Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on an editorial in today’s Los Angeles Times:

The latest liberal voice worried stiff over the Catholic Church’s resistance to the Obama administration’s war on Catholicism is the Los Angeles Times. Today they accuse Donald Cardinal Wuerl of the Washington Archdiocese of “censorship” for speaking out against Georgetown’s embrace of abortion champion Kathleen Sebelius; the paper says the students should be exposed to “a variety of viewpoints.”

Ironically, the last thing the Los Angeles Times is known for is exposing its readers to “a variety of viewpoints.” In 2003, its editor, John Carroll, sent a memo to his editors complaining about the one-sided liberal stories the paper runs. In 2005, a UCLA study of media bias listed the paper as one of the most biased in the nation. In 2009, veteran Washington Post reporter Tom Edsall said the paper was composed in large part of the “liberal elite.”

Nor does the paper have any moral standing to lecture anyone about “censorship.” Two years ago, it pulled a patently inoffensive cartoon, “Where’s Muhammad?” Were they being respectful of Muslims? Or were they fearful? Either way, they engaged in censorship (as they define it). Ten years earlier they showed their respect—or was it fear?—of Muslims when they dropped a promotional ad that featured images of Muslim women in chadors mixed in with bikini-clad women. To show how deeply respectful—or fearful—the boys and girls at the paper were, over 200 editors and reporters signed a petition calling for the ad to be censored.

In other words, the Los Angeles Times shuns diversity of opinion, loathes equal treatment of religion, and likes censorship. Which is why it is such a beacon of liberal thought.

Contact editorial board chief Nicholas Goldberg: nicholas.goldberg@latimes.com

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the work of artist Sebastian Errazuriz:

I never heard of this guy until about 10 minutes ago, but I already know he is a bigot, a hypocrite and a rip-off artist.

He is a bigot for making “Christian Popsicles”—the wooden stick is inscribed with the image of Jesus on the Cross. The flavors are made from what CNN is reporting as “frozen holy wine transformed into the blood of Christ”; the wine was “inadvertently blessed by the priest while turning wine into the blood of Christ during the Eucharist.” His magnum opus will be handed out on Saturday in New York City at some dump in the Flatiron District.

He is a hypocrite because he says that although Americans should be “rightly worried” about the threat that radical Muslims pose, he decided to stick it to Christians instead. Why? Because religious extremism can be dangerous, he explains. So can sticking it to radical Muslims.

He is a rip-off artist because he recently ripped off the Occupy Wall Street demonstrators: while expressing solidarity with the anti-capitalists, he capitalized on their campaign by selling folding chairs with some of their signs painted on the back. My favorite was the stunningly brilliant, “I’m So Angry I Made a Sign.” The asking price was $2,500. Not a bad profit, especially for a socialist.

Contact this genius: info@meetsebastian.com

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on an editorial in today’s Washington Post:

The Washington Post says it is “shocking” that Donald Cardinal Wuerl would criticize Georgetown University for inviting Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to speak at one of the commencement exercises tomorrow. We find it shocking that the Washington Post would involve itself in the internal affairs of the Catholic Church. If Cardinal Wuerl were to criticize the Washington Post for disciplining one of its miscreant reporters, we would never hear the end of it.

The editorial board looks positively foolish when it speaks about the importance of “the free exchange of ideas.” So are we to conclude that all ideas should freely be exchanged on campus, and that its proponents should be welcomed at a Catholic university? If so, this would include spokesmen ranging from the Flat Earth Society to the Ku Klux Klan.

The fact is that the editorial board of the Washington Post loves abortion rights, loves President Obama, and loves self-identified Catholics who love abortion rights, love Obama, and publicly reject the teachings of the Catholic Church on abortion. Which is why they love Kathleen Sebelius.

Georgetown is home to two pro-abortion groups, so it is hardly surprising to learn that it would seek a confrontation by inviting Sebelius—next to Obama, she is the most pro-abortion person in public life today.

We are proud of Cardinal Wuerl for standing on principle: he stands in stark relief to the journalistic arrogance of the Washington Post.

Contact Fred Hiatt at the Post: fredhiatt@washpost.com

Below is the text of Bill Donohue’s letter to Hindu, Buddhist and Sikh leaders that was mailed today:

Enclosed is an obscene, anti-women, anti-Christian picture—that’s a nativity scene ornament in between the woman’s legs—that was flashed on the screen on the April 16 episode of Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show”; he referred to it as the “vagina manger.” He obviously crossed the line, and that is why we are contacting his sponsors, as well as religious leaders from every major faith community, about this offensive stunt. All we are asking for is an apology.

It would be of enormous help if you were to weigh in on this issue. Please write to Mr. Steve Albani, Senior VP Communications, Comedy Central, 345 Hudson St., New York, New York 10014. Thanks so much.

Bill Donohue comments on the latest confrontation between the Catholic Church and the Obama administration:

Two developments in the last 24 hours offer new evidence that the confrontation between the Catholic Church and the Obama administration is reaching collision course dimensions: yesterday, attorneys for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) made plain their objections to the alleged “accommodations” offered by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS); and today the Franciscan University of Steubenville announced that as a result of the HHS mandate it would drop student health care insurance programs starting in the next academic year.

