HOT ELECTION ISSUES IGNITE; BIGOTRY FLARES

Hot button issues on the November ballot triggered passions in many parts of the country. In some cases, things got ugly. Nowhere was the situation worse than in California, Washington and Michigan.

Some of the proponents of gay marriage, abortion and euthanasia engaged in a bigoted protest against people of faith, including Roman Catholics. Not content to simply register their convictions in the polling booth, they resorted to confrontation politics. And in many cases, they violated the law, with impunity.

In California, an initiative that affirmed the traditional understanding of marriage as being between one man and one woman passed by a thin majority. Unhappy with the democratic process, radical gays tied up traffic by blocking intersections in many cities. They also bashed Catholics and Mormons for strongly supporting the pro-marriage resolution. A bigoted video attacking Mormons for supporting traditional marriage was aired on television.

In Palm Springs, California, an elderly lady carrying a cross showed up at a pro-gay marriage rally. The angry crowd knocked it from her hands and then stomped it on the ground. A local CBS anchor incredibly said that this incident showed, “There is a lot of anger and a lot of hate, quite honestly, on both sides.”

Californians also voted on an initiative requiring parental notification in cases of a minor contemplating an abortion; it narrowly lost. Prior to the election, opponents of parental rights took to the streets outside a Catholic church in Coronado seeking to intimidate those going to Mass.

The state of Washington held a referendum on legalizing physician-assisted suicide. Some of those unhappy with the Catholic Church’s opposition to the death initiative trotted out the old canard about the Church seeking to “impose” its views on others. No one repeated this mantra more than Ann Martens, spokeswoman for the resolution.

Gay fascists stormed an evangelical church in Lansing, Michigan after the election was over. Ironically, these extremists, from a nationwide group called Bash Back!, are opposed to gay marriage; they fear marriage  would make homosexuals more like heterosexuals. No matter, their tactics were branded Nazi-like by Bill Donohue. Indeed, it was the Catholic League that was responsible for getting the media to pick up on this startling story.

This kind of hate speech by the anti-marriage, anti-family, anti-child fanatics was underreported by the mainstream media, many of whose members are sympathetic to their cause.




CHRISTMAS STIRRINGS

This year the Christmas stirrings started early. The anti-Christmas folks wasted no time protesting the holiday.

In November, the American Humanist Association launched its “Godless Holiday Campaign.” It placed ads in newspapers that read, “Why believe in god? Just be good for goodness’ sake.” The same ad is now posted on Metro buses in Washington, D.C.

Roy Speckhardt, executive director of the group, remarkably said that “Morality doesn’t come from religion”; he said it comes from individuals. As we pointed out, codes of morality have always been grounded in religion. Furthermore, there is nothing that cannot be justified if the only moral benchmark is what men and women posit to be right and wrong.

On November 15, a press conference was called by New York City Councilman Tony Avella on the matter of allowing the display of a crèche in the public schools. Avella is introducing a measure that would demand all councilmen to vote up or down on this issue; currently, Jewish and Muslim religious symbols are allowed in the schools, but only Christian secular symbols are permitted. Bill Donohue spoke at this event.

Also, Long Island chapter president Jim Krug supported a decision reached by Grucci, the internationally known fireworks company, to pull out of an annual Christmas event after it was announced that the Christmas Boat Parade was renamed the Holiday Boat Parade.

The anti-Christmas fever never stops.




CULTURE WAR READY TO EXPLODE

William A. Donohue

We have been in the throes of a culture war for the past half-century, but never has it been more imperative to buckle your seat belts until now. Quite frankly, the culture war is about to explode.

The culture war pits traditionalists against modernists. To be more specific, it pits those who ascribe to the timeless values that inhere in faith, family and country against those who reject faith and family—traditionally understood—and who equate patriotism with jingoism.

Who are these people who comprise the ranks of the modernists? They are people so thoroughly secularist that they literally loathe religion. They are people who think that anyone who supports marriage as an institution exclusively designed for one man and one woman is a bigot. And they are people who think that the U.S. government is the cause of American bashing around the world.

