubtful.  A more persuasive answer is that his fondness for Viagra has something to do with his conversion.

“Hef recently labeled Viagra ‘the best recreational drug ever invented.’  But before he gets his spirits up too high, Hef should ponder the side effects of the wonder drug.  They include headaches, stomach upsets, nasal congestion, backache, muscle ache, dizziness and hot flashes.  That’s it—it’s the dizziness and the hot flashes that account for Hef’s transformation.

“While we are delighted that his spiritual epiphany has led him to discover the one true religion, we nonetheless suggest he quit taking Viagra immediately.  This may not be easy but it also may not be as hard as he thinks.  In any event, once he comes down and gets back to where he was, then perhaps he can begin his quest for religion once again.  Our advice to Hef—‘just say no’ to Viagra.  And just leave our religion out of it next time.”

Beginning June 6, San Francisco’s Museum of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender History will feature an exhibit on Harvey Milk, the deceased gay San Francisco supervisor.  Milk was killed 25 years ago and was the first openly gay elected official in a major American city.  This is the inaugural exhibit of the Museum of GLBT History.

Included in the exhibit is a portrait of Milk by Robert Lentz called “Saint Harvey.”  It pictures Milk with a halo behind his head holding a lit candle.   Catholic League president William Donohue commented today on the portrait:

“It is a tribute, however backhanded, to Roman Catholicism that gay activists in San Francisco would choose to honor their slain Jewish, homosexual, agnostic martyr by cribbing from Catholic iconography.  Bereft of sacred imagery in the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities, it was only logical to turn to Catholicism for help.  Hopefully, those involved in this tribute will now look more closely at what Catholicism has to offer in other areas as well.”

Catholic League president William Donohue commented today on the way movie critics are reacting to “Bruce Almighty”:

“Louis Giovino, the Catholic League’s director of communications, came to work today expecting to see “Bruce Almighty”; the film has comedian Jim Carrey playing God.  But then I noticed that so many movie critics were upset with the religious-laden ending to the flick.  This made me very happy.  Indeed, it made my day.  Consider the following:

• Miami Herald: It “lacks the insane, anything-goes energy this premise deserved” and that’s because the director wants “to protect the feel-good fuzzies awaiting the final reel.”  It also has an “insufferably schmaltzy, marshmallow ending.”
• New York Times: It has a “preachy, goody-goody conclusion.”
• Pitch Weekly (Kansas City): “By the time this comedy hits the top of its arc, Bruce has to pay the piper.”  Which means that regrettably the film closes with “a surge of spiritual uplift.”
• Salon.com: “Given America’s religious climate” the director “didn’t want to risk offending anybody.”
• Saint Paul Pioneer Press: The movie was fine until it “switches, getting all ‘Patch Adams’ on us with an uplifting sermon on the importance of praying every day.”
• Rocky Mountain News: It ends with “a purifying third-act plunge into a font of sentiment.”  It is unfortunate that “a reasonably funny comedy genuflects at the altar of director Frank Capra.”
• Newsday: “Unfortunately, religious fervor moves in and sinks the last 20 minutes.”  Also, “You don’t have to be an atheist or an ACLU attorney to be creeped out by the movie’s lip-service spirituality, which panders to the common denominator….”
• AP: “The tone turns from wacky to preachy,” so much so that the movie “couldn’t keep this lapsed Catholic from praying that the film would end.”

“Isn’t it nice to know what offends movie critics these days?”

Catholic League president William Donohue made the following comments today regarding the subject of equal justice for the Church:

“It is reported today that a Cincinnati priest, the Archdiocese and the archbishop are being sued by four boys on charges that a priest molested them in the 1970s.  We know the name of the accused priest but not the name of his alleged victims (their right to privacy is being observed).

“It is reported today that a man is suing a retired priest in Iowa about an alleged abusive incident in 1967.  We know the name of the accused priest but not the name of his alleged victim.

“It is reported today that a San Francisco priest will appear in court next week on charges that he molested a teenager 30 years ago.  We know the name of the accused priest but not the name of his alleged victim.

“It is reported today that a man is suing a San Diego priest for molesting him in the 1970s.  We know the name of the accused priest but not his alleged victim.

