German Chancellor Angela Merkel has declared multiculturalism to be a failure and is beckoning her nation to repair to its Christian roots. Catholic League president Bill Donohue supports her:

At the beginning of the new millennium, there was a consensus in Europe on the virtues of multiculturalism. Attendant to this view was a profound reluctance to acknowledge Europe’s Christian heritage. Midway through the decade, there were signs that things were changing. In 2006, after meeting with Pope Benedict XVI, German Chancellor Angela Merkel made the case for “Christian values” in the European Union Constitution. Now her criticism of multiculturalism is causing an international stir.

The problem with multiculturalism, as the pope understands, is that it breeds contempt for the moral truths that undergird the Judeo-Christian ethos of Western civilization. Indeed, as the pope has said, it has led to “a peculiar Western self-hatred that is nothing short of pathological.”

One major reason why multiculturalism is a failure is its implicit moral relativism: all religions and cultures are seen as equals. But this means that those who adhere to Judeo-Christian values, and those who espouse a preference for Sharia law, are voicing a similar perspective. This is worse than nonsense: the former yields liberty and justice; the latter yields slavery.

Chancellor Merkel deserves our support. Her courageous stand is worthy of emulation in the United States.

The miraculous rescue of all 33 Chilean miners is difficult to understand from a purely secular perspective. In this day and age of militant atheism, coupled with relentless assaults on Roman Catholicism, it is refreshing to read about the central role that Catholicism played in helping these courageous men survive, and of their enormous gratitude to God.

To those who cling to the superstition that there is no meaning to life beyond sheer material existence, we ask them to reflect on the following testimonials. Just as there are no atheists in foxholes, there are no atheists in trapped mines. Click here for some inspiring comments.

On today’s episode of the ABC-show, “The View,” Bill O’Reilly said that 70 percent of Americans are opposed to the Ground Zero Mosque. This quickly upset Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg, so when O’Reilly was pressed to explain, he said, “Because Muslims killed us on 9/11.” Goldberg answered, “Extremists did that! What religion was McVeigh? There was an extremist as well and he killed people….” Behar then said, “I don’t want to sit here. I don’t. I’m outraged by that statement.”

After Behar and Goldberg walked off the set, Barbara Walters, the co-producer of the show, admonished them for doing so. She also berated O’Reilly, saying, “You cannot take a whole religion and demean them because of what some….” O’Reilly quickly agreed that 9/11 was caused by Muslim extremists, and Behar and Goldberg returned to the set.

Commenting is Catholic League president Bill Donohue:

For years, Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg have been painting priests with a wide brush, labeling all of them as molesters (Behar has been pathologically relentless). But today they were “outraged” when an unqualified remark was made about Muslims.

“The View” is so bigoted that I took out an ad in the New York Times in 2007 citing 15 of the most sweeping anti-Catholic comments made in the previous nine months. Never once did Walters lecture her co-hosts that it was wrong to “demean” Catholicism because of a handful of miscreant priests. While they changed their tune for a while, they have since gone back to the sewer, with more than a little help from Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Just recently, Walters said she was happy that Rick Sanchez was fired for making an allegedly anti-Semitic remark. Now she is upset with O’Reilly for his allegedly anti-Muslim remark. Catholics are still waiting for her to discover anti-Catholicism. We’re also waiting for Walters to instruct Goldberg that McVeigh, though baptized a Catholic, became an agnostic.

Contact executive producer Bill Geddie: bill.geddie@abc.com

Last night’s episode of the Fox program, “Glee,” featured the character Finn as a Catholic priest, and Rachel as a nun (in provocative attire). They were shown singing “With You I’m Born Again.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue noticed what’s going on:

Last week, “Glee” dealt with the subject of religion, though only Christianity was mocked, especially Catholicism; the atheist gay kid came out on top. This week, according to a review in tvsquad.com, there was another “emotional episode about religion,” one in which Finn and Rachel were in a duet competition “wearing a super inappropriate costume set.”

Actually, neither episode was about religion, in general: both were about Catholicism, and both were meant to mock. Why not admit it?

Why do the writers and producers of “Glee” loathe diversity? Why aren’t they more “inclusive” (as they love to say) and choose Muslim characters? Just think of all the fun they could have with an imam and a Muslim woman performing a silly duet “wearing a super inappropriate costume set”!

