Catholic League president William Donohue says that an anti-Christian hysteria has gripped the nation’s cultural elites.  Consider the following recently published comments:

* Robert Wright, visiting professor at Princeton, says Bush’s “divine-feeling feelings” are part of today’s “problem, not the solution.”

* A New York Times editorial says if Bush wins again, he will appoint judges that will allow states to become “mini-theocracies.”

* David Domke, a University of Washington professor, says “one is hard pressed” to distinguish between Osama bin Laden’s religious views and Bush’s.

* NYU professor Mark Crispin Miller says Bush wants a “theocracy.”

* USC professor Neal Gabler says Bush’s ideas are “the stuff of a theocracy—the president as pope or mullah.”

* Yale emeritus professor Harold Bloom fears if Bush is reelected, we could be faced with a “theocracy, an eventual tyranny of the twice-born.”

* Robert Kuttner of the American Prospect says Bush “seems to want to move the United States towards a theocracy.”

* Journalist James Ridgeway says, “Bush’s goal is to blur the lines separating church and state and turn the U.S. toward theocracy.”

* Brian Rusche, director of the Minnesota Joint Religious Coalition, implores the faithful to remember, “We don’t want a theocracy.”  Similarly, S. Michele Fry of the Contra Costa Times and Linda Valdez of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer both admonish readers to keep their guard up, remembering that “America is not a theocracy.”

NOTE: The letters-to-the-editor sections of most newspapers are rife with such examples.  Thus have our cultural elites ignited a wave of anti-Christian hysteria.

Catholic League president William Donohue commented on the way certain religious figures are being depicted this Halloween:

“There are at least a dozen Internet sites that are selling particularly offensive priest and nun costumes for Halloween.  The man dressed as a priest is shown with an erection, and the nun is shown in full habit holding her pregnant stomach; they are sold together.  The inscription on the ad for the priest costume says, ‘Keep Up The Faith’; the nun ad says, ‘Thank You, Father!’

“Both items are made by Easter Unlimited, Inc./Funworld, a Long Island outlet.  Harvey Cohen, the store official whom we spoke to today, would not comment on whether the company, run by Stanley Geller, carries offensive rabbi or imam costumes.  It is being sold in stores across the nation, and an El Paso TV station (KVIA) did a story on it.

“Meanwhile, school officials of the Puyallup School District near Tacoma, Washington, have banned Halloween because some of the costumes might be offensive to witches.  Area members of the Wiccan religion did not ask school officials to cancel Halloween, though one local Wiccan high priestess did say that witch costumes were stereotypical.  She also said that outfits depicting ‘perverted priests, sexy nuns [and] drunken Irishmen’ were stereotypical.  Tony Apostle, the assistant superintendent, said that school officials objected to ‘such inappropriate stereotyping’ as ‘witches on flying brooms’ and witches with ‘long noses and pointed hats.’  Another school official said it was important not to offend ‘real witches.’

“To top things off, the Seattle Times editorialized that a better decision would have been to ban witch outfits, but to allow others.  It did not say whether costumes that depicted priests with erections, pregnant nuns, perverted priests, sexy nuns or drunken Irishmen should also be banned.

“We hope all Catholics get the message.”

Catholic League president William Donohue announced today that he is asking the Internal Revenue Service to revoke the tax-exempt status of Frances Kissling’s Catholics for a Free Choice:

“The IRS provides a tax-exempt status to organizations that serve the public interest.  It is the contention of the Catholic League that Catholics for a Free Choice is an anti-Catholic hate group, and therefore forfeits its status as a public charity; hence, it should be denied a tax exemption.  We will supply the IRS with the necessary background information.”

Yesterday, Senator John Kerry gave a speech in Florida on “the values that will guide me as president.”  According to the Los Angeles Times, Kerry “invoked biblical teachings as an inspiration for his agenda on taxes, healthcare, the environment and other matters.”  Those other matters, however, did not include abortion and stem cell research: “I know there are some bishops who have suggested that as a public official I must cast votes or take positions on issues like a woman’s right to choose or stem cell research that carry out the tenets of the Roman Catholic Church,” he said.

“I love my church.  I respect the bishops.  But I respectfully disagree,” with those who want to “write every doctrine into law.”  After Kerry said those lines, the mostly Protestant crowd erupted in a standing ovation.

Catholic League president William Donohue commented on Kerry’s speech today:

“Because of anti-Catholicism, John F. Kennedy found it prudent to distance himself from his religion, thus did he choose to run from it.  But John Kerry, for reasons having nothing to do with anti-Catholicism, has decided to run against his religion.  This is no small difference.