“It is reported today that a man is suing the Archdiocese of Boston about an alleged abusive incident that occurred decades ago.  We know the name of the accused priest but not his alleged victim.  We also know that the priest died in 1975.

“Why are so many alleged victims coming forth now—decades after the alleged incident?  Why does the public know the names of accused priests, living as well as deceased, but not the names of their accusers?  How much of this is motivated by justice?  By greed?  By vengeance?

“Maybe it’s time the Church started acquiring some ‘Dream Team’ type lawyers.  Maybe then equal justice would be served.”

In a news release sent earlier today, Catholic League president William Donohue said the league “will now consider filing an amicus brief” in the Colorado voucher case.  Donohue has now confirmed that the league will go forward:

“Gerard Bradley, a professor at the University of Notre Dame Law School, has agreed to write an amicus brief on behalf of the Catholic League defending the constitutionality of a recently passed Colorado law on school vouchers.  The law provides a voucher to poor students who attend ‘unsatisfactory’ public schools; the voucher allows them the option of attending a private or parochial school.  Seeking to deny the poor the same rights afforded by the rich is a coalition of civil rights organizations and teachers’ unions.  They are drawing on the state’s Blaine amendment, an antiquated law that was born of anti-Catholic bigotry.

“Gerry Bradley chairs the Catholic League’s legal advisory committee and is one of the best constitutional minds in the nation.  He is relishing the idea of challenging those who seek to deny non-whites today their civil rights by relying on a law that was originally used to deny Catholics their civil rights.  That those who are doing so are the so-called champions of civil rights is the ultimate irony.  It is also their disgrace.”

A coalition of liberal organizations is relying on anti-Catholic legislation to defeat a voucher program in Colorado designed to help poor minorities.  The program, signed into law last month by Colorado Governor Bill Owens, allows poor students attending failing public schools to attend private or parochial schools.

Fighting the law are Americans United for Separation of Church and State, People for the American Way, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Colorado chapter of the NAACP, the American Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Committee, the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association.

Catholic League president William Donohue commented on this today:

“This is quite remarkable.  The professed advocates of tolerance and diversity, who never tire of championing the rights of minorities, are shamelessly going to the well of anti-Catholicism to punish African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans.

“They are relying on a clause in the Colorado constitution that was modeled after the notoriously anti-Catholic legislation of Congressman James Blaine.  Written in the 19th century, the Blaine amendments were used by the Ku Klux Klan and others to force Catholic schoolchildren to attend public [read: Protestant] schools.  Now they are being used by liberals to stop poor minorities from advancing.

“The Catholic League will now consider filing an amicus brief in this case.  At play in this issue is an unseemly mix of religious cleansing and union greed.  The liberal coalition can wrap itself as tight as it wants in the First Amendment, but at the end of the day what these activists are doing is promoting bigotry and retarding social mobility for minorities.”

On May 18 and 20, CBS will air “Hitler: The Rise of Evil.”  Catholic League president William Donohue issued the following statement today on the miniseries:

“From the first announcement of this made-for-TV movie, Jewish groups have been up in arms.  Some questioned why it was necessary to do a TV portrait of Hitler while others wanted it squashed.  Given what Jews endured in Nazi Germany, their response makes sense.  But what galls the Catholic League is the double standard that is at work.  For example, when the Catholic League objected to the ABC show ‘Nothing Sacred,’ we were blasted by Marvin Kitman of Newsday for doing so.  Yet when he first learned of the miniseries, Kitman declared—sight unseen—‘I am so against this Hitler movie in advance.’  Why doesn’t he take his own advice and lighten up—it’s just a flick!  Just turn the channel!

“What Jewish groups feared most was the possibility that the movie might ‘humanize’ Hitler.  That is why they pressured CBS from the get-go: not until they were satisfied with the film would they back off.  And they got what they wanted.  The original script, met with disapproval, was scrapped altogether.  A new screenwriter was hired and reliance on the Ian Kershaw biography of Hitler was scaled back.  But this wasn’t all.  CBS will even go so far as to issue public service announcements during the telecast to promote tolerance.  The network will also make a generous donation to a Holocaust-related charity.  These are the kinds of somersaults the networks are capable of doing.  For some.

