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Confronted by Beinart, Donohue defended his anti-Semitic comments
On the February 9 edition of CNBC's Kudlow & Company, Council on Foreign Relations senior fellow Peter Beinart confronted Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights president William Donohue over his 2004 statement that "Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular." Donohue defended the statement.
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Posted by DorisRussell
Donahue is a sick person.
Posted Friday February 9, 2007 8:49:09 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by IRONY 101
"I'll take you on any day of the week."
Ahhh... now that's the pugnacious Bill Donohue I've grown to dislike so much. Donohue strikes me as just not a very nice person. Granted, his job is to defend the Catholic Church but his hard-nosed attitude simply reinforces the perception that the Catholic Church is more a powerful institution, like ExxonMobil, rather than God's vehicle to heaven.
Posted Friday February 9, 2007 9:00:55 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by temphandle vacuo25betsy in reply to IRONY 101
William Donahue is an embarrasment to all Catholics. To suggest that he represents Catholic thinking is a disservice to those who follow the real teachings of the church.
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 12:08:35 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by fkfhfgjhgyh in reply to temphandle vacuo25betsy
Temp, you can't speak for all Ccatholics. That's a ridiculous statement.
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 10:32:01 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by solon in reply to fkfhfgjhgyh
Which do you think better represents Catholic thought? Donahue is an embarassment to all Catholics or Donahue SAYING that the Jews in Hollywood hate Christians and that some people in Hollywood would gladly sodomize their own mothers and smile? I dont think it was a ridiculous statement at all. Donahue is an embarassment to our SPECIES as far as I am concerned
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 12:40:36 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to solon
"Donahue is an embarassment to our SPECIES as far as I am concerned"
Good one, Solon...
I've been wondering more about Donohue's statement that "Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular."
Am I reading too much into Donohue's statement by questioning whether what he is saying (or revealing) is that he actually has a problem with "secular Jews" in general, and secular Jews who control Hollywood in particular? I would be interested to know how Donohue feels about secular Jews in West Palm Beach, or in New York City, or elsewhere... particularly secular Jews who support liberal causes.
Am I going too far by wondering if Donohue's statement suggests that he suspects (or believes) that secular Jews in general "hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular"? Or is it just the secular Jews who control Hollywood who bear this hatred towards Christianity and Catholicism? It makes me wonder why only Hollywood secular Jews would hate Christianity and Catholicism and not secular Jews from West Palm Beach, New York City, or elsewhere.
Maybe I just wonder too much... I'm sure that nice fellow, Bill Donohue, loves everyone... even Hollywood secular Jews.
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 5:12:04 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by solon in reply to IRONY 101
That is an interesting question, maybe he does love most everyone or maybe he hates most people who arent like him. Its hard to judge from his public statements that are hateful and bigotted.
Posted Sunday February 11, 2007 2:28:57 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by sternsieger in reply to fkfhfgjhgyh
No it's not! Donohue is an idiot who pretends to speak on behalf of ALL Catholics! Well, I'm Catholic and I can tell you he doesn't speak for me! Furthermore, I am disgusted by this belligerant, bullying, ill-tempered little cockroach of a man!
His so called Catholic League is nothing but another GOP fielded pseudo-religious, swift-boat organization that criticizes Democrats, pro-choicers, liberals and gays and does so while hiding behind the pretext of fighting for Catholocism. Nonsense! This group is also tax exempt and it should have that exemption pulled immediately for meddling in politics--PARTISAN POLITICS I may ad--the same goes for James Dobson's Focus on the Family!
Posted Sunday February 11, 2007 3:19:38 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by laughinglefty
So can anyone find the quote from the Forward where they make the statement Donahue claims they did?
Posted Friday February 9, 2007 9:28:35 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by solon in reply to laughinglefty
It said no such thing Here:
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=15455
KAPLAN: Do you believe the Jews run Hollywood?
DAVI: That’s a statement I hear from the media, part of the media myth. I guess it comes from the old Group Theater days (that grew out of the Yiddish Theater). The Goldwyns, the Mayers, the Warner Brothers, the early studio chiefs were Jewish. I don’t see it like that.
By Lee KaplanFrontPageMagazine.com | October 12, 2004
Either its an outright lie, he didnt really read it or this isnt what he was talking about. This was a VERY rightwing article by the wayPosted Saturday February 10, 2007 12:49:10 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by Chromium in reply to solon
Solon,
I do not follow your reference at all.
