It seems a week cannot go by without another incident of Catholic bashing on the ABC late night show “Politically Incorrect.” What seemed like host Bill Maher’s lack of entertainment material has blossomed into a full obsession with slamming the Catholic faith.
The October 10 edition of the show was no exception. Nearly the entire show was dedicated to ridiculing Catholic tradition, papal infallibility and other Catholic teaching. Maher lead the way saying, “I know something about your [Catholic] beliefs and what I always complain about with Catholics…is that today people who say they’re Catholic, they’re not really Catholic because they think abortion is okay. They’re for gay rights…and it’s like a club, you know?” Maher made clear his views on the Church, “I believe in God, I just don’t think God would want this enormous silly bureaucracy between him and me.”
Maher is no longer content to confine his trashing of the Church to his television show. He performed a stage show recently at the University of California at Irvine. Once again, Catholicism was the source of Maher’s material. He joked how Catholics can’t talk directly to God but have to have saints and the Virgin Mary to intercede for them. “It’s like the D.M.V.!” Maher said.
Unfortunately there continues to be an audience for Maher’s tired act. ABC recently announced they have renewed “Politically Incorrect” for two more years, through January 2003. Perhaps a letter to ABC is in order to convince Maher to give it up. Write to: Olivia Cohen-Cutler, Vice President Broadcast Standards & Practices, ABC, Inc., 2040 Avenue of the Stars,5th floor Century City, CA 90067.
