On January 22, the Catholic League launched a protest of ESPN anchorwoman Dana Jacobson’s foul and bigoted comments that were made at a January 11 “roast” in Atlantic City. The next day we issued another news release, putting pressure on ESPN to respond. It took one more day before we were satisfied with the outcome. We [...]
Last year, “Titanic” director James Cameron and others said that the Jesus family tomb had been found. The archaeological community was not persuaded, but that didn’t stop the controversy. But now, thanks to Princeton’s James Charlesworth, the hoax looks more real than ever before. Charlesworth recently completed a Jerusalem conference that brought together over 50 scientists [...]
William A. Donohue Advocacy organizations like the Catholic League have to expect that not everyone is going to like what they do. But is it too much to ask that our critics be fair? Fairness is not some slippery subjective property—it simply means that vis-à-vis other similarly situated persons or organizations, the same rules apply. The [...]
William A. Donohue Every four years the big political prize is up for grabs, and with it comes pressure politics of an unrelenting sort. This campaign season is no exception, but what is different for the Catholic League is that it has drawn us into a fight with Republican and Democratic candidates alike. For the record, [...]
Onward, Christian Soldiers: The Growing Political Power of Catholics and Evangelicals in the United States, Simon & Schuster, March 11, 2008 There have many books about the so-called Religious Right in American politics. What makes Onward, Christian Soldiers distinctive is my exploration of its Catholic dimension. What is usually treated as exclusively an Evangelical movement is closely intertwined with [...]
America’s top bigot, Bill Maher, was at it again in January and February. For example, when Maher appeared on “Late Night with Conan O’Brien,” he commented on the widely publicized speech made by presidential candidate Mitt Romney, explaining the role of religion in government. Maher remarked: “You can’t be a rational person six days a week [...]
In the last edition of Catalyst we mentioned that “Jerry Springer—The Opera” was coming to Carnegie Hall at the end of January for two nights. As we predicted, this grotesque production assaulted Christianity; it also dirtied the illustrious history of the hosting venue. The New York Daily News speculated that the musical used its two nights as a test for [...]
A person claiming discrimination, after being denied breast enlargement surgery following a transgender operation, sued Seton Medical Center in Daly City, California. The hospital, which is run by the Daughters of Charity, said that the requested surgery violated Catholic teaching and was outside the procedures of the hospital. The man-turned-woman desired breast enlargement surgery so that [...]
In January, the radio program “Fair Game with Faith Salie” aired a skit intending to mock presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee. Instead, the show set off Catholics because of its disgusting depiction of the Eucharist. The skit aired on Utah’s National Public Radio station, KCPW. The following is a transcript of the offensive segment: [Woman’s voice]: And [...]
Colorado state house member Gwyn Green introduced two separate bills—one for private institutions and another for public institutions—regarding lawsuits involving the sexual abuse of children. In February, the league put out two news releases calling out Rep. Green’s legislation. Our releases noted that Rep. Green made it easier to sue private institutions, but essentially gave public [...]
