Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on recent remarks made by Bill Maher:
On July 8, HBO aired a stand-up comedy special, “Bill Maher: Live From Oklahoma.” As usual, Maher took shots at Catholicism, but did not stop with that—he lashed out at me.
Maher went on a tear calling out the Catholic League for protesting his show. “They were the ones trying to get me thrown off the air, 10, 12 years ago. William Donohue, head of the Catholic League with his letter-writing campaigns and his email campaign, at one point wanted to fight me. Fight me as Jesus would have wanted, I’m sure.”
He finished his tirade by saying, “Bill, I’m no anti-Catholic. I’m anti-child f***ing. Your organization has been caught doing that, so that doesn’t make me the bad guy.”
When Richard Nixon said “I am not a crook,” everyone knew he was. Similarly, when Bill Maher says, “I’m no anti-Catholic,” he cooked his own goose.
More important, Maher errs when he says the Catholic Church has a record of tolerating pedophile priests who sexually molest children. The problem has always been about homosexual priests abusing postpubescent males.
Maher knows the problem is homosexuality but does not want to appear to be anti-gay. Here’s the proof. On November 20, 2010, in a discussion with Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC, Maher brought the subject up again. Speaking sarcastically, Maher explained how the Church addresses this issue. “You know, ‘our priests are not sinning, they’re just giving into temptation when they’re molesting children and going gay and stuff like that.'” Going gay? That’s quite an admission.
Regarding the fight, I did tell Megyn Kelly a few years back that I would like to put on the Everlast and get into the ring with Maher at Madison Square Garden. He keeps bringing this up. I don’t want to disappoint him, so I will extend the invitation again: When are we meeting, Bill? Please call my office to set it up. Let us know if you need a stool.
