Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the Chick-fil-A controversy:

Dan Cathy, president of Chick-fil-A, has said that we are “inviting God’s judgment on our nation when we shake our fist at him and say, ‘We know better than you as to what constitutes a marriage.’” How this unremarkable statement, which never mentions homosexuals, can be labeled anti-gay is astounding. But according to the editorial board of the New York Times, it can be. After quoting Cathy, the Times says, “Antigay remarks like these are offensive.”

It won’t work. According to this logic, almost everyone who ever walked the face of the earth has been an anti-homosexual bigot. Such hyperbole relegates real gay bashing to the trash bin, something to be discarded with alacrity.

Nature, and Nature’s God, has ordained that marriage is the exclusive province of a man and a woman; they are the only two people capable of naturally creating a family. But now, all of a sudden, we are expected to believe that such a pedestrian view is wrongheaded. Worse, there is a growing segment of the population, overwhelmingly white and well-educated, who want to punish those who hold to the traditional view. This is madness laced with fascistic elements.

Contact Andrew Rosenthal at the Times: andyr@nytimes.com

Bill Donohue comments on Friday’s decision by a federal judge who issued an injunction that allows the owners of a private company not to provide abortifacients, contraceptives, and sterilization services to their employees as mandated by ObamaCare:

The ruling in Newland v. Sebelius is significant: it means that the Obama administration not only has to contend with Catholic non-profits who object to providing immoral services in their healthcare plans, they must deal with Catholics in the private sector who similarly object. By invoking the Freedom Restoration Act and the First Amendment religious liberty guarantees, the plaintiffs broke new ground for private employers.

Lawyers for the Obama administration were taken aback when U.S. District Judge John Kane sided with the Catholic owners of Hercules Industries. The attorneys for the government were correct when they maintained that if the injunction were granted, it would mean that they would be faced with a flood of requests seeking an exemption. “These interests are countered,” Judge Kane said, “and indeed outweighed, by the public interest in the free exercise of religion.”

The Catholic League will do what it can to get the word out to all Catholic business owners: the time to revolt is now. There is no virtue in complying with a government edict that violates the conscience rights of Catholics, independent of whether they work in the public or private sector. But there is great virtue in suing the administration by invoking the religious liberty principles as articulated in this case.

Bill Donohue comments on some of the findings from the latest Pew Research Center survey on religion and politics:

The poll results released yesterday show that fewer Americans today say that President Obama is a Christian than was true four years ago when he was a presidential candidate; 55 percent said he was a Christian in October 2008, but only 49 percent say he is today. On the other hand, the more people get to know Mitt Romney, the more they identify him as a Mormon; since November 2011 to today, the percentage who say Romney is a Mormon has jumped from 48 to 60.

Among those who know that Romney is a Mormon, those who are most uncomfortable with his religion are those who have none; it’s not the unaffiliated who are the most uncomfortable—their numbers are not very different from the rest of the population—it’s the atheist/agnostic category that shows the most unease. Indeed, less than half of non-believers say they are comfortable with Romney’s religion.

The American people do not like to have agendas imposed on them. For example, 45 percent say that “Christians have gone too far to try to impose religious values on the country.” But that number pales in significance to the 65 percent who say that “liberals have gone too far trying to keep religion out of schools, government.”

These findings raise some interesting questions. What is it about President Obama that the more people get to know him, the less likely they are to believe he’s a Christian? What is it about agnostics and atheists that makes them uncomfortable with Mormonism, or, for that matter, any religion? Why do two-thirds of Americans believe liberals want to censor religious speech?

The president has a perception problem that only he can change. As for non-believers and liberals, they need to work on nurturing the virtue of tolerance.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on how the elites in two states are dealing with child abuse:

Yesterday, a bill was passed by voice vote in the Massachusetts House expanding the time period on civil claims of child sexual abuse. Today, an editorial in the Philadelphia Inquirer calls for Pennsylvania lawmakers to allow a two-year window for filing civil lawsuits in such cases. Neither effort is serious about combating this problem, and both endorse discriminatory legislation.

In Massachusetts, the bill that was passed would do absolutely nothing about child sexual abuse that occurs in the public schools; it applies exclusively to private institutions, such as the Catholic Church. Similarly, the editorial in the Inquirer says absolutely nothing about blanketing the public sector; unless a bill specifically targets the sovereign immunity status of the public schools, they remain exempt.