Here is the quote from MMFA:
DONOHUE: Peter, the Jewish Forward said in 2004 that Jews run Hollywood. Are they anti-Semitic?
The Forward is a magazine written recently in English, historically in what I presume is Yiddish:
http://wwww.forward.com
While I tried to search their archives for 2004, all I can get is writing in the foreign language, presumably Yiddish.
You cite a 2004 reference from Front Page.
What is the connection between what you cite in Front Page and what was published by The Jewish Daily Forward in 2004?
Posted Monday February 12, 2007 2:48:04 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by valentinian in reply to Chromium
I did a web search for "forward hollywood run+by+jews" and, other than being sickened, only found references to some comments made by the current editor of the Forvits.
There is still a thick anti-Semitic swamp out there...
Posted Monday February 12, 2007 8:50:08 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by SDL
Oh, you know Fast Eddie'll say that those Hollywood Jews got into the archives of Forward and destroyed that quote..right Eddie/
Posted Friday February 9, 2007 10:05:22 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by rpannier
So can anyone find the quote from the Forward where they make the statement Donahue claims they did?
I found it for you
In a discussion on MSNBC about the chances of “The Passion” winning an Academy Award, conservative Catholic activist Bill Donahue, also a Gibson ally, stated: “Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular.”
Posted Friday February 9, 2007 10:06:14 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by rpannier
So can anyone find the quote from the Forward where they make the statement Donahue claims they did?
I found it for you
In a discussion on MSNBC about the chances of “The Passion” winning an Academy Award, conservative Catholic activist Bill Donahue, also a Gibson ally, stated: “Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular.”
He was quoting himself
Posted Friday February 9, 2007 10:06:46 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by nukeboot
I think it's only a matter of time before the Catholic church dispatches one of their scary, albino, Opus Dei hitmen to off Donahue. He's really making them look bad.
Posted Friday February 9, 2007 11:19:08 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by HuntingtonBeachLefty in reply to nukeboot
What are all of these anti-Catholic movies Donohue is crying about? I admit I don't see that many movies, but I think I'm aware of what's out there.
Seriously, little help anyone? What movies is he talking about?
Posted Friday February 9, 2007 11:58:11 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by deeznuts in reply to HuntingtonBeachLefty
The only one I can even think of that he might have been talking about is The DaVinci Code. And that movie was so bad I don't think anybody takes it seriously.
I guess ONE movie in the last 2 years is enough for Donohue to say Hollywood is "very" anti-Catholic.
I've seen plenty of movies with Catholics in them. Catholics in protagonist roles, Catholics portrayed as downtrodden, etc.
Basically, Donohue is full of it.
But we all knew that...
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 12:43:33 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by magnolialover in reply to deeznuts
And that movie wasn't even so called anti Catholic. It diverted away from what Catholicism has believed for eons, and made assertions that maybe things are not what they seem with catholicism, but to say that it was anti catholic is just silly really. And aside from that, it's a work of FICTION. This is what I didn't understand about all of these Catholics who were so up in arms about that movie. It's fiction people. FICTION...
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 6:24:04 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by tman418
I remember this guy. He was on Scarbourough Country discussing the Turkish movie "Valley of the Wolves--Iraq." This a movie that portrayed the Americans as sick and evil. Two Hollywood actors, Billy Zane and Gary Busey were in it. And when asked about why Hollywood actors would do such a thing, he said, "There are some people in Hollywood, who if you give them a quick buck they'll sodomize their own mothers in a movie and do it with a smile on their face."
I wonder what movies he watches.
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 2:02:10 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to tman418
"...they'll sodomize their own mothers in a movie and do it with a smile on their face."
Donohue sometimes sounds like he's channeling Ann Coulter... yet one more reason to dislike him. I really think he's oblivious to the fact that because he purports to defend the policies and teachings of the Catholic Church he actually makes the Catholic Church look bad in the eyes of many. He doesn't come across as a very nice man...
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 8:15:49 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by fkfhfgjhgyh in reply to tman418
I can't speak for anyone but myself. I avoid most television stories and movies because I know the people behind them mean me no good.
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 10:37:05 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by jjcomet514 in reply to fkfhfgjhgyh
You're joking, right?
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 11:51:10 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by sportsguydave
Well gee, thanks for nothing, Mr. Beinart...Now this blubbering tub of crap will waddle back to Fox, where he doesn't have to deal with vexing questions like this.
Was fun while it lasted though...
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 11:12:29 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by TimN
Nice to see someone actually calling these dirtbags (Donahue et al) on this stuff. What a weasel!
