In the life of nearly every celebrity there’s a moment after the white hot fame cools and the spotlights are averted when a decision needs to be made. Does the celebrity begin a new life in obscurity or do they break out the white spangled jumpsuits and take the first flight out to Las Vegas to milk the last of their fame for every last embarassing moment of notoriety?
But recent years have shown that while Vegas still remains a tantalizing option, many former celebrities are establishing nice second careers as Catholic bashers. The prerequisites are minimal. You don’t actually need to know anything about the faith. Just dust off some old Pope insults, scream about priestly celibacy and homosexual rights and you’ll be a star again in no time.
Sinead O’ Connor’s singing career has long since past its expiration date but she’s cleverly found new life as one of the most sought after anti-Catholic “celebrities” on television. She’s been on CNN more than Wolf Blitzer this past month and MSNBC treated her like one of the greatest Catholic thinkers since Bishop Fulton Sheen. Sinead inexplicably accused Pope Benedict XVI of not believing in God which didn’t even raise an objection on MSNBC. And now for her willingness to rip her former faith, Sinead is sought out almost as much as she used to be for her beatiful singing voice.
Bill Maher, the former comedian who makes my television feel icky, has had quite the nice second career by bashing Catholics. He’s mocked the Blessed Virgin Mary, called the Pope a Nazi, and he’s been telling anyone who will listen that celibacy is the cause of the sex abuse scandal. For this he’s been rewarded with his own shows as well as more guest appearances on Larry King Live than psychic John Edwards. (And that’s saying something.)
Rosie O’Donnell, whose career followed the course of the Titanic (the ship not the movie) recently said on the radio that the Catholic Church reminds her of the Jonestown suicide cult. Now she’s being discussed as picking up the mantle of Oprah who’s allegedly leaving the airwaves sometime soon.
The media is so hungry for unthinking anti-Catholicism that it will offer airtime to any “celebrity” willing to say nasty things about the Church. Even Roseanne Barr recently figured it out recently and said, “I am starting to think that any parent who takes their kids to catholic churches from now on should lose custody.” Expect Roseanne to have her own sitcom by September.
This kind of trend will not go unnoticed. Expect more celebrities to take this route to their second stardom. I just can’t wait to hear what Lady Gaga thinks of the Church.
Comments
Post a Comment
Thank you for mentioning this reality that only we (Catholics) seem to notice. I am amazed at what gives one status as a Catholic ‘expert’. And I am also amazed at everyone’s acceptance of what would be deemed insulting to any other group. We can take some consolation in the knowledge that Jesus told us it would be this way - the world will hate us as it hated Him first.
The Catholic Church is the new George W. Bush. They spend time trying to tripple dog dare you to hate it more than them.
This is a very timely issue, for it turns our heads away from what the WH and Congress is doing to our lives. The O doesn’t look ssoooo bad when compared to “those” men who wear clerical collars.
Everyone needs a scapegoat. It’s so convenient to throw your sins on the goat and send him out the gate. Then you don’t have to look at the reflection in the mirror and change what is wrong.
The French rebels enthroned a prostitute to personify freedom. Today, Obama’s supporters throw mud at priests to enoble their positions that support abortion and Communism. Whenever people criticize Obama’s policies and cite the Church’s teachings, you can bet that within a minute a derision of your point will come in the form of a pedophilia attack. It is illogical because as
St. Thomas Aquinas taught, “It is not who said what that matters, it is what was said.” But for those who do not care about the truth, facts or reason, any excuse to dismiss valid points is good. It is even better if one can ridicule the opoonent - an Alinsky technique that Obama learned and taught himself.
It may be troubling because it marks the collapse of dialogue and communication. Others refuse to see the light. They prefer to stay in the dark. Then there are those who belong to the dark and reward others who keep the light out - like these actors who want to stand on the shoulders of the Pope or priests.
The tragedy though is with others who seek the truth and are misled by false witnesses. What can one do except replace the lie with the truth for those who care to know. As for the Church, history has shown that She has become more vigorous during times of persecution.
These entertainers are so funny they make the Lord laugh.
Psalm 2:4
The one enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord derides them
Psalm 37:13
But the LORD laughs at them, knowing their day is coming.
You guys need to get a sense of humor.