To end this posturing about the welfare of children, someone needs to introduce legislation that only targets the public sector. After the storm, then we can have a serious discussion about new legislation that treats both the private and public sectors equally. As it stands now, the elites are perpetrating a scam.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) not to allow a moment of silence at Friday’s opening ceremony for Israeli athletes who were murdered by an arm of the Palestinian Liberation Front at the 1972 Munich games:

On Monday, Olympic officials led a small gathering of attendees in a moment of silence in memory of the Munich massacre. If they were truly interested in honoring the 11 Israelis who were murdered by terrorists 40 years ago, they would not have chosen a pre-Olympic event: they would have chosen the opening ceremonies on Friday. The official reason given for not doing so is that such an event would be “political.”

The Olympics are not exactly virginal in matters political. For example, at the 1908 Summer Olympics, the Irish were told they could not fly the Irish flag; they had to compete under the British flag. At the 1964 Summer Olympics, South Africa was suspended because of its practice of apartheid (the suspension was not lifted until 1992).

Abraham Foxman, national director of the ADL, points out more hypocrisy: “It should be noted that moments of silence have been held at previous Olympic ceremonies, including one remembering the victims of the 9/11 attack at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah.”

If anything, it appears that politics explains why the Munich massacre is not considered worthy of commemoration. Are Olympic officials afraid of incurring a backlash from Muslim extremists? Is cowardice at play? Or is something else at work?

We hope Bob Costas of NBC Sports makes good on his pledge to call for a moment of silence at the televised opening ceremonies. We also urge Catholics to stand with Jews on this issue by signing the online petition to the IOC requesting a moment of silence.

Sign the petition: www.change.org/minuteofsilence

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the controversy over a recently published article by University of Texas at Austin sociologist Mark Regnerus:

In the July 2012 issue of Social Science Research, University of Texas at Austin professor Mark Regnerus addresses the issue of gay parenting. His work, which appears in a peer-reviewed journal, is being criticized by Scott Rose (his real name is Scott Rosenweig); he is a gay activist, novelist, and freelancer. In response, the University has begun an inquiry to see if the complaint merits an investigation.

The contents of Regnerus’s article are not my reason for writing to UT president William Powers: Rose’s anti-Catholicism is my concern. In Rose’s June 21 letter to President Powers, he mentions Regnerus’s conversion from evangelical Protestantism to Catholicism: he then makes comments about Catholicism and the bishops that are as invidious as they are ignorant. Rose also makes scurrilous remarks about Princeton Professor Robert George.

In my letter today to President Powers, I offer further proof that Rose’s hatred of Catholicism is so deep that it impairs his credibility as a fair-minded observer. [To read it, click here.] When those making charges of bias are themselves compromised by bias, it undercuts their case. This is especially true when the accuser has no academic standing, and the accused is a prominent professor.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the latest initiatives to secure religious liberty:

Yesterday, Daniel Cardinal DiNardo heralded the inclusion of the Abortion Non-Discrimination Act, and key provisions from the Respect for Rights of Conscience Act, in the appropriations bill for Fiscal Year 2013 of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor/HHS. These measures would strengthen the right of health care providers not to provide for abortion, and would protect religious entities who object to those parts of ObamaCare they deem objectionable.

Also this week, while the seven states that filed suit against the so-called contraception mandate lost when a U.S. District judge said they lacked standing, he noted something important: Judge Warren K. Urbom cited the fact that “the rule is currently undergoing a process of amendment to accommodate these organizations.”

What Judge Urbom says is true, and perhaps the discussions will yield positive results. But if they do not, the Catholic community is not walking away. Importantly, Catholics are not alone. Here’s another development this week: Wheaton College, a distinguished Protestant institution, has joined the Catholic University of America in suing over the mandate. It did so purely on religious-liberty grounds.

Moreover, the Religious Freedom Tax Repeal Act was introduced last week by Rep. James Sensenbrenner and Rep. Diane Black. It would block any punitive taxes from being levied on religious organizations that refuse to accede to the anti-religious liberty components of ObamaCare.

It was also announced last week that Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago has joined the Catholic Charities of the Dioceses of Joliet and Springfield in challenging these components.

Over 20 lawsuits have been filed against the mandate, and if all else fails, there is still the possibility of civil disobedience. Stay tuned.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

False accusations against priests are hardly uncommon these days, but when anti-Catholicism accounts for lies against lay Catholics, the problem only worsens. Consider the latest news concerning Tim Udinski.

After Udinski was fired as the lacrosse coach at Lansdale Catholic High School last year, he made several accusations over a seven-month period claiming that the football coach and the new lacrosse coach were sexually abusing students. He also maintained that the principal of the suburban Philadelphia school, Tim Quinn, knew about the offenses.

