A Walking Advertisement for, Why There Are Failed Catholics

I will readily and proudly submit that I am a prototypical failed Catholic. For those on the outside, a failed Catholic is an onerous term used by "successful" Catholics to describe and I guess humiliate former members of the faith into seeing the light.

Well nine years of Catholic education, plus religious instruction for the four years prior to that did me in. By college I was well on my way to atheism or using the apparently new term for it secular humanism. Anyway, part of my fall from grace was the inability to rationalize religion with the world of science. Science is rational and testable, religion is neither. Some folks would rather do the ghosts and demon thing, I prefer to understand my world by what is actually occurring in it. As John Lennon once sang "Whatever gets you through the night, its alright."

Another major reason for getting on the Highway to Hell, are people like the hypocritical, hateful, self absorbed, mindless, bigoted, jackass, Bill Donohue. Whoops! There goes my chance at working for the John Edwards campaign.

Who is Bill Donohue? Imagine a man who makes Bill O'Reily and Rush Limbaugh seem enlightened and liberal. This unapologetic piece of unenlightened wombat entrails is noted for saying shit like this (Quotes compiled from Media Matters):

On Homosexuality

"Name for me a book publishing company in this country, particularly in New York, which would allow you to publish a book which would tell the truth about the gay death style." [MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 2/27/04]

"The fact of the matter is it's due to the behavioral recklessness of gay men in New York City, that they're endangering the lives of everybody. So, you want to talk about the Catholic Church intervening in other people's lives? The gay community has yet to apologize to straight people for all the damage that they have done -- for contaminating the blood supply in New York City and around the country. And I find it amazing that, when people are acting so morally delinquent, that they're asking for more rights at the same time."
[MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 4/11/05]

On Judaism

"We've already won. Who really cares what Hollywood thinks? All these hacks come out there. Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular. It's not a secret, OK? And I'm not afraid to say it.
[MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 12/8/04]

On the South Asia Tsunami:

There is no greater suffering than what Christ did. He died on the cross, but that's a source of optimism. That`s a source of redemption. So, I think we have to look at this in a positive sense. In one strange sense, then, what's happening to these poor Asian people is their gift to the world. It makes us think about our mortality and about salvation and about redemption. That's what we should be thinking about.
[MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 1/7/05]

On Hollywood:

Hollywood likes anal sex. They like to see the public square without nativity scenes. I like families. I like children. They like abortions. I believe in traditional values and restraint. They believe in libertinism. We have nothing in common. But you know what? The culture war has been ongoing for a long time. Their side has lost." [MSNBC's Scarborough Country, 12/8/04]

I am not sure what the hell he is talking about here:

Well, first they said it [The Passion of the Christ] was anti-Semitic. That didn't work. Then they said it was too violent. That didn't work. Then they said it was S & M. That didn't work. Then they said it was pornography. That didn't work. Now they're saying it's fascistic queer-bashing. That kind of language would ordinarily get somebody taken away in a straitjacket and -- put you in the asylum. I don't know what about -- the queer-bashing is all about. I'm pretty good about picking out who queers are and I didn't see any in the movie. I'm usually pretty good at that.
[MSNBC, Scarborough Country, 3/12/04]

On Mark Foley's claim that, as a young teen, he was abused by a Catholic Priest:

“As for the alleged abuse, it’s time to ask some tough questions. First, there is a huge difference between being groped and being raped, so which was it Mr. Foley? Second, why didn’t you just smack the clergyman in the face? After all, most 15-year-old teenage boys wouldn’t allow themselves to be molested. So why did you?”
[Catholic League Press Release 10/4/06]

Mr Donohue seems to have a real hangup about homosexuality and anal sex. While not something I choose to participate in either, it just strikes me a darkly funny that a man seemingly obsessed with homosexuality, pedophile priests, and anal sex would write a book entitled, On the front line of the culture war: Recent attacks on the Boy Scouts of America.

If John Edwards is going to let Bill Donohue decide his campaign employees, he has officially lost, someone genuinely excited about his campaign. John you have officially proven yourself to be spineless and are officially off my list of candidates.