I have a hard time imagining how Catholics expect treatment any different than what they get. They've got such a long history of fair play, honesty and respect for others...<g>
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 11:18:23 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by lemoc in reply to TimN
Sure, ALL Catholics...
I am totally underwhelmed by the tolerance exhibited on this site.
Posted Monday February 12, 2007 1:50:17 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by valentinian in reply to lemoc
That's one comment, Lemoc, there are commenters making all kinds of different points.
I don't agree with what the commenter said, but to make a blanket condemnation of "this site" based on one comment has a tinge of "pot/kettle" to it...
Posted Monday February 12, 2007 8:46:13 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by iowalib
I am Catholic. I don't consider Donahue a spokesman for me, the Church, or anybody else in his or her right mind.
The only thing I've noticed about Hollywood's handling of Catholicism is how they always seem to get it wrong. They usually have nuns dressed in the black habits that haven't been used by most orders since the 60's. They do that so we will know - oh they're Catholics. It's just a way of dumbing down things. Most films/tv shows just seem to screw up on the details, not do anything anti-Catholic. I really can't think of anything I've seen that's offensive. Of course you're going to see the hour-long series do something on a molesting priest or on a crazy nun here and there but I don't see what the hell Donahue is talking about and I watch quite a few movies and such.
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 12:43:06 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to iowalib
"...how they (Hollywood) always seem to get it wrong..."
Ioaw, that's true about how Hollywood takes dramatic license with things. For example, in many movies set in New Orleans, you'd think that at any time of year, at any time of day, a Mardi Gras parade passes by about every 15 minutes. It may be true that some things are written, said or depicted in movies that are offensive to Catholics, as Donohue argues. However, especially for a religious institution like the Catholic Church the way to address perceived attacks, lies or incorrect perceptions is through positive information, not the pugnacious, and mostly obnoxious, way Donohue does. And any religious institution starts losing its credibility when it jumps into the inherently corrupt world of politics. I just think Bill Donohue is the wrong face for the Catholic Church and that he does maore harm than good for Catholics. Judging from some of the responses here it appears that at least some Catholics would agree.
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 1:21:35 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by watershed
Donohue is a thug. The most unfortunate thing about his continued media presence is that it shows that the Catholic Church obviously supports his tactics and his beliefs. If they didn't, they would have denounced him by now.
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 1:44:16 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by tbone
"You want to take me on on this, I'll take you on any day of the week."
As per usual, the last refuge of the schoolyard bully once logic fails or he is caught in his own lie.
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 3:50:41 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by arglebargle
Wow. My hat is off to MMFA's people--indeed, to anyone--who can stomach these sorry shouting matches that get passed off as discussions. (I mean the segment on the clip, not this thread :)) Even if any interesting arguments were advanced or sustained, the cross-yelling would drown them out. And the host enables it; he's as bad as Donohue.
What point was Donohue trying to make, exactly, with the Scorsese reference? That's he's the only non-Jewish person with any Hollywood clout? (Did Tom Cruise convert recently?) Whatever his point was supposed to be, it's interesting that he mentioned Scorsese--a proudly Catholic filmmaker whose work tends to uphold Catholic values, if by rather unconventional routes.
Posted Saturday February 10, 2007 6:38:53 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by sasami
Planet of the Arabs
Come and tell me when Catholics are portrayed the way Arabs are in US media..
Posted Sunday February 11, 2007 12:26:36 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by HuntingtonBeachLefty in reply to sasami
Yikes, Sasami,
That video is like eavesdropping on a Republican dream.
Posted Sunday February 11, 2007 6:33:34 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by spiritdancer
Jewish people have run Hollywood, always. I am not going to believe they hate Christians. If the Jewish people are on the ball, and run with it; I admire their passion and energy to live by doing their best. What is wrong with that?
Posted Sunday February 11, 2007 5:12:37 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by solon in reply to spiritdancer
Actually Hollywood isnt say Ford. It isnt a monolithic industry. Put yourself 20 million or so together, buy a script and talk to a few agents and YOU could produce a movie.
Posted Sunday February 11, 2007 1:00:29 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by IRONY 101
Read this...
Sternseiger's post, above, that Bill Donohue's group, Catholic League, is tax exempt prompted me to look up the web site for Catholic League. I do not have the expertise to say what constitutes "tax exempt" status but their donation form does indicate that contributions are tax exempt. But you owe it to yourself to go to the web site and read it thoroughly...
http://www.catholicleague.org/faqs.htm
Read "About Us"... I love this line: "...as a lay Catholic organization we don’t have to worry about violating church and state lines." Their manifesto also makes it rather clear that they will take various aggressive actions, including even instituting litigation, to comabt what they perceive as anything anti-Catholic. It pretty much makes it clear why their face-guy, Bill Donohue, is so combative. That is their, and his, purpose... to be aggressive and combative in their mission.
