Posts on Bill Donohue

It looks like the Religious Right will have a new enemy to fight in their annual “war on Christmas” now that the American Humanist Association has announced its new ad campaign:

"Why believe in a god? Just be good for goodness' sake," proclaims a new holiday ad from the American Humanist Association. Already appearing today in the New York Times and Washington Post, the message will soon be blazoned on the sides, taillights, and interiors of over 200 Washington DC Metro buses.

It's the first ad campaign of its kind in the United States, and the American Humanist Association predicts it will raise public awareness of humanism as well as controversy over humanist ideas.

Needless to say, right-wing leaders and activists have already swung into action to warn unsuspecting Americans of the dangers of this new advertising campaign:

Peter Sprigg, vice president of policy at the conservative Family Research Council (FRC), told CNSNews.com that sustainable morality is grounded in a belief in a higher being.

“I don’t think it’s possible to sustain long-term morality without religion,” Sprigg said. “If there is no higher being obliging humans to act morally and ethically, why should we do it?”

Sprigg emphasized he thinks that atheists can act morally, but he also said that society would shift towards greed and selfishness without a belief in a higher power.

And you just knew that Bill Donohue was going to have something to say about it:

Codes of morality, of course, have always been grounded in religion. For those of us in Western civilization, its tenets emanate from the Judeo-Christian ethos. By casting this heritage aside, and replacing it with nothing more than the conscience of lone individuals, we lay the groundwork for moral anarchy. And that is because there is nothing that cannot be justified if the only moral benchmark is what men and women posit to be right and wrong. Indeed, every monster in history has followed his conscience.

The danger is so great in fact that even the moribund Christian Coalition was obligated to speak out against this effort to “ban Christmas and God from the public square,” saying the AHA “has an elitist contempt for Americans believing in God” and urging their “millions of supporters to call the city of Washington, DC and Congress to stop this un-Godly campaign." Even Mat Staver weighed in to call the campaign "insulting" while American Family Association president Tim Wildmon called it "stupid."

We had mentioned a group called In God We Trust once before when they inexplicably demanded that Barack Obama publicly denounce a series of “Imagine No Religion” billboards that the Freedom From Religion Foundation had placed around the country … and so it is no surprise that they would weigh in on this latest affront and do so by attempting to link the AHA to the Right’s most-hated nemesis – the United Nations:

"These ads are a deliberate attack on American traditions, beliefs and customs by a United Nation's affiliated group that espouses a radical anti-American agenda and is funded by an zealot who believes that the U.S. is a backwards nation full of imbeciles," says In God We Trust Chairman Council Nedd.

…

"This ad campaign is yet another attempt by America-hating snobs to mock and attack our nation's traditions and culture" says Nedd. "The AHA is not some harmless little atheist group. These people hate America and they are working with our nation's enemies to attack our heritage."

For those hoping that a victory by Barack Obama might somehow restrain or moderate the Religious Right … well, you are going to be disappointed since the Right is already looking ahead and planning on reconstituting itself by rallying around Sarah Palin and launching an all-out culture war: 

"An Obama victory will galvanize social conservatives for 2010 and 2012 and they will look for a standard bearer they can rally around," said Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, the public policy arm of America's largest evangelical group.

Land told Reuters the candidate most likely to "rally the troops" under an Obama administration looked to be McCain's running mate Sarah Palin.

The Alaska governor has excited the evangelical base but her strident opposition to abortion rights and other hard-core conservative positions have alienated more moderate voters.

William Donohue, president of the conservative Catholic League which opposes abortion rights, said religious conservatives were bracing for a new phase in the "culture wars."

"I've been on the phone the last couple of days with some of my friends ... and we're getting ready for the biggest culture war battles ever," Donohue said.

"There is nobody in the history of the United States who has run for president who is a more enthusiastic supporter of abortion rights than Obama," he said.

