- On July 28, the HBO show “Sex and the City” aired an episode that was dotted with cheap shots at Catholicism. The episode, “Unoriginal Sin,” featured Sarah Jessica Parker playing Carrie Bradshaw; Carrie is also the show’s narrator. Viewers also meet Miranda, an unmarried non-Catholic mother of a newborn. Her boyfriend wants to baptize the child so as to please his Catholic mother; she is depicted as an Irish drunk who is afraid her grandchild might go to hell.
- Miranda reluctantly agrees to the baptism but insists that there be no mention of Christianity or Satan. At this point in the program, Carrie the narrator chimes in saying, “Miranda was surprised the priest was so flexible. But the truth is, in these troubled times, the Catholic Church is like a desperate 36-year-old single woman, willing to settle for anything it can get.” The child’s mother then quips, “It’s one less bath I have to give him.”
- These are troubled times for the Catholic Church. But it is wrong to think that the Church is so desperate it will sell its soul to survive. That may be the way it’s done in Tinsel Town—some would sell their own mother’s grave to get ahead—but the Catholic Church is modeled on Heaven, not Hollywood.
- In any event, members should know that Sarah Jessica Parker is also the show’s executive producer; it’s fair to conclude she doesn’t like us. We are grateful to our friend in the Jewish community, radio talk show host Steve Malzberg, who wrote a column blasting the show. Many thanks, too, for Steve’s kind words of support for the Catholic League.
