It is not unusual for the Catholic League to be fighting a war over a big issue, even as it tackles several minor ones. What is unusual is to be waging war on two fronts simultaneously. Such is the case with our battle against the Miller Brewing Company and our campaign against the upcoming film, “The Golden Compass.”
Last spring we were alerted to the likelihood that “The Golden Compass” was going to be a problem. After doing some preliminary research, we concluded that we should spend the better part of the summer gearing up for what would prove to be a long fall and a busy Christmas season. That is why we prepared the booklet on the movie. What we didn’t count on was Miller’s sponsorship of an obscene and patently anti-Catholic festival.
There is something sick going on in our culture. On the one hand, we have a prominent American corporation underwriting a blatant attack on our religion; and on the other hand, we have prestigious movie producers teaming with a militant English atheist, Philip Pullman, trying to poison the minds of our youth.
We have very specific outcomes in mind for both issues. We want Miller to assure us that it will never be associated with another anti-Catholic event. And we want “The Golden Compass” to be a bust (ditto for Pullman’s books).
While it may be too early to say how things will turn out, it is not too early to say that we have already won on the PR front: thanks to the tremendous publicity we have received from the print and electronic media, Miller’s reputation has suffered and the public is fast learning about the agenda behind “The Golden Compass.”
We have also been emboldened by the support we have received from people of all faiths. Both the Miller issue and the movie have inspired people from all walks of life to voice their enthusiasm for our efforts. And they have surely let the offending parties—especially Miller—know exactly how they feel.
The key to winning is persistence. We started our campaign against “The Golden Compass” two months before it opens on December 7, and that’s because it takes time to mount an effective nationwide protest. As for Miller, every week we are hitting another segment of the Milwaukee population with the incriminating photos of the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco.
So stay tuned. Anyone who knows the Catholic League knows that we don’t run away from a fight. As a result, our reputation has grown by leaps and bounds by jumping on these twin issues. And, of course, we’re not simply joining two nationwide protests—we’re leading both of them.