The Catholic League's Bill Donohue comes to Sarah Palin's defense now that the video of her being blessed by Thomas Muthee has been making its way into the mainstream media, accusing the "chattering class" of ridiculing Palin's faith and demanding that they respect Muthee's apparent belief in witchcraft:

“Witchcraft is a sad reality in many parts of Africa, resulting in scores of deaths in Kenya over the past two decades. Bishop Muthee’s blessing, then, was simply a reflection of his cultural understanding of evil. While others are not obliged to accept his interpretation, all can be expected to respect it. More than that—Muthee should be hailed for asking God to shield Palin from harmful forces, however they may be manifested. And for this he is mocked and Palin ridiculed?

“We know that many cultural elites have a hard time embracing religion, but is it too much to ask that they at least show some manners when discussing subjects which most Americans hold dear?”

What exactly does Donohue mean by saying that "witchcraft is a sad reality in many parts of Africa" and that is has resulted "in scores of deaths in Kenya over the past two decades"?  Is he saying that witches in Africa have actually killed people or is he merely referring to those situations where people kill others suspected of witchcraft? 

Anyway, we look forward to Donohue finally coming out and decrying the incessant attacks the Right has been making on Barack Obama's faith for the last several months.

The Catholic League’s Bill Donohue, when he’s not busy suggesting that it’s their own fault when young boys are molested by priests, has a full time job safeguarding “both the religious freedom rights and the free speech rights of Catholics whenever and wherever they are threatened. “  Apparently, part of that mission includes defending teh internets from foul-mouthed lefty bloggers.  

It started back in 2007 when he launched an ultimately successful crusade to get the John Edwards campaign to part ways with both Amanda Marcotte of Pandagon and Melissa McEwan of Shakespeare’s Sister, whom he called “two anti-Catholic vulgar trash-talking bigots.”  And now he has set his sites on purging the Democratic National Convention of bloggers who raise his ire:

Over 120 blogs have been credentialed as members of the media for the Democratic National Convention; those who have received credentials are allowed to cover the Convention at the Pepsi Center. While most of them offer legitimate commentary, some do not.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue is protesting two of the blogs:

“The list of credentialed blogs include radical sites like The Daily Kos. Worse are blogs that feature anti-Catholic and obscene material. The two most offensive are Bitch Ph.D. and Towleroad.

“On the home page of Bitch Ph.D. there is a picture of two children: one of them is shown flashing his middle finger. Today’s lead post, which was written August 17, is called ‘Jesus Christ.’ It begins with, ‘I’m a really crappy Catholic who hasn’t been to mass in ages because most parishes around here ‘will’ insist on being aggressively anti-abortion….’ The writer then objects to some children’s toys on the grounds that they are more offensive than desecrating the Eucharist. The toys are actually balloons that have been made to depict Jesus in various poses, including a crucified Christ; one of these images shows Jesus with a penis. Several who commented on this image made patently obscene comments.

“Towleroad describes itself as ‘A Site with Homosexual Tendencies.’ Accordingly, it shows men in jock straps and underwear. It also has a post on Pope Benedict XVI that takes him to task for wearing a cape with ermine. Some of those who commented on this described the pope in a vile and profane way.

“Both of these blogs should be cut immediately from the list of credentialed sites. Neither functions as a responsible media outlet and both offend Catholics, as well as others. To allow them access to the Democratic National Convention sends a message to Catholics they will not forget. We look for Leah Daughtry, CEO of the Convention, to nix them ASAP.”

Apparently, Donohue is so desperate for attention that he has been reduced to picking fights with bloggers over the type of cape that the Pope wears. In fact, this entire spectacle is vintage Donohue in that he scours the internet or televsion in order to find something that offends him and then declares that failure to kowtow to his personal whims, dislikes, and obsessions will “send a message to Catholics they will not forget” … based on nothing more than his say so.  So this sort of bluster is nothing new for Donohue, who has a long history of attempting to intimidate his political enemies, as well as his own history of bigotry such as declaring that “Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity."

Catholic League President Bill Donohue seizes the opportunity to respond to a survey that indicates 57% of Americans believe religious leaders should not support political candidates from the pulpit: “Sen. John McCain and Sen. Barack Obama should set an example by pledging never to attend a church service that is a front for a political rally. Too often, clergy have abused their office by making veiled endorsements—and in some cases explicit endorsements—of candidates for public office at a church service. Just as bad has been the practice of the candidates themselves making a pitch to the congregation from the pulpit.” Never one to inappropriately mix religion and politics, Donohue tends to simply accuse political opponents of anti-Catholic bias.