“CBS is owned by Viacom, the same company that owns Showtime.  Two years ago, we protested the incredibly anti-Catholic Showtime film ‘Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All.’  Not only did Viacom chief Sumner Redstone not respond to our concerns, the movie’s director, Marshall Brickman, justified the attack on Catholicism by saying the Church ‘deserves to be the butt of a couple of jokes.’  That’s quite an understatement, given the maliciousness of the film.

“The bottom line from Hollywood is: Catholics deserve to be bashed and Jews deserve special treatment.  All this from the dons of inclusiveness.”

A new PC video game, “Postal 2,” is selling out across the nation.  The sequel to “Postal,” the new action game allows the player to be “Postal Dude,” a character who kills anything in sight.  The player can blow a priest’s head off with a shotgun and kick the bleeding head around the street like a soccer ball.  It is also possible to wait in line for confession or kill everyone, including the priest, in the church.

Gays and lesbians can be killed (there is a “Fag Hunter” arcade), cops can be decapitated, Muslims can be shot, dogs can be set on fire and kittens can have their rectums blown to bits.  It is also possible to urinate in a person’s mouth and watch him vomit.

Weapons of choice are abundant: shovels, tazers, rotting cow heads, pistols, shotguns, gasoline cans, rocket launchers, napalm launchers, Molotov cocktails, scissors, etc.

Catholic League president William Donohue spoke to this issue today:

“The effect of this video game on the average kid who comes from a good home is minimal.  But the effect on kids who are not so lucky is more problematic.  There are literally millions of kids, mostly young boys, for whom experiences like ‘Postal 2’ may prove to be disastrous.  For a whole host of reasons, they already live on the margins of society.  Getting off on violence this malicious and dehumanizing is dangerous.  It is sad to note, too, that one reviewer said the game became too monotonous after a while.  Thus does the game anesthetize the player to human suffering.

“There is another disturbing aspect to this story.  In a review of the video game in the Arizona Republic and in the Gannett News Service, both media outlets make mention of the attack on gays.  But neither mentions the blood bath that awaits priests.  How revealing.

“It would be instructive to know what those running for president would say about such perversions of the First Amendment.”

Catholic League president William Donohue commented today on the one-man show, “Bill Maher: Victory Begins at Home,” now playing on Broadway.  Louis Giovino, the league’s director of communications, saw the show last night and provided Donohue with an account of the show and the audience reaction to it.  Here are Donohue’s remarks:

“According to an AP story, Bill Maher ‘is an equal opportunity satirist,’ but this a stretch at best and a lie at worst.  Theater critic Clive Barnes correctly identifies Maher not only as a liberal, but as one who is ‘unashamedly’ so.  Yes, Maher does manage to offend some feminists (the New York Times noted that his anti-feminist jokes were the only time the audience hissed), but by and large his targets were politically correct.  Which means it was safe to bash the pope, priests and the sacraments.  The audience, according to Howard Kissel of the New York Daily News, ‘seemed to consist of my fellow upper West Siders,’ which is code for well-educated liberal Jews.

“There were no anti-Semitic jokes and the digs at Muslims were aimed at Islamic fundamentalists.  To maintain his liberal credentials, Maher went out of his way to say ‘99 percent of the people who live in the Middle East are not terrorists.’  But Catholic priests were given no such assurances. Indeed, he spoke in the most obscene and sweeping terms about priests, and at one point even took umbrage at the shocked laughter that greeted his filthy Catholic-bashing jokes.  To wit: Maher said to his fans, ‘Come on people!  It’s not a few bad apples here, it’s systemic.’

“Maher, whose mother is Jewish and whose father is Catholic, is as phony as he is coarse.  Quite unlike Mel Brooks, who pokes gentle fun at virtually every segment of the population, Maher gives some groups a pass, takes swipes at others and unleashes his anger at a select few.  And no group does he reserve his venom for more than Catholic priests.

“Maher has been publicly venting his anti-Catholic bigotry for years.  That liberals love him says more about them than about Maher himself.”