Books
Catholic League official fights cultural ‘saboteurs’ in new book
September 23rd, 2009
By Brian Olszewski
“SECULAR SABOTAGE: HOW LIBERALS ARE DESTROYING RELIGION AND CULTURE IN AMERICA” by Bill Donohue. FaithWords (New York, 2009). 258 pp., $21.99.
If the cultural war requires bare-knuckled brawlers, Bill Donohue might be its undisputed champion. Head of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights since 1993, Donohue has been at the forefront of battles that he says provide evidence of the sabotage about which he writes – a threatened 2002 boycott of the American Red Cross when its Orange County, Calif., chapter banned high school groups from singing patriotic songs at Red Cross events; a nationwide boycott of Wal-Mart in 2005 when the retailer posted Hanukkah and Kwanzaa sections on its Web site, but no “Christmas” section; and a 2007 boycott of the Miller Brewing Company when the brewer’s logo appeared on poster mocking the Last Supper.
Donohue takes a chapter by chapter approach in detailing how the sabotage has taken place. In the chapter on multiculturalism, he writes: “Words like tolerance, diversity and inclusion constitute a mantra. They are a holy trinity of multiculturalism.” He states that secular saboteurs see multiculturalism as a “godsend. It gives them all the justification they need to attack our Judeo-Christian roots.”
He concludes the chapter on artistic sabotage by stating that a line from “Jerry Springer: The Opera” – “Nothing is wrong and nothing is right” – underscores “the central point of this book: the secular sabotage of America is driven by nihilism as much as it is by hate. All of it is deliberate and all of it is intended to offend.”
About saboteurs, for whom he uses “extremists,” “radicals” and “nihilists” as synonyms, Donohue writes, “The goal is not reform: it is an attempt to gut core beliefs and practices. And to a disturbing extent, the secularists have succeeded in turning things upside down and inside out.”
Among those he views as “the radical secular activists out to disable America” are the American Civil Liberties Union, Anti-Defamation League, People for the American Way, National Abortion Rights Defense League, Catholics for Choice and the Democratic Party. Lawyers and Hollywood are named, too. Regarding the latter, he uses films such as “Priest,” “Dogma,” “The Golden Compass” and “The Da Vinci Code,” and refers to the short-lived 1997 TV show “Nothing Sacred.” That chapter also includes an examination of the controversy that surrounded “The Passion of the Christ.”
Donohue devotes a chapter each to self-sabotage being done by Catholics and Protestants. Among the former he delineates damage done by such groups as Catholics for Choice, Call to Action and Voice of the Faithful, to name a few. He chastises Catholic colleges and universities for becoming victims of “religious cleansing” rather than adhering to Catholic teaching and tradition:
“To be sure, there will always be those who respectfully challenge the church to rethink its ways. They are not the problem. The problem lies with those raging Catholics who would like to shove their fanciful ‘Nothing Sacred’ church down the throats of the faithful,” he writes.
Even those who have heard or read the stories – e.g., the law school professor whose objection to a Christmas tree on the Indiana University campus resulted in its removal; the student at the College of Alameda (Calif.) who was threatened with suspension and accused of “disruptive or insulting behavior” because she was praying for an ailing professor on campus; and public funding for “artworks” like “Piss Christ” – will shake their heads in disbelief as Donohue uses these as examples of the moral erosion about which he is concerned.
The examples of sabotage are well-documented via a variety of sources, but occasionally Donohue will make a statement without attribution or facts to back it up. For example, “It is because so many of the women religious have thrown Catholic doctrine overboard that few young women are drawn to them.”
Nonetheless, he raises thought-provoking questions, e.g., “Why is that when Christian groups have concerns over the content of a play or book or movie, it’s called censorship, but when gays or feminists or just about any other group speak up, they are exercising free speech?” and “Does Hollywood hate religion? If not, why does it continue to make movies that bash it?”
“Secular Sabotage” reads like a literary version of conservative talk radio. Whether readers like that kind of programming or not, it can be engaging and thought-provoking. Many of the issues Donahue addresses, e.g., education, multiculturalism and the sanctity of life are similar to those discussed during those broadcasts.
The passion that Donohue brings to the book is evident in every chapter. He states the severity of the sabotage early: “The cultural debris that these secular saboteurs have created will take decades to clean up, but we people of faith have no other alternative save moral decomposition.” The rest of the book details dozens of examples of moral hazardous waste.
Catholic high schools and colleges would do well to incorporate this book into their curriculums. It is suited for theology classes at both levels. Another option would be to include specific chapters, e.g., “Democratic Sabotage,” in courses on history and political science, or “Artistic Sabotage” in art classes.
Readers of “Secular Sabotage” should not only expect it to provide an education in how anti-Christianity permeates society, but they should expect to look at the groups and individuals Donohue mentions in a different light. They might find themselves questioning those who undermine Christian values, and confronting them – with bare knuckles.
Brian Olszewski is executive editor of the Catholic Herald, publication of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee.
From September 25, 2009 issue of Catholic San Francisco.
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