from a Press Release by the Catholic League on Religious and Civil Rights… Dateline: May 31, 2007 THE VIEW'S CATHOLIC OBSESSION CONTINUES On ABC's The View today, Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and guest co-host Whoopi Goldberg criticized the actions of a Catholic priest in Wisconsin. Having learned that his volunteer organist/choir director was selling sex toys, the pastor advised the woman that the products she peddled were incompatible with Catholic teaching. When she refused to quit her sales job, the priest removed her from her volunteer position. During the discussion, Behar said, She is selling [the sex toys] to married couples, which the Catholic Church wants you to procreate. How do they think we have been doing it all these years? With sex toys, that's how. Goldberg asserted that the woman now can't get a spiritual advisor because she has a different way of doing things. Walters reinforced Goldberg's notion by asking, Why can't someone who is a hooker at night¦on Sunday go to whatever church or temple and try to get spiritual? Hasselbeck questioned the merit of probing into your private life in terms of how well you can do your job or keep your job. Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented on the episode today:
Here we go again. This is the fifteenth incident since September where The View' has revealed its overwhelming obsession with all things Catholic. The panelists' disregard for the truth is bad enoughfor instance, there is no report of the woman being denied spiritual advice, or even the sacraments, because of the nature of her jobbut what is especially appalling is the co-hosts' intrusion into the internal matters of the Church. Clergy of all religions make judgments about the moral propriety of their employees every day, without attracting any attention. Yet when a Catholic priest does it, the ladies of The View' launch into a sophomoric rant questioning his right to run his parish as he sees fit. It has only been a matter of days since The View's' leading bigot, Rosie O'Donnell, left the show. Yet the assault goes on. The co-hosts will use any excuse to rip into the Church, even if they have to play fast and loose with the facts to do so. Thus we see that the true culprit isn't Rosie, it is co-owner and co-producer Barbara Walters. She's the captain of this anti-Catholic ship.
The View has consistently proposed bigoted and slanderous rhetoric against the Catholic Church and against her ministers. Technically this is a form of blasphemy (emphasis is mine):
(CCC) 2148 Blasphemy is directly opposed to the second commandment. It consists in uttering against God – inwardly or outwardly – words of hatred, reproach, or defiance; in speaking ill of God; in failing in respect toward him in one’s speech; in misusing God’s name. St. James condemns those who blaspheme that honorable name [of Jesus] by which you are called. The prohibition of blasphemy extends to language against Christ’s Church, the saints, and sacred things. It is also blasphemous to make use of God’s name to cover up criminal practices, to reduce peoples to servitude, to torture persons or put them to death. The misuse of God’s name to commit a crime can provoke others to repudiate religion. Blasphemy is contrary to the respect due God and his holy name. It is in itself a grave sin.
The View and its talent are blasphemers and thus committing grave sin. Ultimately the responsibility for this blasphemous hate-mongering and bigoted TV show belongs to ABC. Contact ABC executive Anne Sweeney at 818-569-7700. ABC, Inc. 500 S. Buena Vista Street Burbank, CA 91521-4551 (818) 460-7477 Contact Barbara Walters, co-owner of THE VIEW Feedback to Audience Relations ~~these URLs are webforms. Be sure to copy your letter in notepad or by other means before clicking on the SUBMIT button. The ABC webform only 500 characters, so be brief and to the point. Here is this writer’s letter to Barbara Walters:
Dear Miss Walters: As co-owner and talent on THE VIEW, it is your responsibility to stop this bigoted attack upon the Catholic Church. This is way over the top and has become no different than watching KKK wizards talking about blacks. Stop it! Have the integrity and decency to stop it.