Just as the sun sets in the morning, we know that every December the anti-Christmas folks swing into high gear. And as evidenced by the articles in this issue of Catalyst, 2009 was no exception. Save, perhaps, for one thing: the tactics this time around were noted for their novelty. Nothing gained the Catholic League more [...]
We previously reported in Catalyst that New Line Cinema has not shown much interest in making any more movie versions of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy; his first book in the series, The Golden Compass, hit the big screen in 2007, and was the subject of a vigorous Catholic League protest. At the end of [...]
As we mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, there is good news and bad news on abortion. The good news is that more Americans identify with the pro-life message than ever before; the bad news is that their president and his administration do not. First the bad news. Barack Obama is not only the most [...]
It would be hard to find an organization in the United States which treats animals more unethically than People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). In 2008, as demonstrated by the Center for Consumer Freedom, PETA killed 95 percent of the adoptable pets in its care. Indeed, it killed an average of six pets a [...]
We recently came to the defense of Larry Grard, a former newspaper reporter for Maine’s Morning Sentinel, because of his recent termination. For almost two decades, Grard worked at the Morning Sentinel and was fired because he e-mailed a letter (using his own personal e-mail account) to the head of an advocacy group, much to the [...]
For whatever reason, there were more raunchy Christmas plays this year than ever before. Not surprisingly, many were gay-themed, most were confined to the east and west coasts, and all were loved by art critics. The plays ran the gamut from the irreverent to the extremely vulgar. New York City is a natural home for such [...]
The Christmas season is a lonely time of year for those who believe in nothing. Most, however, manage to get by without having to lash out at believers. But not the Freedom from Religion Foundation. In 2008, this group took its campaign to Olympia, Washington, and this past year, the religion haters took their show on [...]
On November 24, John Kelly of the Washington Post distorted what Bill Donohue said in 2008 about the American Humanist Association (AHA). On December 2, Ian Urbina of the New York Times compounded the problem by plagiarizing from Kelly. Kelly wrote a piece about the AHA’s new holiday ads promoting atheism. In referencing a previous ad [...]
Leading up to Christmas, we issued a news release noting how the anti-Christmas band was revving its engine. · The menorah in a Nashville park was okay by the ACLU, but the crèche in Clarksville, Tennessee was not. Why? The City of Clarksville paid $200 for the animals used in the nativity scene. · A woman [...]
In the December 7 issue of the New York Times, there was a story about White House social secretary Desirée Rogers. In it, reporter Sheryl Gay Stolberg wrote: “When former social secretaries gave a luncheon to welcome Ms. Rogers earlier this year, one participant said, she surprised them by suggesting the Obamas were planning a ‘non-religious [...]
