Unreal Time

Another installment in our occasional "Catholics Are Stupid" series.

There was a time when Bill Maher was mildly amusing, if a bit ribald. A good many comedians start out that way, only to sacrifice their good judgment on the altar of bad taste, either as a result of commercial success, or for the want of it. Some of George Carlin's earlier witticisms about growing up Catholic, to give another example, were actually funny. Since then he has simply become more obnoxious with age. Maher's diatribes about the Faith of his childhood never were funny, and they certainly aren't now.

And so, when he uses the clerical sexual abuse scandal to ridicule the Holy Father, even his usually-compliant audience can only manage forced laughter. After all, they went to a lot of trouble to get those tickets. Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly is a foot soldier in the culture wars, who exposes Maher for the lying cad that he is. Labeling the former Josef Ratzinger as an "ex-Nazi" is more than just misleading, as his father's career as a police officer suffered for being outspoken against National Socialism.

Maher should be more than sorry, he should be removed. He has a right to his own opinion. He does not have a right to his own facts, let alone to use the public airwaves to propagate them. And how do we react? Bill Donohue, president of The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, fronts a seemingly lonely crusade against such bigotry, while Catholic intellectuals obsess over supposed excesses of Donohue's personality. So what if he's a little hot under the collar when he's on CNN. Should he be taking this lying down? Every Catholic who even remotely practices his Faith should be offended by Maher. If they are not, they should ask themselves why they go to the trouble of being one.

Because if it makes you think so little of yourself, why is it worth it?
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