“No bishop has ever asked Kerry ‘to write every doctrine into law,’ and he knows it.  By suggesting that the bishops have pressed his back to the wall, Kerry is playing off the fears of anti-Catholics, setting himself up as the brave Christian soldier who won’t buckle before those tyrannical bishops.  And what are we to make of Kerry’s admission that when it comes to issues like taxes, it’s okay to reach for biblical support, but when it comes to the more fundamental life issues, the only choice he has is to check his religion at the government door?

“It says a lot about John Kerry that he finds it necessary to curry favor with those who do not share his religion by openly running against it.”

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced yesterday his support for Proposition 71, the state measure that allows for embryonic stem cell research.  Catholic League president William Donohue addressed the governor’s position today:

“Governor Schwarzenegger proved that he is as inarticulate as he is devoid of moral reasoning when he pronounced, ‘Even though I haven’t come out publicly, I have been very open about that I am very much interested in stem cell research and support it 100%.’  Said to be ‘genuinely torn’ by the issue, as it turns out the only thing he was bothered about was cash: he struggled over how to finance the killing of embryos, not over whether the killing was justified.  Thus does Schwarzenegger give the lie to the idea that it is only Catholic Democrats who live a double life these days.”

The American Civil Liberties Union has decided to reject funding from the Ford Foundation (and the Rockefeller Foundation) because it objects to new restrictions on the use of those funds.  The Ford Foundation bars recipients from engaging in any activity that “promotes violence, terrorism, bigotry, or the destruction of any state.”

Catholic League president William Donohue commented as follows:

“The Ford Foundation has long violated its newly established restrictions by lavishly funding the most anti-Catholic organization in the United States, Catholics for a Free Choice.  Thus, for the Ford Foundation to now insist that its recipients forswear a commitment to bigotry is rank hypocrisy: Catholics for a Free Choice has been bashing the Catholic Church for decades, and could not do so without the support of the Ford Foundation.”

Catholic League president William Donohue sought to correct the record today about a remark that Senator Kerry made last night in the debate:

“When asked about his support for abortion rights, Senator Kerry said, ‘I believe that I can’t legislate or transfer to another American citizen my article of faith.  What is an article of faith for me is not something that I can legislate on somebody who doesn’t share that article of faith.’  In making this argument, Kerry erroneously equates the Catholic Church’s opposition to abortion with the Church’s dogmatic teachings on such subjects as the Trinity, Incarnation and Immaculate Conception.

“There is a fundamental difference between a human rights issue like abortion, and the Church’s teachings on the Trinity.  Were Catholic bishops to advise Catholic legislators to pass laws demanding that all public school students be instructed in the wisdom of the Trinity, they would be crossing the line between church and state.  But when the bishops exhort Catholic lawmakers to pass laws aimed at curbing child abuse—whether committed in the womb or after birth—they are exercising their episcopal authority in a responsible way.  To suggest otherwise is to cast the bishops as authoritarians who seek to impose their religion on the rest of society, thus fanning, however unwittingly, the flames of anti-Catholicism.

“The same analogy works with other religions.  It is one thing for a Jewish senator to push for legislation requiring a reading from the Torah before the start of senatorial committees, quite another to promote hate crimes legislation.  Similarly, it is one thing for a Muslim congressman to mandate that all Americans adopt the sexual practices that Muslims observe during Ramadan, quite another to push for laws banning racial profiling.  So for Senator Kerry to suggest that he cannot make a civil rights argument protecting the unborn—one which has everything to do with biology, not theology—is pure nonsense.

“If Kerry wants to defend abortion-on-demand, he can do so.  But he has no right to position himself as the grand sage who stands up against those bullying bishops.”

There are three news articles today about the role of religion in the presidential campaign.  Catholic League president William Donohue commented today on this subject:

“Most observers, regardless of their political bent, agree that President George W. Bush seems at home with his Christianity.  But for Senator John Kerry, the evidence suggests that religion is an enigma for him.

