A number of scholars in recent years have declared that Anti-Catholicism is the last acceptable form of bigotry. Respected historian Philip Jenkins wrote a book back in 2003 entitled The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice.
Earlier this week, a group of Catholic leaders published an open-letter to President Obama and declared that Anti-Catholicism was no longer acceptable. These Catholic leaders including Bill Donahue and Phyllis Schafly want Harry Knox, Director of the Human Rights Campaign, from President Obama’s Faith-Based Advisory Council. The Human Rights Campaign is the largest LGBT lobbying group and political action committee in the United States. Harry Knox is gay and a former United Methodist minister.
Dear Mr. President,
On April 6, you named Harry Knox to your Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. You claim to have created this Council, among other things, to “bring everyone together – from both the secular and faith-based communities.”
Harry Knox is the hate-filled antithesis of this noble objective. Knox is a virulent anti-Catholic bigot, and has made numerous vile and dishonest attacks against the Church and the Holy Father. He has no business on any Council having to do with faith or religion.
We do not know if you or members of your Administration were aware of Knox’s deplorable, abusive attitude towards the Church and Pope Benedict XVI when you named him to the Council. We assume you were not. But since then, there have been numerous press reports on Knox’s loathsome, and clearly bigoted rhetoric, so there no longer is any excuse for your failure to act. We can remain silent no longer.
As Catholics, we call on you to remove Mr. Knox from his position and to formally disassociate yourself from his militant anti-Catholicism. Failure to do so will result in the tainting of your Faith-Based Council—and indeed, your entire administration—as anti-Catholic. We urge you to give this matter your immediate consideration.
Several high-profile Republican leaders are backing the efforts of these Catholic leaders to have Knox removed from the Faith Council. See below:
“I consider Harry Knox’s appointment to a faith-based White House program inappropriate given his anti-Catholic rhetoric, and I hope other members of Congress would agree,” Rep. John Boehner told reporters.
Boehner joins Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind., the chairman of the House Republican Conference, in calling for Knox’s removal.
So, let’s take a look at the comments that make Harry Knox a “virulent anti-Catholic bigot.”
Below are the comments that have been cited the most in the media. A complete collection of Knox’s supposed anti-Catholicism can be found here.
Here is Harry Knox on March 17 responding to Pope Benedict’s remarks concerning condoms and AIDS in Africa:
“The Pope’s statement that condoms don’t help control the spread of HIV, but rather condoms increase infection rates, is hurting people in the name of Jesus. …On a continent where millions of people are infected with HIV, it is morally reprehensible to spread such blatant falsehoods. The pope’s rejection of scientifically proven prevention methods is forcing Catholics in Africa to choose between their faith and the health of their entire community. Jesus was about helping the marginalized and downtrodden, not harming them further.”
• Mar. 19, 2009: The Bay Area Reporter in San Francisco quoted Knox as following, “The Knights of Columbus do a great deal of good in the name of Jesus Christ, but in this particular case [Proposition 8], they were foot soldiers of a discredited army of oppression.
• The newspaper further reported: “Knox noted that the Knights of Columbus ‘followed discredited leaders,’ including bishops and Pope Benedict XVI. ‘A pope who literally today said condoms don’t help in control of AIDS.’”
• Knox told CNSNews.com that he “absolutely” stands by his criticism of the pope. “The Pope needs to start telling the truth about condom use,” Knox said on Monday, Apr. 6. “We are eager to help him do that. Until he [Pope Benedict] is willing to do that and able, he’s doing a great deal more harm than good – not just in Africa but around the world. It is endangering people’s lives.”
I’m sorry but these comments above don’t rise to the level of bigotry. Knox is clearly not a fan of the Pope. I’m not a fan of the Pope especially when the Pope starts talking public policy. I believe that the Pope’s past comments regarding condoms and AIDS are dangerous. So does Harry Knox. Those views don’t make us “virulent anti-Catholic bigots.”