Where do we find such persons? Many work in Hollywood, the media, the universities, the arts and in the non-profit sectors of the economy. They are fundamentally unhappy with themselves, God, nature, the U.S. and Western civilization. And that is why many hate the Catholic Church: It is a traditionalist institution that not only embraces God and nature, it is responsible for making Western civilization the greatest civilization in the history of the world.

We’re in for it. Why? Because the modernists feel emboldened after the November election. Please don’t misunderstand me—I am not blaming Barack Obama for all of what is about to happen. I am blaming many of those in the occupations I cited who see in his victory a golden opportunity to wage war on traditionalists. They are already revving it up; just wait until they kick it into high gear.

The modernists will be paying close attention to what Obama does in his very first days in office. If he does what he has pledged to do—push for the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA)—then that will prove to be pivotal in the culture war. We won’t have to wait long on whether his promise to Planned Parenthood will be realized, and that is because two days after he is sworn in, it will be the 36th anniversary of the infamous Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

In 1993, two days after he was sworn in as president, Bill Clinton rapped pro-lifers in the face when he overturned every Executive Order limiting abortion. Will Obama choose the day pro-lifers assemble in Washington for the Right to Life March to stick it to them? If he affirms his support for FOCA, that will prove to be incendiary.

FOCA is not just another pro-abortion piece of legislation. It is the most radical, comprehensive pro-abortion bill in the history of the United States. No nation in Europe has anything like it. If passed by the Congress, and signed by Obama, it would effectively nullify every state restriction on abortion. That means that all parental consent laws would go by the wayside. It means that partial-birth abortion would be legal again. It even means that Catholic hospitals and Catholic doctors may lose their right not to perform abortions.

The Office of the General Counsel of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has prepared an analysis of FOCA that is as accurate as it is scary. Among the many provisions it is likely to invalidate are “laws protecting the conscience rights of doctors, nurses and hospitals, if those laws create even minimal delay or inconvenience in obtaining an abortion or treat abortion differently than other medical procedures.”

In other words, if FOCA were ever to become law, not only will the rights of the unborn be stripped for all time, the rights of the born who defend them will be stripped as well. Sadly, because the abortion rate among black girls is so high, it means that America’s first African American president will preside over an increase in the death of black babies.

If Obama touts FOCA on January 22, it will spark not simply the pro-abortion industry, it will ignite all the modernists who have a real problem with faith, family and country, traditionally understood. With no one left to demonize in Washington, radical secularists will take after the Catholic Church and every other traditionalist institution. Look for them to target any religion that doesn’t ascribe to its modernist interpretation of discrimination, all with an eye towards gutting its tax exempt status.

Much of the action will take place outside the beltway, in local communities across the nation. There will be culture war battles on a myriad of fronts. Fortunately, it will bring traditional Catholics, evangelical Protestants, Muslims, Mormons and Orthodox Jews closer together. We should not be reluctant to form coalitions across faith lines.

So buckle your seat belts. The polarization that has marked the culture war thus far is about to worsen. At stake is the very moral foundation this country was built on, and the values and social institutions it reflects. As you might expect, we will not walk away from this fight. We will not sit on the sidelines—we will be gladiators, not spectators.




ELECTION ISSUES SPARK VITRIOLIC RESPONSE

On Election Day, Californians voted on Proposition 4, a measure that would require minors to obtain parental notification before an abortion is performed; there was a provision for judicial override in unusual circumstances—unfortunately the measure did not pass. However, leading up to the election, some of those opposed to the proposition engaged in Catholic bashing.

Some of the Catholic bashing that accompanied the crusade against Proposition 4 was subtle, and some of it was overt. The subtle variety was on display in news releases that continued to cite the Knights of Columbus as a donor in favor of the resolution: The Knights’ contribution was actually quite small, but by flagging the Catholic lay group, opponents were throwing a red flag to anti-Catholic bigots. This is exactly what we expected of such groups as the ACLU, NOW, the Feminist Majority, Planned Parenthood, and NARAL; their record of bigotry is quite long.