Why would an uptight religious type even go to Vegas in the first place? Stop the Vegas-bashing and get real. It’s a free country and you’re free to not visit our state. I’m tired of P.C. right-wingers bashing Nevada and Las Vegas.
lolreligion is missing the point entirely unless he feels that there is nothing in Vegas except has beens. I visit the state 4 times a year to visit family. I find that Vegas offers more variety of things to do for non-gamblers like me than my home town.
I am also a lifelong Democrat and hate the term PC right winger.
It has long been observed that when one has run out of intelligent arguments, you can always resort to name-calling. This array of Catholic bashers all fit the description. They are fed bad lines by public relations types, and fee-challenged lawyers. But not to worry. They, like their audiences, have short attention spans. They soon will tire of the same jabberwocky, and will then find another tree to bark up.
Well, maybe if the church had done the right thing instead of shuffling child molesters around from parish to parish, this would be a non-issue.
As it is, you can’t really blame them for lashing out at the church—there have certainly been some shameful moments in the church’s history, but I can’t think of any after the industrial revolution that compares to this.
Too bad what happens in “Vegas” can’t just stay there, in this case too.
Shoot the messenger. That always works.
Hey Matt,
What’s your point? Your written gibberish is exactly that. I’m calling a spay a spay. No I’m spelling the word correctly: I mean spay or spayed as in neutered in regards to your attempt to be funny or sensible. Neutered because there is noting of value in what you wrote that one can ponder about. No offspring, no fruit off the vine, nothing to propagate, not even any rhythm, and it‘s the opposite of funny or humorous. Based on the fact that as a child I was repeatedly raped by a Catholic nun what you have written is not funny to me. The Catholic ESTABLISHMENT needs to be BASHED and even destroyed and rebuilt. It is too established, too sheltered from being judged, and too corrupt to be of any value to anyone except those who believe in BLIND FAITH. What other social or political institution can boast of having as its head of state a former Nazi? I was born and raised in the United States of America and I cannot imagine the two party political system that we have endorsing a candidate for any office if that person was a former Nazi. So what makes the Catholic ESTABLISHMENT so special that they think that it should go unnoticed that its leader is a former Nazi? BLIND FAITH???
A CANTA: First of all, I want you to know that as i read what you have written here I personally feel so much ANGER in what you might have suffered through I want to throttle whoever hurt you- and I do mean THROTTLE. I am so sorry and I pray the Lord will comfort you and give you peace and personal consolation in His intention and will for your life in every aspect. I have to tell you though- that the evil done to you is not representative of the whole of the Church and certainly not of Jesus Christ. You are right there are alot of things that are messed up and we desperately need God to intervene to help us fix the mess we are making of His name , His Body, and His will. I think that is true for me personally, for many in the Church in the US and for the whole of western civilization calling themselves Christian. We cannot be any better than we are without Jesus, His immediate help and grace and then on the back side of that we must learn to pursue holiness because what we have now? This is the magic carpet to hell- just watch a few tv programs and the topics and language are so offensive- if this reflects our lives in our preferences and norms we are in very serious trouble. As to a Nazi pope- what you are upset about is not taking in the full picture and not using the same standard you would want your life to be judged by, I am sure. Pope Benedict’s family suffered under the Nazis, and during that time in history he was an adolescent- a kid. He did what he was required to do under the authority over him. He was not embracing and advancing the Nazi antihuman anti Catholic agenda- he and his family were suffering under their oppression trying to live in peace for good in what they were able to do- and I think we have no real concept YET about what that might be like. Most of us are living lives so rife with compromise of our Christian values that we are indistinguishable from the rest of the world. I know I was afraid, AFRAID, in my neighborhood to put a sign in my yard in support of our NC marriage amendment. I voted for it, but I was AFRAID to make a public stand for it in my immediate sphere. Many of my neighbors had signs to the contrary in their yards and I am the homeschooling mother of a large family- and I am far from getting alot of social norms right- so I am already a target for disdain and harassment. I have to live with these people- when the time is right, yes, I will very clearly and publicly state the Truth no matter what the cost, but for now, I have to live in peace with these people to maintain family integrity. I am using this as a story to try to illustrate that what the Ratzingers went through might have been beyond our ability to fully grasp, and to try to help you see that, of all people, Pope Benedict is not a collaborator in the evil done to you. I promise you that God will even the score on your behalf- He is the great Equalizer. In that I do have blind faith.
Post a Comment
By submitting this form, you give The National Catholic Register permission to publish this comment. Comments will be published at our discretion, and may be edited for clarity and length. For best formatting, please limit your response to one paragraph and don't hit "enter" to force line breaks.