Free Republic

Two bloggers hired recently by Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards were criticized Tuesday by a Catholic group for posts they had written elsewhere on the Internet. Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, demanded that Edwards fire Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwan. "John Edwards is a decent man who has had his campaign tarnished by two anti-Catholic, vulgar, trash-talking bigots," Donohue wrote in a statement. "He has no choice but to fire them immediately." The Edwards campaign declined to comment. McEwan and Marcotte did not respond to e-mails requesting a response. Donohue cited posts that...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue discusses the way Christmas is being celebrated on college campuses this year: “At Missouri State University, the Office of Multicultural Student Services does not list Christmas as part of its December celebrations: but it does list Kwanzaa, which unfortunately they think is spelled Kwanza. They celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month from mid-September to mid-October; October is Gay and Lesbian Month; and Native American Heritage Month captures November. But no Christmas—just “Kwanza.” “At SUNY Buffalo, they celebrate a Holiday Carnival which includes ‘a Hanukkah table, Kwanzaa, Boxing Day [this is a Canadian holiday], St. Nick’s Day and...

At Brandeis Elementary School in Louisville, Kentucky a teacher asked her students to make a Christmas tree out of paper; it was put on her bulletin board. But when a Jewish teacher said she was offended, she complained to the principal, Shervita West-Jordan, and got her wish. According to a news report, “She, and the teacher who complained, were bothered by the fact that the tree was made up of hands which represented all the students in the class.”  Both the teacher and the principal were angry over the words, “Santa’s Helpers,” that were placed over the tree. “Of course,...

A "silent night" as carolers told to stop singing at skating show RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) -- A high school choir was asked to stop singing Christmas carols during an ice skating show featuring Olympic medalist Sasha Cohen out of concern the skater would be offended because she's Jewish. A city staff member, accompanied by a police officer, approached the Rubidoux High School Madrigals at the Riverside Outdoor Ice Skating Rink just as they launched into "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman" and requested that the troupe stop singing, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported Thursday. Cohen, the 2006 Olympic silver medalist and 2006...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue released the following statement today on the Christmas wars: “The secular crusaders who want to neuter Christmas say ad nauseam that the reason why we have to give more attention to holidays other than Christmas is due to the increasingly diverse composition of our nation and the world. But it is a hoax: the evidence is just the opposite. “According to Boston University professor Stephen Prothero, America now has more Christians than any other nation in history (Christian Science Monitor, 12-23-03). ‘In terms of religious background,’ writes Hoover Institution scholar Dinesh D’Souza, ‘America is no...

Hate speech is typically the first line of attack employed by bullies, but bullies become emboldened when eliminationalist rhetoric is tolerated, and that societal acceptance can lead to far worse things. I've previously covered hate speech - see Enough Hate Spech To Stun An Ox, and Hatecrime.org has an extensive collection of hate speech targeting homosexuals. Suprisingly - or not - at least one individual whose statements are featured in that archive ( and also in collections of antisemitic rhetoric ) is also leader of a prominent Christian right group that claims to fight against anti-Catholic bias and discrimination who...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented today on the latest Muslim reaction to Pope Benedict XVI’s address at Regensburg University on September 12: “It is a mark of a civilized people that they answer discourse they find disagreeable in a rational manner. Sadly, many Muslims are responding to the pope’s speech in an irrational way, making true dialogue next to impossible. To compare the pope to Hitler, as a high-ranking Turkish official did, is the mark of an uncivilized person. To burn the pope in effigy, as the thugs in Srinagar, India, have done, is also the mark of incivility....

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented today on some of the remarks being made about Father Gabriele Amorth’s recent interview on Vatican Radio: “Various forums on the Internet are alive with chatter over Father Amorth’s August 27 interview. Father Amorth is a Pauline priest who works as an exorcist in the Diocese of Rome. In the interview, he said, ‘I am convinced that the Nazis were all possessed by the devil.’ Furthermore, he asserted that the ‘horrors’ committed by Stalin and Hitler also demonstrate that ‘they were possessed by the devil.’ Unfortunately, some are now reading these remarks as Father...

Mel Gibson's Apology OK With Catholic League Monday, July 31, 2006 3:51 p.m. EDT Catholic League President Bill Donohue commented today on the furor over the comments Mel Gibson allegedly made after his arrest for drunk driving Friday morning: "What Mel Gibson apparently said is indefensible. The remark attributed to him, ‘The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world,’ is anti-Semitic and irresponsible. Fortunately, he has apologized for his bigoted outburst. "Unfortunately, his apology is being rejected by some who should know better. To wit: Abraham Foxman, head of the Anti-Defamation League, has branded Gibson’s apology ‘unremorseful...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue wrote a letter today to the members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees, the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution, the Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of the Smithsonian magazine and the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.  His letter, available here, concerns an article in the June edition of the Smithsonian by James Carroll titled, “Who Was Mary Magdalene?”    Donohue summarizes his position as follows:   “James Carroll has a long record of seeking to discredit the historical record of the Catholic Church so as to impugn its credibility today on issues that have...

