Tag Archives: anti-religious bias

WaPo’s Stevens-Arroyo Calls for Catholics to ‘Embrace a Redistribution of Wealth’

The Washington Post’s really should consider renaming Anthony Stevens-Arroyo’s column in its “On Faith” blog. “Catholic America” should be “Liberal Democrat Catholic America,” just for the sake of truth in advertising. On June 23, left-wing hack Stevens-Arroyo again injected his politics into the ostensibly religious column. In “ Common good v corp. profits ,” he actually wrote that Catholics should “embrace a redistribution of wealth.” The column sought to explain how Catholics and others should view Judge Martin Feldman’s ruling overturning the Obama moratorium on off-shore drilling. Why, the reader may ask, should this event have Catholic significance, beyond the fact that a liberal writer whose column has “Catholic” in the title was upset about it? It doesn’t. But Stevens-Arroyo gamely offered that, “There may not be a ‘Catholic’ position about the immediate politics of off-shore drilling, but there is an on-going Catholic approach to resolving the competing interests.” Not surprisingly, that approach vindicates the left. To Stevens-Arroyo, the issue came down to “common good,” which led him to make this puzzling statement: “While we have considerable freedom about our personal political choices in the application of principles, Catholics in America are bound to embrace a redistribution of wealth, even if it goes contrary to ranting from groups like the Tea Party or Wall Street.” He never explained where exactly it states Catholics are bound to encourage the government to confiscate legally earned private property to give it to whomever it deems more worthy. Catholics are bound to assist others through charity, not compulsory redistribution. This isn’t the first time Stevens-Arroyo has conflated socialism with faith. Last year he declared that “ the most Catholic ” part of Ted Kennedy’s funeral was the senator’s grandchildren pleading for nationalized health care. But, not content being an arbiter of what is Catholic and what isn’t, Stevens-Arroyo set himself up as a law scholar, hypothesizing that the “Reagan-appointed judge” Feldman’s ruling could be seen as the work of an “activist court.” He ranted that, “a judge is supposed to be limited to matters of constitutionality — and not to impose his jobs’ policy. There can be no doubt that a presidential moratorium falls within the powers of the White House, so stopping this legitimate executive order on questions about its consequences constitutes activism.” Even the Associated Press explained that the moratorium was overturned because the “Interior Department failed to provide adequate reasoning for the moratorium.” Stevens-Arroyo has a history of being unable to hide his liberal viewpoints. Just last March he claimed that Fox New’s Glenn Beck was using “the same strategy of the Hitler Youth and the Polish Communist Party … ” In December he also attempted to compare Ft. Hood shooter Hidal Hassan to World War 1 hero Alvin York and General Patton.

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WaPo’s Stevens-Arroyo Calls for Catholics to ‘Embrace a Redistribution of Wealth’

Garofalo: Bible a ‘Work of Fiction’ for ‘Child-Like Audience’

Sometime-comedian Janeane Garofalo never passes up an opportunity to slam conservatives or, apparently, Christianity. The Huffington Post gave her an opportunity June 24 to kill two birds with one stone. In an  interview  promoting her upcoming special on a network called EPIX, Garofalo compared the most widely-read book of all time, the Bible, to a Bill O’Reilly autobiography and a children’s book authored by former President Bush. When asked by a Huffington Post reader which of those three publications she’d rather read, Garofalo said, “Actually that’s like six and one half, that is six and one half right there.” Presumably, she meant to use the popular idiom, “six of one, half a dozen of the other.” “That’s just three works of fiction targeted to a child-like audience so any, all, any one, none,” Garofalo said. “I don’t know how to read either, so that’s kind of a drag.” During the interview, Garofalo also expressed disappointment in President Obama. “It’s a drag that he’s such a conservative,” she lamented. Garofalo’s made her disdain for religion clear in the past. During a June 16 appearance on “The Joy Behar Show” on Headline News, she called prayer “anti-intellectual.” Behar later defended Garofalo on ABC’s “The View,” saying the comedian should have said prayer was “un-intellectual.” Garofalo has also built a long resume of attacking conservatives. She has compared the GOP to neo-Nazis  and called Tea Party protestors ” functionally retarded ,” and ” racist backward motherf***ers .” She has called the stable of Fox News anchors and hosts, as well as conservative talk radio hosts,  liars .

