Of SNAP, the Catholic League, Card. Dolan and fair treatment

I noticed on the blog of His Eminence Timothy Card. Dolan, who in his capacity as President of the USCCB has been called on to defend the rights of the Church in the midst of a deepening kulturkampf, a comment about SNAP, founded on work of The Catholic League.  It took me by surprise, but… not really.  SNAP is part of a larger phenomenon and Card. Dolan is right to bring it up, particularly because of his local newspaper (Hell’s Bible), SNAP’s ideologically blinkered advocate.

On the heels of reading that, I received a missive from The Catholic League:

SNAP’S DEFENDERS SHOW TRUE COLORS

March 21, 2012

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on those who continue to defend the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP):

Last week we released a report on SNAP that showed beyond a reasonable doubt what an utter fraud the organization is (click here to read it). It was not an essay; it was not an op-ed; it was not conjecture; it was not our opinion. It was the voice of David Clohessy, the director of SNAP. When coupled with our report last summer on the proceedings of its national convention (it offered irrefutable proof of its hate-filled agenda) it cannot be maintained by any serious observer what SNAP is all about.

The credibility of those who continue to defend this wholly discredited organization is on the line. That would include the editorial board of the New York Times and the Newark Star-Ledger (the latter offered a particularly vicious statement), as well as pundits such as Andrew Sullivan. That the near-moribund National Organization for Women and the Feminist Majority should weigh in is not surprising: though SNAP has nothing to do with women’s rights, it has everything to do with attacking the Catholic Church, and that is music to the ear of radical feminists. But it is Frank Bruni, an op-ed columnist for the New York Times, who needs to be answered more than anyone; he loves SNAP.

Bruni notes that “some Catholic leaders have contended” that what drives wide media coverage of the issue of priestly sexual abuse is “an anti-Catholic and anti-religious bias.” Wrong, he says, it’s because of the “magnitude of the violation of trust.” No, sir, it isn’t. If it were, then the Times would be covering the incredible explosion of child sexual abuse by rabbis (in Brooklyn alone, 85 arrests have taken place in the last two years, yet the Times has never reported on any of this). Moreover, the media treat with a yawn the alarming rate of child sexual abuse in the public schools. So what else, if not anti-Catholicism, would be driving the disproportionate coverage? I’m still waiting for the evidence that I am wrong.

Contact our director of communications about Donohue’s remarks:
Jeff Field
Phone: 212-371-3191
E-mail: cl@catholicleague.org

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
This entry was posted in Biased Media Coverage, Brick by Brick, Clerical Sexual Abuse, Dogs and Fleas, Our Catholic Identity, Religious Liberty and tagged , , , , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.

6 Comments

  1. acardnal says:

    Once again my bishop shoots straight arrows.

    Regarding, “In order to be a Catholic, you’ve got to be open to seven Sacraments, not six. [I can see it now. Some proponent of women’s ordination will cherry pick that line and claim that Bp. Morlino is open to all manner of foolishness.]” Although he could be referring to Holy Orders, I think he may be reminding folks that the sacrament of matrimony is between one man and one woman – not Adam and Steve or Adam and Lassie.

  2. acardnal says:

    Oooops! This was meant for the post on Bishop Morlino.

  3. pfreddys says:

    It not just for the purposes of anti-Catholicism. The timing of the whole “scandal” shows that they wanted to take the Church out of the discussion of homosexual “marriage” before the discusssion even began.

  4. acardnal says:

    Regarding THIS post: I can only say “SNAP, Crackle, Pop.”

  5. Dismas says:

    Clearly Bruni is implementing plays 4, 5 and 6 from Saul Alinski’s Rules for Radicals when he defends the media with “it’s because of the “magnitude of the violation of trust.” :

    4. Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules.
    5. Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.
    6. A good tactic is one that your people enjoy.

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