Back when John Hagee’s endorsement of John McCain was causing the campaign serious discomfort because if Hagee’s anti-Catholic views, Catholics For McCain National Steering Committee member Deal Hudson undertook a personal mission to meet with Hagee and show him the error of his ways.  

A few weeks passed before Hagee capitulated and issued a public apology to his most vocal critic, Bill Donohue of the Catholic League, and now that Hagee has sufficiently ingratiated himself to Donohue, Hudson managed to arrange a face-to-face meeting between the two where they not only buried the hatchet, but apparently emerged as the best of friends:

As Rev. Hagee entered the office and started meeting people, I heard Donohue's booming voice from around the corner, "I hear a Southern accent, it must be Pastor Hagee!"

Hagee, I could tell, wasn't quite expecting that kind of smiling, gregarious welcome. I had told Hagee that he and Donohue would hit off, but I don't think he really believed me. They did, in fact, hit if off and in a big way.

…

The conversation lasted about 45 minutes -- Hagee had to get back to the UN for his evening speech. During that time Hagee and Donohue affirmed their not only the reconciliation but also their future partnership on matters of importance to both them: life, marriage, family, and support for Israel.

Donohue said, "Pastor, you are my friend from this point forward and nothing's going to change that. We have our theological differences but we Catholics and Evangelicals need to work together -- that is the liberals' worse nightmare."

Televangelist John Hagee recently received political absolution from Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League. “This case is closed,” announced Donohue, apparently intending that his judgment would keep Hagee from dogging John McCain.

However, the Catholic Church is just one of many topics Hagee addresses with his trademark style. From New Orleans to welfare to immigration, Hagee continues to confront everyday issues with the certainty of apocalyptic judgment. Just this week, for example, his TV program aired a sermon that dealt with economic issues (a potential weakness for McCain’s campaign), education, and terrorism:

If you do not accept the blessing of children, and [you] do as America has done, is to curse the children through abortion, you will bring the judgment of God on your society. …

The liberal mental midgets protesting for abortion-on-demand are too brain-dead to see that they have brought the judgment of God upon America’s economy. Why are America’s major universities right now recruiting students from abroad? … Why? Because we killed ours.

America’s now developing a society that knows nothing about the Founding Fathers. They don’t know anything about American history. They’re “global citizens,” the citizens of the world. And that’s why they can live among us and then become terrorists [Hagee snaps] overnight.

As Catholics for a Free Choice recently explained in their report [PDF] on the Catholic League, the organization’s head, Bill Donohue, has more or less made a name for himself by attacking popular culture, complaining incessantly, manufacturing controversy, trying to intimidate his perceived enemies, and bullying and silencing the opposition.

As we noted yesterday, Donohue had been one of the most vocal critics of John Hagee, ranting loudly about Hagee’s perceived anti-Catholic views while saying nothing about Hagee’s other controversial positions, such as the idea that God used Hurricane Katrina to punish New Orleans for its tolerance of homosexuality.   But after weeks of railing against Hagee, Donohue finally got what he wanted – a public letter of apology – and abruptly declared the mission accomplished and the feud over:

The tone of Hagee’s letter is sincere. He wants reconciliation and he has achieved it. Indeed, the Catholic League welcomes his apology. What Hagee has done takes courage and quite frankly I never expected him to demonstrate such sensitivity to our concerns. But he has done just that. Now Catholics, along with Jews, can work with Pastor Hagee in making interfaith relations stronger than ever. Whatever problems we had before are now history. This case is closed.

While Donohue maintained a measured tone in his Catholic League press release, his sense of self-satisfaction at forcing Hagee to publicly grovel for his forgiveness came shining through in this exchange with Beliefnet’s Dan Gilgoff:

In your statement today, you said that Hagee’s apology was born of weeks of meetings with Catholic leaders. Do you have a window into what that process was like?