After detectives spent 184 hours on this case, interviewing 97 people (at a cost of more than $8250), they determined that the charges were bogus. Standing by itself, this wouldn’t be big news, but what makes it so disturbing is Udinski’s motive: he has admitted that he fabricated the whole story, just so he could “get the Church.”

Landsdale Catholic High is in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and it was to the archdiocese that Udinski sent his anonymous e-mails. Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman acknowledged that Udinski sought to exploit the high profile that the sexual abuse of minors has been given. Indeed, she questioned, “How do you undo that? How do you unring the bell?”

Here’s the clincher. When asked why he lied, Udinski said, “I just wanted to get back at the church, Tim Quinn, and I was just generally mad.” (My italics.)

Over the past three years, 173 false accusations have been made against Catholic priests nationwide. Also, on July 6, Philadelphia Archbishop Charles Chaput stated that four of the six priests who were recently investigated were found suitable for ministry. Isn’t it time we learned the names of those who make false charges? And how do we “unring the bell” for all those priests—and lay persons—whose reputations have been smeared by merchants of bigotry and greed?

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

Media coverage of both the “Fortnight for Freedom” events sponsored by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), and the competing “Nuns on the Bus” campaign, reveal interesting results.

A total of 141 dioceses, involving tens of thousands of Catholics, participated in the USCCB events; it ended with a crowd of 5,000 at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception on July 4. Although Bill Moyers wrote that “a bus filled with nuns” participated in the “Nuns on the Bus” campaign, in actual fact a total of two nuns made the entire bus trip; there were never more than six at any one time on the bus. No matter, CNN did eight stories on the nuns, and none on the bishops; MSNBC did six on the nuns, and one on the bishops; and CBS News did two on the nuns and none on the bishops.

The nuns were helped by a media advisor for Faith in Public Life. As I pointed out in my news release of June 18, the group is funded by atheist billionaire George Soros; its Catholic Program Director is John Gehring, a left-wing operative who sought to manipulate the media against the USCCB events. Leading the nuns was a registered Washington lobbyist, Sr. Simone Campbell of Network. This group’s founder, Sr. Marjorie Tuite, was threatened with expulsion in the 1980s for her pro-abortion work. Today, Network employs nine people, three of whom are nuns.

The “Nuns on the Bus” tour made its biggest splash when the luxury bus parked outside the United Methodist Church in Washington, D.C. Lauding them was a leader of the Islamic Society of North America. According to renowned student of terrorism, Steve Emerson, this organization “has sponsored extremists, racists, people who call for Jihad against the United States.” Not that the embrace of totalitarianism is anything foreign to these activists: an 88 year-old nun who took a spin on the bus said she had just gotten back from Cuba, where she expressed her solidarity with the Communists.

Media bias has rarely been so starkly naked.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on pop-star Madonna’s latest anti-Catholic stunt:

Madonna is back in the news, this time for offending concert-goers in France. In her latest video that accompanies the song, “Nobody Knows Me,” French National Front party leader Marine Le Pen is shown sporting a swastika on her head. After the video was played during Madonna’s performance in Paris on Saturday, the National Front said it was going to sue her. Not attracting much attention is Madonna’s vile attack on Pope Benedict XVI.

The full video of “Nobody Knows Me,” which is part of Madonna’s MDNA Tour, is replete with religious symbolism. The most offensive part for Catholics occurs when anti-gay protesters are shown just before Madonna’s face morphs into that of the pope; at the point where the pope’s face appears, protesters holding gay-bashing signs are shown on both sides of him. The accompanying lyrics, which include the refrain, “Won’t let a stranger give me a social disease,” ties the pope to hate speech directed at homosexuals. Moreover, photos of gay youths who recently committed suicide are also shown during this sequence.

What is particularly sick about this attack is that the protesters are not only not Catholic, they are anti-Catholic! Anyone who doubts this to be true only needs go to the website of the Westboro Baptist Church [click here] and find pictures of these church members holding signs that read “God Hates Fags”—the exact signs shown in the video. To demonstrate how relentlessly anti-Catholic these people are, they are going to picket St. Joseph Catholic Church in Shawnee, Kansas on July 22: the church is called a “whorehouse” and the priests are labeled “rapists.”

Madonna not only libeled the pope, she attributed to Catholicism the hate speech of those who hate Catholics, as well as homosexuals. That the media are giving scant coverage to this part of her bigoted performance is also disturbing.