I’m a Protestant Christian in the Baptist tradition. I’m not a Catholic Christian. Nowadays, however, it seems that if a Protestant critiques Catholic theology, the Protestant is accused of being uncharitable at best and anti-Catholic at worst. And the Pope is completely off-limits. Benedict travels the world and is received as a Head of State everywhere he stops. He talks politics - makes comments that sometimes deserve a harsh response and when that harsh response is offered - folks (like Harry Knox) get accused of being a vile anti-Catholic bigot by traditionlists like Donohue and Schafly.
Meanwhile, a conservative evangelical like Al Mohler can offer a stinging critique of the Pope and Catholic theology but will never get accused by Catholic leaders such as Deal Hudson of being an anti-Catholic bigot. Here’s what Mohler had about Catholic theology today on his blog:
In this light, any belief system that pulls persons away from the Gospel of Christ, denies and subverts Christian truth, and blinds sinners from seeing Christ as the only hope of salvation is, by biblical definition, a way that leads to destruction. Islam, like every other rival to the Christian gospel, takes persons captive and is devoid of genuine hope for salvation.
You’ll have to read the entire blog for context. But, I’m sure that Donohue and Schafly would love to replace Harry Knox with an Al Mohler on the President’s Faith Council.
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Bill Donahue is the head of “The Catholic League” a very rightwing group which he founded. He claims to speak for all Catholics, but is viewed by the Catholic left the way the BJC views Richard Land. Even the vast Catholic center is embarrassed by the likes of Donahue and Schlaffley.
There is much anti-Catholicism around. But it is hardly “the last acceptable prejudice.” In fact, Catholics, as the largest denomination in the U.S., now, often shape vast parts of public debate. (A long way from the days when JFK had to swear that electing him didn’t mean that the pope would take over.)
Criticizing the pope doesn’t make one anti-Catholic any more than criticizing Israeli policy makes one anti-Jewish (another confusion of popular media). This is Donahue’s attempt to make Obama back off support for gay rights, for condom use in AIDS prevention, for stem cell research, etc. Any attempt to criticize conservative Catholic views on these topics is to be construed as “anti-Catholicism” which ignores the huge areas of dissent within the Catholic Church.
Obama HAS a faith counsel. Does that make him anti-Baptist because he is not a strict church-state separationist? No. (It is suspect for a constitutional lawyer, but that’s a different issue.) Does it make him bigoted against persons of no faith?
This kind of thing is simply intimidation.
The addition of Harry Knox certainly changes the shape and tenor of what was originally a faith-based outreach, and became under Pres. Obama a broader mix of faith-based and secular leaders.
Who represents Catholics and/or conservative (Catholic or Protestant) on the council? I’m not familiar with all of them.
Again, as a firm believer in liberty of conscience, religious liberty, and church-state separation (it used to be enough to say “Baptist” and all that was included, but that was pre-SBC fundamentalist theocrats), I think the entire office of “faith-based initiatives” should be abolished.
It clearly is “respecting an establishment of religion.”
But Harry Knox’s inclusion isn’t anti-Catholic. And if CONSERVATIVE Catholics are going to complain about anti-Catholic bigotry, how does Cardinal Murphy explain calling athiests “less than fully human.”
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/5/15/731790/-Catholic-Cardinal:-Atheists-arent-fully-human
So, maybe athiest bashing is the “last acceptable prejudice?” And how does calling someone less than fully human help evangelize them? Great church growth strategy there, Cardinal Murphy.
IMO Pres. Obama is abolishing it - at least neutralizing the faith aspect - in a politicially astute way.
As the council members focus on what they can agree on, and avoid their direct conflicts (e.g., on the fatherhood initiative — one of four assigned initiatives — Knox says he doesn’t want the focus to be heteronormative), the emphasis will shift toward the “Neighborhood Partnerships” part of their title. They can deal in the area of poverty and economic conditions, akin to other government agencies.