Writing for the bishops, Anthony R. Picarello, Jr. and Michael F. Moses listed six objections to the HHS mandate that would force Catholic non-profits to pay for morally objectionable services in their insurance plans. One central objection was the “unprecedented” attempt to redefine religious employers as entities that hire and serve mostly people of their own religion; it would effectively nullify the religious exemption traditionally afforded such institutions as Catholic social service agencies, hospitals and colleges.

Another major point, one which speaks directly to the concerns of Franciscan University, is that it mandates such organizations to “either drop out of the health insurance marketplace” or “provide coverage that violates their deeply-held convictions.” Fr. Terence Henry, the courageous president of the university, will not be bullied.

Both the crabbed redefinition of a religious institution, and the either/or conditions it offers Catholic non-profits, are classic Catch-22 politics. The goal, which is to punish Catholic organizations if they don’t bow to the secular edicts of the Obama administration, couldn’t be more transparent.

The war on religion continues. Anyone who thought it was fading away needs a reality check. We stand with the USCCB.

Below is the text of Bill Donohue’s letter to Muslim leaders that was mailed today:

Enclosed is an obscene, anti-women, anti-Christian picture—that’s a nativity scene ornament in between the woman’s legs—that was flashed on the screen on the April 16 episode of Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show”; he referred to it as the “vagina manger.” He obviously crossed the line, and that is why we are contacting his sponsors, as well as religious leaders from every major faith community, about this offensive stunt. All we are asking for is an apology.

It would be of enormous help if you were to weigh in on this issue. Please write to Mr. Steve Albani, Senior VP Communications, Comedy Central, 345 Hudson St., New York, New York 10014. Thanks so much.

Below is the text of Bill Donohue’s letter to Mormon leaders that was mailed today:

Enclosed is an obscene, anti-women, anti-Christian picture—that’s a nativity scene ornament in between the woman’s legs—that was flashed on the screen on the April 16 episode of Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show”; he referred to it as the “vagina manger.” He obviously crossed the line, and that is why we are contacting his sponsors, as well as religious leaders from every major faith community, about this offensive stunt. All we are asking for is an apology.

It would be of enormous help if you were to weigh in on this issue. Please write to Mr. Steve Albani, Senior VP Communications, Comedy Central, 345 Hudson St., New York, New York 10014. Thanks so much.

Below is the text of Bill Donohue’s letter to Jewish leaders that was mailed today:

Enclosed is an obscene, anti-women, anti-Christian picture—that’s a nativity scene ornament in between the woman’s legs—that was flashed on the screen on the April 16 episode of Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show”; he referred to it as the “vagina manger.” He obviously crossed the line, and that is why we are contacting his sponsors, as well as religious leaders from every major faith community, about this offensive stunt. All we are asking for is an apology.

It would be of enormous help if you were to weigh in on this issue. Please write to Mr. Steve Albani, Senior VP Communications, Comedy Central, 345 Hudson St., New York, New York 10014. Thanks so much.

Below is the text of Bill Donohue’s letter to Evangelical leaders that was mailed today:

Enclosed is an obscene, anti-women, anti-Christian picture—that’s a nativity scene ornament in between the woman’s legs—that was flashed on the screen on the April 16 episode of Jon Stewart’s “The Daily Show”; he referred to it as the “vagina manger.” He obviously crossed the line, and that is why we are contacting his sponsors, as well as religious leaders from every major faith community, about this offensive stunt. All we are asking for is an apology.

It would be of enormous help if you were to weigh in on this issue. Please write to Mr. Steve Albani, Senior VP Communications, Comedy Central, 345 Hudson St., New York, New York 10014. Thanks so much.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

The new normal is yesterday’s abnormal: what was seen as bizarre, if not literally crazy, is now seen as normal. The converse is also true: those who still value the judiciously exercised role of shame, guilt and modesty are now seen as representative of the new abnormal.

The following examples are taken exclusively from news stories of May 9 and May 10:

• The president of the U.S. thinks it’s fine for two men to marry
• Homosexual and transgender characters—all positively portrayed—are proliferating on TV (by contrast, positively portrayed Catholic characters are almost nonexistent)
• There is a bill in California that would make it illegal for a trained psychologist to convert gays and lesbians
• New York’s top court said it is perfectly fine to view unlimited amounts of child pornography online
• The cover of Time magazine shows a young boy standing on a chair sucking his mother’s bare breast
• Tupperware parties run by suburban moms have been replaced by sex-toy parties featuring vibrators and lubricants
• A Nebraska mother has been arrested for charging men to have sex with her daughters, ages 7 and 14

Not all of these incidents are of equal moral weight, but put together they convey a powerful message: cultural ordinates are being obliterated. And when boundary lines disappear, the social fallout can be wicked.

Put differently, if it were our goal to create moral anarchy, we couldn’t have done a better job. There is a risk in pointing this out, but it’s worth being tagged the new abnormal.