But read everything, including their press releases. Their statements have criticized the Democratic Party and certain individual Democrats. Again, I am not an expert in what constitutes "tax exempt' status, but if this group is tax exempt I will be interested in reading their future press releases which may address candidates for President to see how close to advocacy their statements are.
It's interesting reading... do yourself a favor and go look at the web site.
Posted Sunday February 11, 2007 7:45:40 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to IRONY 101
Another good quote from the Catholic League web site: "Catholic bashing has become a staple of American society." Liberals, of course, are accused as the culprits.
But as you peruse the web site see if you can pick out any mention of Jesus Christ... if you can find any, I'll bet there aren't many.
Posted Sunday February 11, 2007 8:13:50 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by wookie
More Conservative PC. Donohue protects his own while taking shots at other groups. He's not even consistent in his ideals, his consistency is only in supporting right wing talking points and causes.
Posted Monday February 12, 2007 10:00:53 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by threat or menace
"BEINART: What those women said was absolutely disgusting.
...
I would never defend it in a million years. "
What did they say that was so disgusting? Somehow I doubt it was that bad. Anybody have a quote?
Posted Monday February 12, 2007 10:29:29 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by IRONY 101
"Anybody have a quote?"
No, but I'm sure you could easily find some of Coulter's exact quotes from her book and from her many appearances on talk shows. Basically, however, Coulter was suggesting (or actually stating) was that the particular 9/11 widows in question were enjoying their fame that resulted from their husbands' deaths. I do recall Coulter referring to them as "harpies" and wondered whether their husbands weren't even planning to divorce them before 9/11. Coulter said that the widows were using their husbands' deaths for political purposes by supporting John Kerry for President. Coulter's attacks on these women were very personal and went well beyond a disagreement of political philosophy. Coulter's stated rationalization was that if these women chose to speak out against Bush's policies that they were fair game. Again, it was the way Coulter attacked these women so personally that caused the uproar. But Coulter made her attacks in a book and during an aggressive peomotional tour for her book. I'm sure she accomplished her purpose of promoting her book.
Posted Monday February 12, 2007 10:43:53 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by threat or menace in reply to IRONY 101
I've already read enough Coulter quotes to make me sick to my stomach, thanks!
Posted Monday February 12, 2007 10:59:43 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by IRONY 101 in reply to threat or menace
Oooops, Sorry... I misread your question somehow.
I'm talking about Ann Coulter and your talking about the bloggers who made the "anti-Catholic" remarks. Sorry... must have had a liberal brain cramp. ;>)
Posted Monday February 12, 2007 11:26:04 AM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by Pithaughn
Let's say it's true, some Jewish folk in Hollywood have made movies that protray the Catholic Church in a harsh and "bashng" manner? So what?? Get your own producers and make a movie showing Catholics how ever you want!! I'm no historian, but it's no surprise to me that anyone would have a beef with an institution with the history of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, much less a member of a group that has been singled out for persecution for hundreds of years. I've been to a few Catholic masses, and for me it is the creepiest, most superstitious of all the major, religions. As an atheist, I have a very open, yet cycnical mind about various beliefs. If the Catholics would get back to absolving sin, charity and living what Jesus taught them they would go a long way to restoring some credibility.
Posted Monday February 12, 2007 12:36:07 PM EST / Flag this comment
Posted by anotheramerican in reply to Pithaughn
You are entitled to your beliefs, but I do believe you are ill-informed about the Catholic Mass. Yes, Catholicism is based on belief. You may call it superstition if you like, but to many it is faith.
Again I think you are misinformed when you speak about Catholics getting back to the basics. After all, all you see are the Donohues ranting on talk tv and reading about the Priest scandals. I agree that hurts the image of the Church.
However, there are over 1,700 local Catholic Charities that gave aid to millions of people both in the United States and abroad. Correct me if I am wrong, but the Catholic Charities combined are the largest Charities, in terms of numbers and dollars, in the country.There are somewhere around 61 million Catholics in the U.S. Some religious and some not.
(I could be wrong, but my guess is that Catholics perform a lot more charity than athiests.) :-)
Posted Monday February 12, 2007 5:03:53 PM EST / Flag this comment