Besides some anti-Catholic bloggers, opponents of parental rights conducted a demonstration on October 26 outside of a Catholic church in Coronado; those coming and going to Mass were specifically singled out.

A video on the subject, dubbed “Therapy” by the Vote No on Proposition 4 activists, had two young men sitting on a couch discussing the issue. The pro-parental consent fellow, of course, was depicted as making his case based on emotion, not evidence. Worse, he confesses that he is trying to “impose [his] moral view on others”; he cites his reliance on the Bible. In actual fact, it was the anti-parental consent crowd which was imposing its moral views.

The Sierra Club also got involved in fighting Proposition 4. So is its message—less kids, less pollution? The group admits that it is pro-abortion on its website. What we didn’t know was that it was comfortable consorting with anti-Catholics.

Along with the Catholic Church’s support for Proposition 4, it also endorsed Proposition 8, the successful pro-marriage measure. The Church’s support for both of these propositions triggered an avalanche of vitriolic criticism. Here is a sampling:

· The National Catholic Reporter blasted all the bishops—“Not one among the bishops has had the courage”—to take on pro-life Catholics who have allegedly “distorted” the abortion issue

· Rabbi Brad Hirschfield criticized Cardinal Egan for opposing abortion, saying, “We need to stop litmus testing each other over single issues” like abortion

· Catholics for Choice said that pro-abortion Catholics “are in good company, and in good conscience” for rejecting the Church’s teaching on this subject

· Rev. Daniel Kanter, a Unitarian, said the Church “employs a measure of fear” to get Catholics to oppose abortion

· Rev. Jonathan Tran, a Baptist, opined, “If the Church doesn’t tell us what to do with our ballots…and genitalia, who will?”

· Professor Frank K. Flinn said the Church has not always been opposed to abortion, implying that the Catholic Catechism, the bishops and the pope are all wrong

· Rev. Geoffrey Farrow, a gay priest, said the Church’s opposition to gay marriage represents a “hurtful” theology

· Los Angeles Times writer Steve Lopez said that “Speaking up for the dignity of gay people must be a greater sin than being accused of molesting minors”

Even worse were American Atheists, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and the Freedom from Religion Foundation. All accused the Catholic Church of abusing its power by favoring Proposition 8, yet none said anything about the more than 100 houses of worship and religious organizations which opposed it. Their hypocrisy is appalling.




CATHOLICS VOTE PRO-MARRIAGE

On November 5, we noted the role that Catholics played in securing marriage and family rights in the election.

Were it not for Catholics, the institutions of marriage and the family would have taken a hit in places like Arizona, Florida and California. Indeed, in Florida and California, their vote proved to be decisive.

Arizonians rejected gay marriage by a vote of 56% to 44%, though the margin among Catholics was less—51% to 49%. In Florida, the Catholic vote proved to be controlling: overall, the ban on gay marriage won by 62% to 38%, but among Catholics it was 66% to 34%. Californians narrowly defeated gay marriage by a margin of 52% to 48%, but Catholics rejected it by an impressive 60% to 40% differential. A vote in California to support parental consent lost by 52% to 48%, but it won among Catholics by a hefty 58% to 42%.

On both issues, Catholics and Protestants who are regular churchgoers clearly supported a ban on homosexual marriage and affirmed their support for parental consent. Unmarrieds and those who don’t go to church overwhelmingly voted for the right of two men to marry; they also voted to deny mothers and fathers of their right to be notified in advance if their child is considering an abortion.

Those who supported traditional values, then, tended to be religious and married while those who sport a preference for moral relativism tend to be secular and single. The implications were clear: tax laws, and other public policy initiatives, which are both family-friendly and church-friendly, are critically important.




GAY FASCISTS STORM CHURCH

On Sunday, November 9, a band of about 30 gays stormed a church in Lansing, Michigan. Some were well dressed—as if they were legitimately attending the church service—and were stationed inside Mount Hope Church; others were outside of the building dressed in pink and black. The group of self-described homosexual anarchists, Bash Back!, claimed the evangelical church is guilty of “transphobia and homophobia.”