“A search for ‘religious outreach’ in the Kerry/Edwards website yields interesting results.  The first listing under that name has nothing to do with religion—it has to do with gay rights.  But there are two listings, recently posted, on religion: there is a ‘People of Faith Tool Kit’ and a ‘People of Faith Potluck Host Packet.’  The Tool Kit offers many statements about values, most of which have nothing to do with religion, much less with anything Christian.  But we do learn that Kerry prays with his feet: he tells his ‘brothers and sisters’ that ‘if we live by our faith and pray with our feet, no one’s going to stop us now.’  In the Potluck packet, it is suggested that ‘people of faith’ gather together and ask each person to complete this sentence: ‘This election is important to me because _____, and John Kerry shares my values.’  Just below this appears the ‘pray with your feet’ slogan, thus indicating how proud the Kerry faithful are of this phrase.

“The Democratic National Committee, which has run into big trouble with the Catholic League over its religious outreach program, now says it is ready to tackle this issue again and will soon launch a new website on the subject.  (Soon?  By November 2?)  In the meantime, there are three unofficial Kerry sites on Catholicism: KerryCatholics (it has a total of 437 members nationwide); CatholicsForKerry04 (it had a listing questioning whether Bush was the Anti-Christ); and CatholicsForKerry (it has perhaps the dumbest article ever written justifying abortion rights).

“Speaking of religion, Kerry recently told Christianity Today of his fondness for those who find meaning ‘in nature, in trees, the ponds, the ripples of the wind on the pond, the great feast of nature itself.’  He did not say whether his New Age heroes also pray with their feet.”

Senator John Kerry criticized President George W. Bush yesterday on the subject of embryonic stem cell research.  He said the president was “turning his back on science in favor of ideology,” and that his position was emblematic of how he “makes decisions” and how he “sees the world.”

Catholic League president William Donohue addressed Kerry’s remarks as follows:

“Senator Kerry is correct to say that President Bush’s decision to put limits on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research tells us something about the way he makes decisions and sees the world.  It also tells us something about those who want no restrictions whatsoever.  This is what Kerry said yesterday: ‘I will stop at nothing to get stem cell research moving in this country.’  Which means there are no ethical concerns that give this man pause about destroying human embryos.  This tells us volumes about the way he sees the world, beginning with nascent human life.

“Kerry says that to put limits on embryonic stem cell research is to ‘sacrifice science for extreme, right-wing ideology.’  But Kerry knows full well that right-wing ideology has no more to do with this issue than left-wing ideology—the issue is one of biology, pure and simple.  Either one believes that life begins at conception, or one does not.  If life begins at conception—and the scientific evidence is overwhelming that it does—then there is only one defensible moral position to take: embryos must be protected.  And since embryonic stem cell research cannot take place without destroying embryos, logic dictates that we should pursue adult stem cell research and not toy with embryos.

“Kerry has boxed himself in.  On the one hand, he says he is a ‘practicing and believing Catholic’ who believes that ‘life begins at conception.’  But on the other hand, he says he will stop at nothing to allow the killing of human embryos for the purpose of research.  This is not just another flip-flop—it’s a morally incoherent position about the most salient of issues.”

The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Pacific Southwest regional office has succeeded in getting officials of Riverside County, California, to censor a quote by Theodore Roosevelt that reads, “The true Christian is the true citizen.”  Those words, which are engraved in gold letters on a mahogany wall in the local courthouse, will be covered while the court is in session; they will be uncovered during historical tours.  The ADL says the quote should be covered because it could be seen as “a specific endorsement of the Christian faith.”

Catholic League president William Donohue today offered the following alternative resolution to the controversy:

“There are several issues at work here.  One is whether it can reasonably be maintained that the government is establishing a religion simply by posting a religious message offered by a president of the United States.  If this is the test, then we will have to censor the figure of Moses with the two tablets that sits in the U.S. Supreme Court building.  Indeed, we will also have to censor the engraved quote of Thomas Jefferson, ‘The God who gave us life gave us liberty,’ that can be found in the very same Riverside County courthouse that features the Roosevelt remark.

“The other issue is freedom of speech.  How ironic it is that in the 1970s, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was freedom of speech for a man standing in line in a California courthouse to wear a jacket with the words ‘F— the draft’ on it.  But what California courthouses in the 21^st century cannot tolerate, apparently, is Teddy Roosevelt’s comment on Christianity and citizenship.  Profanity is okay, but Christianity is taboo.

“The ADL’s Pacific Southwest regional office says it does not object to the entire statement by Roosevelt (some 80 words); its problem is that the remark in the courthouse is taken out of context.  Fine.  I am writing to the ADL, courthouse officials and the judge who heard the case proposing an alternative resolution: the Catholic League will pay for a new engraving, one which includes Roosevelt’s entire comment.  It’s time someone called the hand of those who harbor an animus against Christianity.”