Here we go again. Prepare to be shocked, appalled — even offended! — by another attack on Christians, namely Catholics, by none other than pope hater Sinead O’Connor. I’m just kidding about being offended; it’s obvious she’s screaming for attention (killing the pope? bet it took her a few weeks to think up that one) and, unfortunately for her, this article won’t just be about her but all of Hollywood. Sorry, Sinead.
What the formerly relevant singer said is not surprising, but then again, it’s never surprising to hear a celebrity disparaging Christianity. Remember this gem from Rosie O’Donnell?
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I have news for Hollywood. It’s not risque to attack Christians, and it’s long been a cliché even for our side to say it’s overdone. If you want to be risque, attack Islam, atheists, or agnostics. My husband is a cradle Catholic (meaning raised Catholic), and he says most of these attacks just roll off his back. Most don’t offend or bother him anymore because it’s simply become the norm. But that doesn’t mean it should be ignored or criticism should be spared for trite offense-mongering like Lady Gaga’s “Alejandro” video.
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If you don’t want to watch the video, I understand. Lady Gaga is dressed in a blood red habit and swallows a rosary. This desecration of the rosary is offensive to Catholics because of our veneration (not worship) of Mary, mother of God. The director of the video claims Lady Gaga just wanted to take in the Holy. As a lifelong Catholic, Miss Gaga should know better than that, and if she wanted to “take in the Holy,” there are ways of doing it that won’t cause as many digestive problems, like attending Mass and taking Communion.
Anyway, this scene is interspersed with shots of her in a white robe with crosses on it, an obvious take on the Catholic Saint Joan of Arc. Her male dancers are all over her and she eventually can’t resist so she turns around, rips off the robe, and lets the men sexually devour her. Joan of Arc was a brave woman and has become a very popular and well-loved saint in the Catholic church. To use her imagery in this way is in inexcusably poor taste, not to mention completely unnecessary. There are no lyrics in the song to justify its video’s blatant disrespect for Catholicism.
Beyond the music world, Christian-bashing extends to television both on and offscreen. If you haven’t read Ben Shapiro’s book Primetime Propaganda, buy it now. In his chapter “The Clique,” he brings up Patricia Heaton, an incredibly talented actress who also happens to be conservative and a devout Christian. Mark Harris, a former executive editor of shows like “The Office,” expected to hate “The Middle” because Heaton was its star. Of course, since Ms. Heaton is a conservative, that means the show has to be conservative, right? Wrong! Mr. Shapiro also reveals that in 2006, Kathy Griffin did an interview with the National Enquirer (because when you want to be taken seriously that’s where you go for an interview) and said Ms. Heaton grosses her out because she says it’s not in the Bible gays should not be together, and “those are pieces of information I can’t forget about.” Mr. Shapiro correctly states Ms. Heaton has never said anything about gay marriage.
And Hollywood’s distaste for Christianity carries over to the big screen, as shown in this article about the movie 2012. One of the film’s characters, the Italian Prime Minister, is shown as foolish because his reaction to global natural disasters is prayer. We all know praying is stupid and doesn’t work! Then, director Roland Emmerich portrays the destruction of Christian symbols around the world. First the Sistine Chapel, then St. Peter’s Basilica falls on the faithful in St. Peter’s square (See? Praying doesn’t work), and finally the famous Christ the Redeemer’s statue in Brazil. But wait! The Muslims praying at Kaaba (the heart of Mecca) miraculously don’t see their holy site destroyed! That’s because Emmerich was talked out of it by his co-writer because of the Fatwa issued on the Danish cartoonists who satirized Mohammed. But Emmerich has justified destroying Christian symbols because he’s against organized religion. Isn’t Islam an organized religion? Of course other famous landmarks could have easily been destroyed, but they weren’t shown. That’s because in Hollywood, it’s still somehow considered edgy, politically incorrect, and crazy to attack Christians, despite all the decades it’s already been done to excess.
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And social media has given Hollywood bigots a brand-spanking new platform for insulting their audience. Just last week, actor David Krumholtz took to Twitter to attack Christians, mainly Mormons and Catholics (surprise, surprise!). He’s upset because the Parents Television Council called for the cancellation of his show “The Playboy Club” because it degrades women. The PTC said not everything they talk about is reported (which is true). Mr. Krumholtz, devoid of any justification for “The Playboy Club”‘s objectification of women, claimed the PTC should also call out the Mormon and Catholic faiths for their many years of degrading women. Um, what? How would their organization — centered around television content — be better off cleaning up these faiths? Mr. Krumholtz changed his tone when Jay Caruso asked how the Catholic faith degrades women. Krumholtz instead brought up another red herring, the sexual abuse cases in the Catholic church.
Allow me to pause and provide a tidbit of education for Mr. Krumholtz. The Catholic Church has addressed the sexual abuse cases he referred to and is working extremely hard to make sure it never happens again. But why judge the entire Catholic faith on those few sick, disgusting men who did those awful things to innocent children? There are far more good priests and Catholics than bad ones, yet Krumholtz, bitter about his show’s lackluster ratings (it has since been cancelled), couldn’t help but overlook that obvious fact for some cheap haranguing.
Consider this social media episode compared to how liberal Hollywood gets upset when people make judgments about Islam based on individuals who did awful things to innocent civilians. Somehow, it’s okay to make absolute judgments on a Christian faith based on a few bad seeds but not Islam? Got it. Last time I checked, Islamic cultures are also very degrading towards women. At least Catholics and Mormons don’t stone women to death for being raped or whip them for driving cars.
All these examples go to show, if you’re an up-and-coming entertainer, you can be truly controversial if you attack Islam, atheists or agnostics, or maybe — just maybe — declare your love for Jesus. However, if you wish to work your way into the industry’s upper echelons, it appears you must conform to the ingrained, cowardly hatred for Christendom that’s defined Hollywood for decades.
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