The Catholic League Isn’t a League

March 21, 2013 By 11 Comments

Bill Maher talks about the problem with “shitkicker inflation“:

To paraphrase a commenter at Joe. My. God.:

The Moral Majority isn’t a majority.

The Religious Right isn’t right.

Focus on the Family doesn’t care about families (other than their own).

One Million Moms has nowhere close to one million members.

Answers in Genesis has no answers.

And FOX News isn’t news.

Filed Under: General, Humor, Politics 11 Comments
About Hemant Mehta

Hemant Mehta is the chair of Foundation Beyond Belief and a high school math teacher in the suburbs of Chicago. He began writing the Friendly Atheist blog in 2006. His latest book is called The Young Atheist's Survival Guide.

  • Rain

    Guests do a lot of pretend-laughing on these types of comedy shows. I guess it’s just the polite thing to do. When Christopher Hitchens was on there he didn’t go quite that far. But he did pretend-smile a little, as well as flip everyone the bird, as I recall.

    • Claude

      “A virtual who’s who of WTF.”

      I laughed for real.

    • Reginald Selkirk

      And the cameraman apparently gets paid a bonus for getting shots of guests laughing at Maher’s jokes. The whole thing comes off as an ego stroke.
      He did nail the content this time though.

  • Valancy Jane

    If you relabel something, you own it. Notice how nobody can say they’re all for “family values” anymore unless they want to be identified with lying right-wing fundie control freaks?

    • compl3x

      I am always suspicious of anyone who incorporates the word “family” into their rhetoric, title, political party name, philosophy etc.

    • Gus Snarp

      I like to say I support family values, but I can’t do it without explanation. You know, family values like love, mutual respect, kind words, forgiveness, understanding, communication, non-violence – all the things that make my family work.

      I’m also a lifetime member of the National Eagle Scout Association (should really do something about that, I know), so I get all kinds of mail from them, and the local Boy Scout council got their mailing list too….so there was this thing in their magazine about “Scouting Values”, and a book about them, and a billboard campaign too, and I’ve simultaneously seen the Boy Scouts becoming more right wing and the word “values”, even without “family” attached, being hijacked, so I did write them a letter explaining that I’m not sure the Scouting Values they’re talking about are consistent with the ones I learned. Trustworthy, courteous, and kind are all above “reverent” in the Scout Law, so you’d think that being honest about non-belief or sexuality would be valued over playing along and staying in the closet to be a member, and that being courteous and kind would guide the organization in its treatment of LGBT kids (yeah, I used all the letters, these notions are so fluid as we understand them now that every kid should be included). So yeah, everybody’s use of the word “values” is getting hijacked.

      • Valancy Jane

        Absolutely it is.

        BTW… I know it is very hard to think about losing your lifetime affiliation with a group that must have been a big part of your life. For whatever it’s worth, I appreciate the steps you’ve already taken in communicating your views with them. I can’t even throw away a kitchen gadget with emotional connections to my dead mother–I’m sure as hell not going to judge you for how you’re handling your membership in the BSA.

  • Gus Snarp

    Sometimes Maher really does nail it. This is one of those times.
    “It’s one guy with a fax machine.” – I assume Bill Donahue has some actual followers, but does anyone know his membership, or if there’s a board or any other staff to the Catholic League? (OK, now I’m off to look into that myself).

  • SeekerLancer

    Sometimes I feel like the 24 hour news cycle is to blame for how loud some of these groups have gotten. I have nothing against people shouting whatever nonsense they want, it’s their right to do so, but with the news channels and the Internet people never really have to leave their echo chambers anymore. You can reside in a constructed world where your opinion is always the majority one instead of in reality.

  • baal

    Wow, Bill was really on in this clip. I also got the feeling that Rachael would love to get as blunt but feels constrained on her show (MSNBC isn’t HBO after all).

  • Reginald Selkirk

    The Catholic League – I was hoping Bill Donohue would be eliminated in the playoffs.


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