On August 3, the News-Times of Danbury, Connecticut printed an opinion piece by Fred Hammond that made the preposterous claim that the Catholic Church once sanctioned same-sex marriage.

The league responded by questioning the judgment of the newspaper’s editors: “Now it is one thing to allow a forum for controversial views, quite another to publish articles that purport to advance the truth when, in fact, they are made up out of whole cloth. If someone from the Flat Earth Society were to submit a piece for publication, it is a sure bet that it wouldn’t see the light of day. So why extend legitimacy to Hammond’s poppycock?”

Dr. Jack Kevorkian, whose favorite motto is “Ready or not, here I come,” recently said that “All religion is irrational.” He took special aim, however, at the pope. “The pope has his hands on our neck. He’s wringing it. I think he has a grip on the government, and I know he has a grip on the Michigan Supreme Court.” Too bad Kevorkian doesn’t get a grip on life and stop the conspiracy-mongering. And if there’s anyone who should learn to keep his hands to himself, it’s Dr. Death himself.

Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All for You, the Christopher Durang anti-Catholic play that never seems to die, ran for three weeks in Arlington, Virginia this past August. It was gratifying to read that Lloyd Rose of the Washington Post labeled the play “neither interesting nor satisfying,” adding that the production is nothing less than Durang’s “hate letter to the Roman Catholic Church.” Well said.

The Assemblies of God, with its 1.4 million members, has called for a boycott of all Disney products. It was particularly incensed over the Disney-owned Hyperion Pressdecision to publish “Growing Up Gay” (a book for teenagers), and the Gay and Lesbian Day events at Disney theme parks. Assemblies of God also mentioned their objections to the Disney-Miramax movie, Priest, as a reason for the boycott.

In 1995, the Catholic League led the fight against Priest and is delighted with the support it is receiving from the Protestant community over this issue. Just last month, Catalystmentioned that the Southern Baptist Convention had voted to boycott Disney.

The Claremont Institute has just published the second edition of William Donohue’s monograph, On The Front Line Of The Culture War: Recent Attacks on the Boy Scouts of America. Claremont is advertising it as one of its best selling publications of all time. Donohue’s analysis covers the role of the ACLU and the courts in seeking to undermine the mission of the Boy Scouts by challenging the right of the Scouts to exclude girls, gays and the godless from its ranks.

Copies are available for $5 from The Claremont Institute, 250 West First Street, Suite 330, Claremont, California 91711; (909) 621-6825.