Please send your ideas regarding a script that promotes diversity and inclusion to Gaude Lydia Paez, VP for Fox Communications: gaude.paez@fox.com

Yesterday, Catholic League president Bill Donohue sent a letter to the executive editors of the nation’s top newspapers, and to the deans of the nation’s top schools of journalism, drawing their attention to the decision by the Washington Post not to run an inoffensive cartoon by Wiley Miller in Sunday’s edition. Because the “Non Sequitur” cartoon printed the line “Where’s Muhammad?” at the bottom, it was considered taboo.

Now, thanks to James Rainey at the Los Angeles Times, we have learned that the cartoon was pulled from his own newspaper, as well as from the San Francisco Chronicle, the Boston Globe, the Dallas Morning News and many other papers.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue responds as follows:

Every time Catholics complain about some Catholic-bashing artwork, movie, television show, play or cartoon, we are told that “art is in the eye of the beholder”; “it’s open to interpretation”; “it’s done to make people think”; “it’s complex”; and other dodges. But when it comes to Muslim sensibilities, it is sufficient to censor anything that might possibly tick them off, even if every person not housed in the asylum knows the work is innocuous.

Unfortunately, those who are not cowards in dealing with this issue are in the minority. A book can be published about the Danish cartoons, but the cartoons cannot be reproduced in the same volume. Matt Stone and Trey Parker at Comedy Central can rip Jesus on “South Park,” but can’t joke lightly about Muhammad. And now we have newspapers galore that would rather prostitute everything they stand for before ever making Muslims feel uneasy. Which means they no longer stand for anything.

The decision by editors at the Washington Post not to run a cartoon that mentioned, but did not depict, Muhammad, is the subject of today’s news release by Catholic League president Bill Donohue:

On October 8, I noted how Universal decided to nix the words, “electric cars are so gay,” from the trailer of “The Dilemma.” I ended by saying, “There are protected demographic groups in society, and people of faith, save for Muslims, are not among them.” Two days later, the Washington Post proved my point: it decided not to publish a totally inoffensive cartoon [click here], one that shows kids and animals frolicking about in a park, simply because it asks, “Where’s Muhammad?”

According to Style editor Ned Martel, the reason for not printing the “Non Sequitur” strip by Wiley Miller was that “it seemed a deliberate provocation without a clear message”; executive editor Marcus Brauchli agreed.

So the problem is that Miller didn’t have a clear message. Maybe Tom Toles can bring him up to speed. On March 29, the Washington Post printed a cartoon [click here] by Toles that showed a picture of Jesus with the words, “Let the Children Come to Me”; in the same panel, there is a priest with the inscription “Decades of Abusive Priests” on his clothing, and another priest saying, “What a Great Recruitment Poster!” Nothing unclear about that: all priests are child molesters.

I am bringing this issue to the attention of the executive editors at the nation’s leading newspapers, and to the chairpersons of the nation’s leading schools of journalism. Both the March 29 cartoon, and the one that did not appear on October 10, will be submitted for their review. It’s time to have a national discussion on what passes as offensive fare these days. Or, more pointedly, whose sensibilities are to be protected, and whose are to be assaulted.

Contact Marcus Brauchli: BrauchliM@washpost.com

In the trailer to a Universal movie, “The Dilemma,” there is a scene where actor Vince Vaughn’s character says, “Ladies and Gentlemen, electric cars are so gay.” After some complaints, Universal has decided to pull the trailer and may delete this scene altogether from the film.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue responds as follows:

Earlier today we learned from deadline.com that the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), as well as gay studio executives and gays in the marketing department at Universal, not only did not object to the scene in question, “everyone had a positive response.” But ever since Anderson Cooper complained about it on Ellen DeGeneres’ show, things apparently changed. Now it is being reported by Yahoo! Movies that GLAAD was upset all along.

We know one thing for sure. The heightened sensitivity in Hollywood over rubbing homosexuals the wrong way is at an all-time high. Catholics, of course, can be trashed all day long, and those who are offended are told to get over it. The hypocrisy runs deep.

Last Friday, Rich Sanchez was fired for making fun of the notion that Jews are an oppressed minority, and this Friday Universal nixes a scene where the word “gay” is used flippantly. Don’t look for anyone in Hollywood to get the pink slip next Friday for offending Catholics. Likewise, don’t expect to read about a scene being cut from a show because it may offend Catholics.