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Garofalo: Bible a ‘Work of Fiction’ for ‘Child-Like Audience’

MRC’s Bozell: Comedy Central’s ‘JC’ Has No Advertiser Support

Of the more than 300 corporate sponsors who have sponsored Comedy Central in the past, not a single one has indicated their intention to buy advertising time on the planned “JC” program should it ever be set to go to broadcast. That’s the victorious announcement today from Citizens Against Religious Bigotry (CARB), a group co-founded by NewsBusters publisher Brent Bozell and a handful of other social conservative activists. “The sponsors understand what the programming department at Comedy Central does not: Religious bigotry is bad business,” Bozell noted in a statement. “With literally zero advertiser support for this program, the only reason Comedy Central would put it on their broadcast schedule is in an effort to offend Christianity and Christians. There is no valid business reason for airing ‘JC,'” the Media Research Center founder argued.  Full the full press release, click here . For a complete listing of member organizations, and advertisers that were petitioned, visit www.CitizensAgainstReligiousBigotry.org .

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MRC’s Bozell: Comedy Central’s ‘JC’ Has No Advertiser Support

Religion Blogger Shreds Newsweek’s Take on ‘Saint Sarah’ Palin

“You have been weighed in the balances and found wanting.” That’s how the biblical prophet Daniel interpreted the writing on the wall that heralded the imminent demise of the Babylonian Empire. It could also sum up journalist Sarah Pulliam Bailey’s take on Lisa Miller’s “Saint Sarah” piece in Newsweek (emphases mine): Journalists have long been puzzled over Sarah Palin’s popularity. In November, Newsweek took a stab at the trend with its provocative cover of Palin in running clothes: “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Sarah Palin: How Sarah Palin Hurts the GOP And the Country.” Lisa Miller’s thesis is compelling if it is true, but journalists usually rely on hard facts, polls, maybe interviews with political scientists to prove their points. Unfortunately, Miller’s article contains none of these to support her theory that Palin is somehow the new leader of the Christian Right. Instead, she strings together a bunch of anecdotes and quotes to prove what she thinks is happening.   Pulliam Bailey devoted most of her June 14 Get Religion blog post to fisking Miller’s argument. Here’s just a sample (emphases are the author’s): The story leads with Palin’s classic story of how she decided to give birth to her son Trig. Palin has already overshared: nothing makes a person, let alone a politician, appear more vulnerable, more ordinary, and more unambiguously female than a scene in a bathroom where she pees on a stick. But then she defies a generation of pro-life activists who preached that the life of the fetus is sacred, no matter what an individual woman wants. Is there any indication that Palin doesn’t think the fetus is sacred? Lots of women who chose to give birth give testimonies about their decision-making process. Is she actually defying other activists? Let’s face it: the Trig story is a women’s story, the kind girlfriends share over coffee or in church. It has all the familiar elements of evangelical testimony: tribulation and dread; trust in God; and, finally, great blessings. Many Christian women loathe Palin , Who? Why? of course, and many men love her, Who? Why? but a certain kind of conservative, Bible-believing woman worships her. Who? Is it only Bible-believing women who worship her? And really? Worships her? To a smaller number, she is a prophet, ordained by God for a special role in the cosmic battle against the forces of evil . What forces of evil? Who thinks she was ordained by God? Does this smaller number think the political arena is the cosmic battle? Perhaps the biggest failure on Miller’s part? Pulliam Bailey notes that Miller insisted that Palin has her faults, but the left is partially to blame for her ascent. Its native mistrust of religion, of conservative believers in particular, left the gap that Palin now fills. The GetReligion.org writer then argued that, “Perhaps Miller should have spent more time writing about this part of the story. It would be more compelling to read more about the left’s mistrust of religion that left a gap.” Given Newsweek’s cutesy take on “Saint Sarah,” it was only fitting that an analysis critical of it should end with a biblical allusion. Pulliam Bailey didn’t disappoint with the observation that the financially-struggling magazine is intent on “making Palin in its own image”: If Palin is really leading the religious right, has anyone captured photo evidence of Palin’s flock? The accompanying slideshow , titled “Cult of Palin,” features Palin condoms, porn movies and strip clubs. The slideshow does nothing to back Miller’s thesis about Palin’s new found leadership of the religious right. Maybe that’s because Newsweek is making Palin in its own image.

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Religion Blogger Shreds Newsweek’s Take on ‘Saint Sarah’ Palin