Readers split on anti-Catholicism

If anti-Catholicism is in the eye of the beholder, readers of this column see with quite different visions.

Recently, I listed some examples given by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights of what that group considers anti-Catholicism on television. One example was a joke by NBC's late-night host Conan O'Brien: "Pope John Paul II was a soccer goalie in his youth. Even as a young man, he tried to stop people from scoring."

Other examples included ABC's "Nightline" connecting presidential candidate Patrick Buchanan's Catholicism and his "alleged bigotry," and one-liners by comedian George Carlin on HBO.

Then I asked readers if these were examples of bad taste or anti-Catholicism? Back came a huge mound of mail from people who split in their assessment of the examples, some seeing them as horribly bigoted remarks and others saying they were nothing to get excited about.

Here's a sampling of the responses I received:

• * "The Catholic Church is under media attack," e-mailed a man in New York State. "It is particularly offensive when the attack is directed at Catholic belief or religious practice. There was a time when racial and ethnic jokes were commonly accepted in this country. Today, a person who engages in this behavior is viewed as a bigot. The line has been crossed; the examples are anti-Catholic."
 
• * "I am tired of the relentless cracks, jabs and smarmy comments made at the expense of Catholics," wrote a Rhode Island woman. Most of the examples "are offensive because they make light of, insult or simply paint in a bad light matters of our Faith."
 
• * "The examples are bad taste and bigotry," said an Alabama man. "If you substituted gays or African-Americans [for Catholics], the judgment would be clearly that you are bigoted."
 
• * "The examples are more bad taste than bigotry," said an Ohioan.
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• * "It has always been my opinion that if someone is sensitive to what another says, there is something in their personal background which makes them ashamed of themselves by the remarks," an Alabama man wrote.
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• * "Most of the samples seem like bad taste to me," said an upstate New Yorker. "The remarks by Carlin, however, felt more like anti-Catholic statements. He seems bitter about his experiences with the Church, and I hope he gets beyond it."
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• * "Catholic-bashing in America is alive and thriving," opined another New Yorker. "Catholic-bashing has become almost a cottage industry in our enlightened society."
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• * "I don't think of those as anti-Catholic," remarked another e-mailer. "Some make me smile; a few make me laugh. Some are offensive, but just in bad taste, not anti-Catholic."
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• * "I have watched our culture gradually go from an attitude of respect towards the Catholic Church and Catholics to the point where comments about Catholic tradition and beliefs are for the most part undermining," wrote a Rhode Island woman.
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• * "So what else is new? The Catholic Church and God Himself have been targets for sick humor and defamation from earliest times," said a New Yorker.
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• * "I doubt that most of the so-called 'jokes' were done in malice," a Minnesotan noted. "As an adult, I know the difference between bigotry and bad taste, and sometimes a funny remark is just that."
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• * "The Church is constantly vilified, excoriated, demeaned, slandered, maligned and calumniated with impunity," charged a New York woman. "Jesus would not tolerate one iota of the abuse heaped on our Church."

Thanks to all who took time to share their opinions.