There are protected demographic groups in society, and people of faith, save for Muslims, are not among them.

The movie “Secretariat” is the subject of Catholic League president Bill Donohue’s news release:

Kudos to movie critic Roger Ebert, as well as to John Nolte at Breitbart.com, for lampooning Salon.com film reviewer Andrew O’Hehir’s feverish take on “Secretariat.” It’s not just the movie’s Christian overtones that upset O’Hehir, it’s the alleged racism—even Nazi-driven—aspects of this “honey-dipped fantasy vision of the American past” that gets his goat. Indeed, he says, “it’s legitimate to wonder exactly what Christian-friendly and ‘middle-American’ inspirational values are being conveyed here.” All this paranoia about a horse.

While O’Hehir’s review is the most apoplectic, there are others who at least share his uneasiness with all matters Christian. The Sarasota Herald is not happy with the movies’ “barely concealed religiosity” and “all the talk about ‘lifting up.'” The New York Times notes its “Bible-thumping” elements, while nj.com says, “the film is bookended by quotes from the book of Job, interrupted by mystical shots of clouds and sunbeams, and even has a scene where the horse gets a rubdown scored to a gospel song.” Newsday goes so far as to claim that the director “insists on turning the horse into Christ himself,” and New York 1 opines “it’s a bit much” to endure “passages from the Bible and playing gospel music.” Similarly, Hollywood.com complains the film “reeks” of “grandiosity,” even to the extent of “using Old Testament quotations and gospel music.”

By contrast, CNN.com and the Los Angeles Times both noted the Christian aspects of the movie, but were wholly free of the condescending and scornful commentary that marked these other reviews.

No doubt about it, Christianity clearly spooks many of our elites.

A Montana truck driver, Kathleen Folden, took a crowbar to the Plexiglass case housing artwork at Colorado’s Loveland Museum which depicted a man performing oral sex on Jesus. Folden was arrested after she ripped the artwork to pieces. Commenting is Catholic League president Bill Donohue:

Had the art depicted a man performing fellatio on Muhammad, the museum may have been blown up by now. So it is lucky that Ms. Folden is a Christian.

It is striking to read the responses of those who defended the obscene art. “I am appalled by the violence,” says Loveland’s director of Cultural Services Susan Ison. But she is not appalled by the portrayal of Jesus having a man perform oral sex on him. Indeed, she justified this obscenity by calling it “very complex.” Had the artwork showed her performing oral sex on her father, it’s a sure bet it would lose its complexity.

Bud Shark, the guy who organized this masterful display, released a statement saying Folden’s reaction “is the direct result of the inflammatory and false depictions of the piece in the press and by those protesting it’s [sic] inclusion in our exhibition. The controversial image has been demonized as ‘pornographic,’ ‘obscene’ and ‘depicting Jesus in a sex act’ when none of this is true.”

But if the art does not depict Jesus in a sex act, then what exactly is controversial about it? And if Shark is right that those who have protested this tax-funded anti-Christian hate speech are delusional, then are those who work at KDVR-TV hallucinating as well? When they showed some panels of the artwork on TV, they blotted out the oral sex part.

When the gay Rutgers student recently committed suicide after being videotaped kissing another man in his dorm, homophobia was blamed for his death. According to this logic, those who defended the artwork are responsible for the gal who smashed it. Hope they finally figure it out.

On last night’s “Daily Show with Jon Stewart,” atheist author Sam Harris said, “The Catholic Church is more concerned about preventing contraception than protecting child rape. It’s more concerned about preventing gay marriage than genocide.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue sounded off as follows:

In his previous book, Letter to a Christian Nation, Sam Harris criticized the Bible for not containing a chapter on mathematics, and for not discussing electricity, DNA or a cure for cancer. Such remarks put a bright light on his intellectual acumen, but his rant last night smacked of the kind of bile we used to expect from the Klan. We could not help but notice that Stewart, who is ever so sensitive about anti-Semitism, allowed Harris to spew his hate-filled comments without a challenge. Unlike Rick Sanchez, Stewart gets away with this on a regular basis.

This isn’t light humor, poking fun at Catholicism. This is bigotry, pure and simple.

Contact: doug.herzog@comedycentral.com