It’s been going on for weeks. A lot of Catholic activist friends of mine and some evangelicals have been powwowing with [Hagee] in Washington. They asked me to meet with Hagee and I said no several times. I’m not interested in meeting with him until I get what I want, a public statement and apology that’s complete and speaks specifically to these black legends about Catholics-Jewish relations, and the Holocaust in particular. And once that’s accomplished, I’ll be glad to meet with him. Now that’s going to happen on Thursday.

Quite frankly, I didn’t think that I would get something this complete. What I did not want to get was this “If you’ve been offended, I’m sorry.” I wanted something more specific. There’s no substitute for personal interaction, when you have people sitting down with you and explaining how you’ve been hurtful. Now we can bury this hatchet. It’s rather dramatic….

What really got me offended was the idea of “I’m the purist Christian on the block” when he’s talking to Jews—“I’m not out there persecuting the Jews like all these Catholics.” I’m sure we’ve seen the last of that.

Donohue went on to recall that he had first written to Hagee eleven years ago about his anti-Catholic views, but that “he never wrote back” and “blew me off” until he suddenly found himself under “enormous pressure because I went after him after he endorsed McCain … He got rapped all over the place” and had to beg Donohue’s forgiveness; a development one senses that Donohue couldn't be more pleased about.

But if Hagee thinks this apology is going to get him invited to the cool kid’s parties, Donohue wants it known that he’s sadly mistaken:

People like Tony Perkins and Richard Land and James Dobson, we obviously have theological differences, but there has always been comity and an amicable relationship. I get involved with them occasionally on policy things, like Justice Sunday, and Hagee is not only not invited, his name is not even mentioned. He’s kind of out of the loop.

Ever since John Hagee endorsed John McCain back in February, the McCain campaign has been struggling to explain just why it thought that having Hagee’s endorsement would be a good thing, suggesting that it was a mistake and that Hagee was poorly vetted while McCain himself has been forced to repeatedly distance himself from Hagee’s statements.  At the same time, McCain has also repeatedly stated that he glad to have Hagee’s endorsement. 

The McCain campaign has seemed particularly concerned about Hagee’s anti-Catholic views and gone out of its way to repudiate them and Hagee himself as been particularly taken aback by the outrage, insisting he has been misquoted and misunderstood.  And so, today Hagee undertook some damage control by issuing a letter of apology to his most insistent critic, Bill Donohue of the Catholic League:

An evangelical pastor backing John McCain tried to put his controversial remarks about the Catholic Church behind him today, issuing an apology to the head of the Catholic League expressing "deep regret for any comments Catholics found hurtful."

In an attempt to solidify his backing among evangelicals, McCain actively sought the support of Pastor John Hagee, who heads the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio, when he launched his presidential bid last year. McCain's campaign was caught off guard by the uproar over Hagee's comments after the pastor's February endorsement.

…

In his letter to the Catholic League today, Hagee said he now understands that other terms he used to describe the church - "the great whore" and the "apostate church" - are "rhetorical devices long employed in anti-Catholic literature." He said he had gained a better understanding in recent weeks of the Catholic Church's relationship to the Jewish faith. Hagee wrote of his "profound respect for the Catholic people" in the letter and said he hoped to advance "greater unity among Catholics and Evangelicals."

The Catholic League said in a statement that it accepted the apology.

Of course, Donohue has his own issues, as we wrote about just yesterday, so one right-wing extremist apologizing to another right-wing extremist doesn’t do much to quell the controversy for the McCain campaign.  

Plus, Hagee has yet to apologize for all the other controversial things he has said, such as his insistence that New Orleans was targeted for destruction by God with Hurricane Katrina because a “homosexual rally” was being planned for the following Monday, that the United States must launch a pre-emptive military strike against Iran in order to fulfill God's plan, that the US State Department is inviting a “bloodbath” by encouraging Israel to give up land as part of any Middle East peace accord, or that those who take public policy positions he disagrees with on issues from abortion and gay marriage to welfare are “counterfeit Christians.”

If Hagee is hoping to undo the damage he’s done to McCain’s campaign by reaching out to his critics in “a spirit of mutual respect and reconciliation,” he’s got a long way to go and several more letters to write.

