Following a complaint by the Catholic League, Yahoo!, the Internet portal, deleted biased entries against Catholics.
Until recently, when the word “Catholic” was typed in the search engine site, the second of the Category Matches had a listing called “Christian History > Catholic Inquisition.” By clicking on that category, the listings of “Torture” and “Witch Hunts” appeared. But when the words “Protestant,” “Judaism,” or “Islam” were typed in, no negative episodes associated with these religions were listed. No other Internet portal showed an anti-Catholic bias.
Just as disturbing, when “Catholicism” was typed in, the first listing under Web Site Matches was “The Case Against Catholicism.” It consisted mainly of the work of “Joseph McCabe’s Rationalist Encyclopedia.” More accurately, it included some of the most remarkably twisted interpretations of the history of the Catholic Church ever produced.
The second listing was called “Gay and Lesbian Catholicism”; it was replete with criticism of the Church’s teachings on sexuality. No other religion had a gay section listed on Yahoo!
Nothing we objected to was outside the control of Yahoo! Though they took their time in making the necessary changes, we are happy to report that the offensive treatment of Catholicism has ended. This is an important victory because so many people use the Internet to access information. That’s why it’s important not to have biased information.
