Contact: Jeff Field, Director of Communications, The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, 212-371-3191
NEW YORK, Nov. 2 /Standard Newswire/ -- Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on Bill Maher's appearance on CNN last night:
Wolf Blitzer asked Bill Maher to discuss the remarks he made last Friday night on his show about Muslims. On his HBO show, Maher expressed concerns about the popularity of naming boys Muhammad in the U.K., noting the high birth rate of Muslims and how this does not bode well for the future. When asked to explain himself, Maher gave a lengthy response, citing his interest in maintaining such Western values as liberty and equality (he either does not know that those values originated with Christianity, or does not want to admit it).
Maher's response to Muslims was eminently fair. But when contrasted with his comments on Catholics, it made him look like a rank hypocrite. The kinds of despicable statements he has made over the years about Catholicism -- trashing Jesus, mocking the Eucharist, ridiculing the pope, portraying all priests as molesters -- demonstrates his duplicity. Even when pressed to explain his "controversial" remarks about Muslims, he showed more respect for Islam than he has ever shown for Catholicism. Indeed, he looked positively defensive last night trying to get this monkey off his back: he is never defensive about discussing his Catholic bashing. Indeed, he usually contributes to it even further when asked to comment.
Contact Maher's HBO producer, Billy Martin: billy.martin@realtimehbo.com