On Friday, we discussed Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights President Bill Donohue’s campaign against Barack Obama’s Catholic advisory council—a beef based on the fact that a number of these advisors, like most U.S. Catholics, are politically pro-choice. It might seem odd that a group so sensitive to references to Catholicism that it would boycott a beer company with flimsy links to a gay-themed “Last Supper” would be so easy to mollify when it came to McCain’s alliance with John Hagee, and odder still that Donohue seems to be settling in for the long haul of dogging Obama for links to pro-choice Catholics.

But readers of this blog have probably noticed, that’s just Donohue modus operandi. Whether he’s hyping a mythical “War on Christmas,” mouthing off randomly about gays, or intimidating critics of Bush’s judicial nominees with phony charges of anti-Catholicism, Donohue’s tool belt is limited to hyping his “beef” with popular culture and attacking political opponents as religious “bigots.”

Catholics for Choice (formerly Catholics for a Free Choice) has been Donohue’s top target for years—for example, he would label the group’s past president “the biggest anti-Catholic bigot in the nation.” Now, CFC has released an in-depth report on Donohue and the Catholic League (PDF here) (via RH Reality Check):

According to an annual report put out by the League, the number of examples of anti-Catholicism grew from 140 in 1995 to 320 in 2006, yet the only thing that seems to have actually increased is the League's definition of what constitutes anti-Catholic activity.

Despite (or perhaps because of) Donohue’s predictable partisanship and bullying style, the Catholic League still manages to get a fair number of its shotgun press releases into the media, where Donohue is treated as if he were a representative of all Catholics, if not a spokesman for the church itself. This is a precarious position for a group whose political philosophy is built upon the suggestion that those who are pro-choice—including the majority of U.S. Catholics—are the “anti-Catholic” enemy.

Pope Benedict’s visit to the United States is long over, but the Washington Times continues to doggedly report on one particular angle: the many thousands receiving communion at the pope’s masses included a handful of Democratic politicians, who, like the majority of American Catholics, are pro-choice.

While this seems like the season for picking over politicians’ personal religious lives, the Right has been trumpeting this point of contention for a number of years to use as a wedge between liberal candidates and faith. In particular, John Kerry’s communion became a public issue in 2004.

In 2008, none of the major presidential candidates are Catholic. But that just means the Right has to get more creative.

Last week, Catholic League President Bill Donohue tried to jump on the Rev. Wright bandwagon with his own brand of religious policing, attacking not Barack Obama’s faith, but that of his Catholic advisory council: “If these are the best ‘committed Catholic leaders, scholars and advocates’ Obama can find, then it is evident that he has a ‘Wright’ problem when it comes to picking Catholic advisors.” Donahue’s beef? Many of Obama’s Catholic backers disagree with him on abortion, stem-cell research, and school vouchers.

The advisors complained, bringing up the existence of other moral issues besides the ones that fit the Republican platform: war, poverty, etc. Donohue responded, calling it “shocking” that one could set political priorities on par with abortion.

And then, seeing a chance to attack Obama instead of his advisors, Donohue promptly compared the senator to Hitler (for opposing a graphic bill designed by abortion opponents to establish personhood for the fetus):

“It is so nice to know that Obama thinks abortion ‘presents a profound moral challenge.’ Is infanticide another ‘profound moral challenge’? To wit: When he was in the Illinois state senate he led the fight to deny health care to babies born alive who survived an abortion. That, my friends, is not a moral challenge—it’s a Hitlerian decision.”

It is really quite remarkable when someone like Bill Donohue is blasting John McCain for cozying up to a "bigot" like John Hagee: "There are plenty of staunch evangelical leaders who are pro-Israel, but are not anti-Catholic. John Hagee is not one of them. Indeed, for the past few decades, he has waged an unrelenting war against the Catholic Church. For example, he likes calling it ‘The Great Whore,’ an ‘apostate church,’ the ‘anti-Christ,’ and a ‘false cult system.’"