The protesters outside the church were beating on buckets, shouting “Jesus was a homo” on a megaphone and carrying an upside-down pink cross. Inside the church, the well-dressed protesters set off fire alarms, stormed the pulpit and unfurled a huge rainbow-colored flag with the inscription, “IT’S OKAY TO BE GAY! BASH BACK!” The church was vandalized, obscenities were shouted and worshippers were confronted. There were no arrests.

Bash Back!, a nationwide organization, had been planning on terrorizing the church for a month before executing their protest.

The facts are indisputable—all one has to do is visit the website of Bash Back! There one will find that on October 12 and 23, a memo was sent to members of the group to commemorate the founding of “Michigan’s newly formed chapter” asking “Queers and Trannies” to join in storming the church. The group boasts that in 2008 there has been “an explosion in Radical Trans/Queer organizing,” citing progress that has been made from “Maine to the Midwest to The Bay Area.” Bash Back! was founded to fight “State recognition in the form of oppressive institutions such as marriage and militarism”; it says both are “steps towards heteronormative assimilation.” The radical nature of the organization has led it to protest pro-gay marriage organizations like the Human Rights Campaign.

Eaton County Sheriff Mike Raines was able to ID the protesters, but unfortunately the pastor of the church did not want to press charges; therefore, the guilty got off scot-free.

This urban fascism was labeled by the left-wing site, the Daily Kos, as a “funny story,” and it conducted a survey on the subject. Only 19 percent thought what Bash Back! did crossed the line.




GAY MARRIAGE LOSES; PROTESTS TURN UGLY

Homosexuals unhappy with election results rejecting gay marriage bashed the five groups most responsible for their loss: African Americans, Roman Catholics, Evangelical Protestants, Latinos and Mormons. No group was hit harder than Mormons. Here is a sample of their behavior:

· Protesters in many California cities took to the streets snarling traffic and endangering public safety

· Houses and cars were vandalized

· Mormons who removed offensive signs from their property were beaten

· “Mormon scum” was shouted at worshippers

· Latinos carrying pro-marriage signs were assaulted

· An elderly woman was roughed up and the cross she was carrying was smashed to the ground

· “Bigots Live Here” was scrawled on a Christian church

· The Book of Mormon was set on fire in a Mormon chapel

· Catholic churches were trashed and swastikas were placed on their lawns

· African Americans were called the “N-word”

· Rioting protesters shouted “Separation of Church and Hate”

· Supporters of traditional marriage were called “Nazis”

· A white substance, resembling anthrax, was sent to the Knights of Columbus and to Mormon temples




BISHOPS BLAST ABORTION

In a statement released on November 12, Francis Cardinal George, president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, made it clear that the bishops will fight any expansion of abortion rights that may occur under the next administration. Specifically, the bishops—who were gathered in Baltimore for their annual fall meeting—objected to the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA), a bill so sweeping and draconian that it would not only repeal every single state restriction on abortion, it would seriously jeopardize the right of Catholic hospitals and doctors to opt out of performing abortions.

Cardinal George was right to label FOCA “an evil law that would further divide the country.” At stake are two issues: a) the rights of the unborn and, b) religious liberty.

First, those who admit that abortion should be rare unwittingly acknowledge that there is a reason to limit its frequency: as Cardinal George said, “abortion kills.” By contrast, no one maintains that root canals should be rare, and that is because this medical procedure—unlike abortion—does not result in the total denial of someone else’s rights.

Second, religious liberty is enshrined in the First Amendment and cannot be trespassed upon lightly, and certainly not by abortion zealots. Those who support FOCA must realize that if Catholic hospitals are ever required to perform abortions, the bishops will close every one of them; no one would be hurt more than the poor.

Cardinal George’s statement on November 12 dovetailed nicely with his address to the bishops at the plenary session of the meeting. Cardinal George said that “The common good can never be adequately incarnated in any society when those waiting to be born can be legally killed” via abortion. His statement was greeted with a warm and welcome response from his fellow bishops.