A reader of the Window wrote asking me to explain why I found The Da Vinci Code anti-Catholic. That's a fair question, since as she pointed out, I didn't supply any examples.Anyone doubting my word can consult the film's co-producer, John Calley. He told The New York Times (9/7/2005) that the movie was "conservatively anti-Catholic" but not "destructively so."   I wonder if Mr. Calley sought any expert opinions on what would be destructive to the Church, or if he considered himself qualified to make that call. Why did he reject the request for a disclaimer at the beginning of...

A leading Catholic activist is telling Christians their worries, building for months, over yesterday's release of "The Da Vinci Code," have been wasted on an "inane," "slumbering," "anti-climatic" movie that "fails to persuade" and flounders more on its poor quality than its anti-Catholic theology. Bill Donohue "This was one of the most inane films I have ever seen," said Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, after viewing the movie on opening day. "It takes forever to get going, and even when it finally does, it fails to sustain the momentum," he said. "Indeed,...

by Mark Finkelstein May 16, 2006 Let's be clear: the Da Vinci Code portrays Christianity as a fraud and the Roman Catholic Church as a murderous conspiracy. As Archbishop Angelo Amato, the number two official in the Vatican doctrinal office which was headed by Pope Benedict until his election last year recently stated, if "such lies and errors had been directed at the Koran or the Holocaust they would have justly provoked a world uprising." Yet the Today show has decided to offer the movie, scheduled for release this week, untold millions in free advertising by devoting hours of, um,...

"Da Vinci Code” director Ron Howard has said there would be no disclaimer in the film labeling it as a work of fiction – and Catholic League President Bill Donohue is deeply disturbed by Howard’s stance. "The book which the film is based on begins with three ‘facts,’ all of which are malicious lies, yet Ron Howard says no disclaimer is needed because ‘this is a work of fiction,’” Donahue said in a statement. "He is disingenuous.” As Donahue points out, the following got a disclaimer in a fictionalized TV show or film: Asians: "Year of the Dragon” Blacks: "Birth...

The Catholic League, a civil rights group, is fuming mad over comments made by talk radio star Michael Savage last week. In a broadacst on March 28, Savage, the nation's third most listened to radio talk show host, slammed the Catholic Church for helping to organize recent mass protests of illegal immigrants. According to a transcript published by the Catholic League, Savage said: "It is a pig story! It’s animal farm all over again. And also make no bones about it, it’s the greedy Catholic Church that was behind it because the people of America walked away from the molesters’...

There is something manifestly, monolithically humourless about Roman Catholicism, even among other awesomely po-faced organised religions. Something stern and fearsome and unbending. You don't trifle with Roman Catholics. They've been around longer than you have, chum, and they've got the Pope on their side. South Park on the other hand, has been around for nearly eight years, so roughly 1992 years less than Roman Catholicism. It is an adult animated series which from its first episode gleefully set about upsetting people in the name of satire. And in the name of just being incredibly offensive. But the intelligent, philanthropic, sober...

...Though Comedy Central did not include the "Bloody Mary" episode in a special year-end marathon of "South Park" episodes in deference to the Holidays, "Bloody Mary" did in fact air in every one of "South Park's" normally scheduled repeat timeslots... ...Despite misleading claims from those who would like to claim victory, we have not permantly shelved the "Bloody Mary" episode from future airings due to outside pressure nor will we exclude it from future DVD releases...

Catholic League Denounces Cal State Dept. Head's Holiday Décor Ban(AgapePress) - The Catholic League is criticizing an administrator at California State University - Sacramento who informed her department that decorations for holidays such as Christmas and the Fourth of July are now banned from the office because they "represent discrimination" and "ethnic insensitivity."The Catholic League recently obtained the memo sent out by the school's Director of the Office of Services to Students With Disabilities, Patricia Sonntag. Sacramento State verified that the holiday decorating ban exists in Sonntag's department; however, the university called her memo "well intentioned, but misguided."But Kiera McCaffrey,...

Catholic League Not Amused By ‘VILE’ Leary Special By Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa Wednesday, December 14, 2005 - Updated: 12:15 AM EST The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has put Worcester homey Denis Leary on its Naughty List and the religious group is demanding that Comedy Central ax future showings of his “vile special” “Denis Leary’s Merry F#%$in’ Christmas.” “Hate speech dressed in humorous garb is still hate speech,” said Catholic League president Bill Donohue. “Leary is obviously bedeviled by some disorder but nothing excuses this crap.” In the Yuletide yukfest, the “Rescue Me” star has a...

Catholic League president Bill Donohue remarked today about last night’s episode of “South Park” (it will run again for the next three nights): “A ‘South Park’ character gets a DWI and is ordered to attend AA meetings.  Told about the 12-step program, he concludes that he needs a miracle to cure him.  The plot then focuses on a statue of the Virgin Mary who is ‘bleeding out her ass.’  The Vatican dispatches a cardinal to investigate and he is sprayed with blood when he walks behind the statue.  He then declares this to be a miracle, which draws even more people. ...