Pat Robertson, who leapt back into the headlines this month with his surprise endorsement of Rudy Giuliani, is now wading into the “War on Christmas.” On Thursday’s “700 Club,” the CBN founder lamented the sad state of affairs that led to the Seattle-Tacoma Airport erecting an artsy “winterscape”:

“This New Age political correctness has been imposed on this nation,” complained Robertson. But, he added an intriguing caveat:

Of course, you’ve got to remember, ladies and gentlemen, this Christmas trees, and all the wreaths, and all the garlands, and all the mistletoe—every bit of them come from Teutonic paganism. They are not an integral part of Christianity. And so for the Seattle airport to say this is a Christmas display, it’s no such thing. It is not a Christian display; it is winter solstice. So if they put up a sign that said, ‘We celebrate winter solstice like the Teutonic gods Thor and Woden,’ they’d probably be more accurate.

So while the American Family Association is busy attacking retailers who offer “family trees” in their catalogs rather than “Christmas trees,” calling it an “offense” to Christians, here Robertson is saying the tree is really a salute to “the Teutonic gods Thor and Woden.”

During “War on Christmas” 2005, the Catholic League caught a Wal-Mart customer service representative offering a very similar theory:

[The Wal-Mart rep wrote,] “The majority of the world still has different practices other than ‘christmas’ which is an ancient tradition that has its roots in Siberian shamanism.  The colors associated with ‘christmas’ red and white are actually a representation of of the aminita mascera mushroom.  Santa is also borrowed from the Caucuses, mistletoe from the Celts, yule log from the Goths, the time from the Visigoth and the tree from the worship of Baal.”

Catholic League President Bill Donohue’s response? He launched one of his famous “boycotts” against the retail giant. Will Donohue start a “beef” with Robertson?

After a month—and 14 press releases—the Catholic League today announced the end of its mini-boycott against Miller Brewing Company.

While many on the Right are busy telling everyone to go see the new film “Bella,” a God-friendly “moral masterpiece” said to be the “next Passion of the Christ," others are busy attacking the forthcoming film “The Golden Compass” because the author of the series of books upon which it is based is reportedly an outspoken atheist:

[Sophia] Sproule sees "The Golden Compass" and the other books in Mr. Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy as a source of concern for Catholic parents, describing the books' negative portrayal of God and the church as potentially damaging to the spiritual well-being of young readers.

"[Philip] Pullman, an outspoken atheist and critic of religion, offers in these novels a vitriolic denunciation of religious faith in general, especially of Christianity and most pointedly of the Catholic Church (a version of it, anyway)," Miss Sproule said.

"Whether or not one believes that 'mere fiction' should be cause for alarm, the simple truth is that to enter into a fantasy realm is to accept the world presented on its own terms," she said, adding that the Pullman books represent "not merely a wholesale rejection of religion — it is an invitation to reject God."

In what comes as a surprise to absolutely nobody, the opposition is being driven mainly by Bill Donohue:

Pullman's work, says William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, promotes an atheist agenda that is profoundly anti-Church.

True, he hasn't seen the movie, which comes out Dec. 7, and he has little reason to doubt the filmmakers' claims that it considerably waters down the book's more controversial aspects. But the possibility that the movie could persuade some unsuspecting parents to buy the book for their children makes him furious.

"It's selling the virtues of atheism," Donohue says over the phone from the league's New York office. "The real person we want to get on this is Pullman. I don't want to see these books flying off the shelves at Christmas. I want them to be collecting dust."

And, as if to demonstrate that there is just no pleasing him, Donohue is even upset that the studio has reportedly watered down some of the book’s atheist themes:  

But the removal of the Godless themes from the movie has some Christian organizations seething.

"They’re intentionally watering down the most offensive element,” Donohue said. “I'm not really concerned about the movie, [which] looks fairly innocuous. The movie is made for the books. ... It's a deceitful, stealth campaign. Pullman is hoping his books will fly off the shelves at Christmastime."

Since Donohue’s entire career is based on intimidating those with whom he disagrees, it is entirely predictable that he would go after someone like Pullman for daring to produce something that does not reflect his own views on religion and the Catholic Church.  

But if you thought that efforts to “water down” the “offensive” elements would at least please him, you don’t know much about Bill Donohue.