More bishops spoke up this past election season about the horrors of abortion than ever before. Predictably, they were hammered not only by those who are squarely in the pro-abortion camp, but also by apologists for abortion who ascribe to a “common ground” approach: This group is comprised of men and women who feign an interest in pro-life issues, but who nonetheless work tirelessly for pro-abortion politicians. It is not certain whom they have fooled.

Among those not fooled is Cardinal George. Nowhere in his magnificent address did he cite the need for an increase in the minimum wage or the welfare budget as an adequate response to ending abortion. Indeed, he picked up on the “common ground” lingo only to say that the “common ground cannot be found by destroying the common good.”

Following Cardinal George’s statements, we issued a news release drawing attention to his explicit rejection of the “common good” mantra of the Catholic Left that justifies abortion while pursuing ameliorative social policies that may reduce abortions. Cardinal George said that the “legal protection of the unborn” is at stake. We noted that this is “something which is rejected by Catholics United, Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good and Catholic Democrats.” Our news release closed by saying: “We hope they amend their ways and fall in line with Catholic thought on this grave matter. If they do not, they will become indistinguishable from Catholics for Choice, a fully discredited organization.”




CATHOLIC LEAGUE DEFENDS BISHOP SERRATELLI

On October 23, Bill Donohue sent a letter to Lois G. Lerner at the Internal Revenue Service. The text of this letter is printed below:

Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State has made public his objections to Paterson, New Jersey Bishop Arthur J. Serratelli’s recent letter to his constituents on the subject of abortion. Lynn has asked you to investigate this matter, charging that “It is impossible to interpret this passage [the concluding paragraph of Serratelli’s missive] as anything but a command to vote against ‘the present democratic candidate’ because of his promise to sign a certain piece of legislation disfavored by the Catholic Church’s hierarchy.”

Perhaps it has something to do with the notoriously anti-Catholic origins of Lynn’s organization, which once called for high-ranking members of the Catholic clergy to be stripped of their constitutional rights, that led him to conclude that any FYI statement made on the part of the Catholic clergy regarding public policy matters constitutes a “command” to Catholics on how to vote. Indeed, only someone who has bought into the worst stereotypes of the Catholic Church would assume that bishops are in the business of giving marching orders to their congregants.

Lynn is a member of the clergy of the United Church of Christ, a religion that supports abortion rights. Moreover, Reverend Lynn makes no bones about his rabid pro-abortion views. He is entitled to that position. But just as it would be absurd for me to say that he has no right to exercise his freedom of speech by telling his congregants that certain candidates for public office hold views that are very different from their own on some issues, it is equally absurd for him to accuse Bishop Serratelli of crossing the line. In short, there is a profound difference between a passionately expressed opinion and a “command.”




OFFENSIVE YouTube VIDEOS REMOVED

After a strong fight by the Catholic League and our supporters, the young Canadian man, Dominique (his username is “fsmdude”) has removed his Eucharist desecration videos from YouTube.

In October, after several unsuccessful attempts to reach YouTube CEO Chad Hurley, a YouTube official called Bill Donohue. The official told Donohue that YouTube had “age-gated” the hateful videos, which required viewers to verify their age. Moreover, the official told Donohue that the viewer would be informed that the material might not be appropriate.

Donohue was told that this was a “preliminary step,” part of an ongoing review process. In other words, they took the protests of the Catholic League and our members seriously.

Within a couple of weeks of YouTube’s response to the league, “fsmdude” removed all of his videos—there were over forty of them—in which he desecrated the Body and Blood of Christ. Examples of his desecration included flushing the Host down the toilet, putting it in a blender, feeding it to an animal, driving a nail through it, etc.

It should be noted that the young man admitted that he removed the videos as a result of the pressure he received from his father and the public embarrassment that these videos caused him.

While there are sure to be copycats that pop up every now and again, it is refreshing to know that YouTube will now take these actions and deal with offensive videos accordingly. We appreciate the seriousness that YouTube showed and we hope videos like these never find their way back to the popular website.

We would like to thank all of those who stood by our side and contacted YouTube. Without your support, results such as this are much harder to obtain.