Commentator Joe Rogan has a big podcast following and he is known in some circles as an independent thinker. He crossed the line on his July 27 podcast about the Catholic Church, coming across more like your typical uneducated anti-Catholic buffoon.
Referring to the Vatican, he said, “It’s a country filled with pedophiles. It’s a country filled with pedophiles and stolen art.”
One of his fellow podcasters, Konstantin Kisin, exclaimed, “This is why I love America, man. Cause in the UK, we have libel laws. So if you say something like that and you then have to be able to prove it, otherwise you can get sued.”
He’s right. Our elastic libel laws allow irresponsible persons like Rogan to defame people with impunity. More interesting was Rogan’s reply. “Well, you can kind of prove that.”
Bill Donohue immediately called Rogan out, challenging him to a debate.
“Why not invite me to join you in a discussion of this issue and see if you can ‘kind of prove’ your smears? Before doing so, you may want to read my latest book, The Truth about Clergy Sexual Abuse: Clarifying the Facts and the Causes. You might find it enlightening.”
Donohue ended by saying, “If you don’t want to debate me, I will conclude that you are a coward.”
Looks like Joe Rogan is a coward. Though his publicist was bombarded with thousands of emails asking him to invite Donohue on his show, he declined.
