Catholic League president Bill Donohue addressed James Cameron’s documentary on Jesus’ tomb that will be shown on the Discovery Channel this Sunday:
“Before watching ‘The Lost Tomb of Jesus,’ we urge viewers to learn how Christianity has been treated by members of the cultural elite during the Lenten season in recent times. By clicking here, it is possible to access a short review of books, articles and television programs that have appeared since 1990 on this subject. Keep in mind that no other religion is subjected to such intense scrutiny as Christianity. Moreover, it is not a matter of coincidence that the chosen time for such questioning is almost always during Lent, right in time for Easter.
“Prior to 1990, there is no evidence that Christianity was microexamined the way it is today. To be sure, the Jesus Seminar was founded in 1985, and its contributors are partly responsible for the current practice of sowing seeds of doubt about Christianity during Lent. Three years later, Martin Scorcese gave us ‘The Last Temptation of Christ,’ but it wasn’t until the 90s that Christianity was routinely put on the firing line.
“Just as every Christmas season Christians have to fight attempts to neuter the meaning of Christmas, every Lenten season Christians have to endure another round of wild-eyed speculation about their religion. None of this is by accident—it’s all by design. The time has come for Catholics and Protestants to respond to the assaults that take place during Lent with the same vigor they have shown in recent years fighting the cultural fascists at Christmastime. They should keep in mind, however, that the ones responsible for this onslaught tend to come from inside their own ranks. There aren’t enough non-Christians to pull this off by themselves.
“If the professional religious skeptics don’t have an animus against Christianity, they can prove me wrong by subjecting Islam to the same kind of relentless and intrusive questioning during Ramadan. One piece of advice: know how to dial 911.”
