The Catholic League vs. Lewis Black
Daily Show contributor and stand-up comedian Lewis Black debuted his new show Lewis Black’s Root of All Evil last night to generally positive reviews. But there was at least one viewer who was not amused.
For the premiere episode, the subject up for debate was which is more evil: The Catholic Church or Oprah Winfrey. Everyone’s favorite media critic Bill Donahue, president of The Catholic League, was positively incensed at the idea. “The only thing connecting this wild-swinging tirade was hate,” said Donahue in a statement attacking the show.
Unfortunately, his criticisms of Root of All Evil amounted to little more than a tu quoque logical fallacy, essentially justifying the actions of the church in response to allegations of molestation by saying ‘other people are worse,’ and bizarrely claiming that Black is scared to go after radical Islam, which he says is worse than The Inquisition.
Please keep in mind, the quotes below are coming straight from the Catholic League.
“No group in the U.S. sexually molests minors more than public school teachers; their rate is estimated to be 100 times that of Catholic priests. Moreover, the teachers unions still make it near impossible to fire a molesting teacher. Yet it wasn’t the public school industry that was labeled evil by the show, it was the Catholic Church.”
“Radical Muslims behead their enemies, real and contrived, terrorize non-combatants, run planes into buildings, shoot nuns in the back, kidnap and kill bishops, burn churches to the ground, legally murder those who want to convert, but no one associated with Lewis Black’s show has the guts to get them. So instead they rip the Catholic Church for its role during the Inquisition. And that role, if truth be told, was miniscule compared to the role of the civil authorities. Indeed, the role of the Catholic Church back then, as compared to the role of radical Muslims today, was positively angelic.”
Got it kids? Teachers are more likely to molest children than priests, and the Inquisition was nothing compared to what radical Muslims are doing, so why the hell are comedians on a cable channel daring to make fun of us?
I will leave it to readers to rip Donahue to shreds for any factual errors he may have made in those statements
Comedy Central has only broadcast one show, so calling out Black for not tackling the topics is absurd on its face, he will have plenty of other opportunities. And, if I may… it’s a comedy show on a comedy network, not NBC Nightly News.
And yet I can’t shake the feeling that maybe Bill Donahue wants attention, and that by writing this, I am giving that to him.
Oh well, c’est la vie.
(Image: Comedy Central/Evans Ward)
TheDude commented:
"The ultimate hypocrite is not Comedy Central — that's their decision not to show the image of Muhammad or not — it's Parker and Stone. Like little whores, they'll sit there and grab the bucks. They'll sit there and they'll whine and they'll take their shot at Jesus. That's their stock in trade."
So when Trey and Matt try to get into the subject of Islam and are denied by Comedy Central they're little whores?! You just can't win with this guy...
Joe commented:
Like the other reader said, you badly missed the point. If the show had been done about Islam or Judaism, it wouldn't have made the air. But you can attack a religion like Catholicism. There shouldn't be a double standard.
Any show that has Z list comedians making fun of Donald Trump is a snooze anyway, but the hypocrisy should bother anyone. Sorry Alex, but Donahue is right and you are dead wrong. The only reason you see his name so much is because there is so much Catholic bashing in the media. Apparently it's the only religion you can make fun of in a vicious way without worrying about getting blown up or your head chopped off.
And Lewis would never dare have a show, "Which is more evil? Judaism or Nazism?" Or maybe "Which is more evil? Islam or NAMBLA?" Since the show is an absurd farce, why can't we see that debated for laughs?
Babe Lloyd commented:
It seems to me that saying "You accuse us of molesting children, but *they* abuse more children than we do!" does nothing to improve one's image.
T commented:
One more thing... the comparisons between public school molestations and the priest scandal and between the Inquisition and Terrorism, are not meant to excuse the Church. I think he's trying to show how it's not molestation or torture Black has a problem with, it's the beliefs of Catholics. He could attack the Board of Education or Islam, but he doesn't carry personal prejudice toward those institutions (maybe he does, but something's keeping him from speaking out).
T commented:
It doesn't seem to me he's saying "other
people are worse, so you can't make fun of us," as you claim. It seems that he is trying to say that Comedy Central and Lewis Black are hypocrites for attacking the Church when they wouldn't dream of calling Islam the "root of all evil". Comedy Central censored a neutral image of Muhammed out of fear, but they have no problem with attacks on Christianity. Smacks of hypocrisy, no?