Donohue has made a career of being an on-air bigot himself. He has attacked the Jews who control Hollywood, Muslims who can't be trusted and homosexuals who live the "gay death style." I guess television producers keep bringing him on because he is a useful clown. He stokes the fires of hate, which must be good for ratings. Then the same networks pretend to be outraged by innocuous comments made by liberal bloggers.
Before we move on, I would like to make note of the other charge against the bloggers - they used foul language. These charges are made by the same people who support Dick Cheney, who told a United States Senator on the floor of the Senate to go fuck himself. Those are his words, not mine. I don't want to be called a vulgar blogger later for quoting the vice president.
Until I hear the same conservative commentators calling for an apology from Dick Cheney, I'm not really interested in hearing their views on other people's use of colorful language.
Now, let's get to the so-called anti-Catholic comments made by Amanda Marcotte and Melissa McEwen. They attacked some of the views of the Catholic Church on contraception, abortion and other religious dogma.
And therein lies the big difference between actual bigots like Donohue and the views of Marcotte and McEwen. Donohue attacks people for who they are. Marcotte and McEwen challenge people for what they believe.
Attacking someone's religious identity is unacceptable. Attacking their religious views, on the other hand, must be fair game. Saying all "Catholics are bad people" is crazy talk; saying "Catholic ideology on contraception is wrong" is obviously a perfectly acceptable opinion.
Let me give a personal example. Recently Congressman Virgil Goode (R-VA) attacked all Muslims by saying he doesn't want any more Muslims in Congress, or in the country for that matter. That is a statement about people's religious identity, not their beliefs. He doesn't care if they are moderate Muslims, fundamentalists, agnostics or any other derivation. If it says Muslim on the passport, he doesn't want them in the country. That is the very definition of bigotry.
On the other hand, many people attack the views that some Muslims hold. Are there really 72 virgins in heaven waiting for Muslim martyrs? Is Mohammed really the last prophet of God? Are you supposed to pray five times a day? In a free society, it is essential that we be able to have this dialogue. And it is essential that views like these be held up for scrutiny and often times forcefully challenged.
As a person who was born Muslim, I was very offended by Rep. Goode's comments. On the other hand, I am completely unbothered by any challenge to Islamic beliefs, especially since I rip Islamic viewpoints on a regular basis myself. I believe all of the religions, including Islam, are outrageous and preposterous.
I guess I can't work on any presidential campaigns from now on. Believe me, if they thought Marcotte and McEwen were against religion, wait till they get a load of me.
So, are all agnostics and atheists disqualified from the national debate? Are we all to be considered anti-Catholic, anti-Muslim, anti-Evangelical and anti-Semitic? No, of course not.
We are not attacking anybody based on who they are. We are challenging their beliefs. If you go back and read Donohue's comments now, you see that he almost never takes on people's views, he always attacks their identity. He doesn't have a problem with principles of Judaism, he has a problem with Jews who run Hollywood. And that's all the difference in the world.
I hope that the next time a media organization considers running a story like this, they not only check its source, but also its logic. I hope they can comprehend the difference between going after someone's religious identity and their religious views.
The Young Turks
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