Blasphemy, Lies, Videotape: the Encounter Over AIDS : Public TV: Cardinal Mahony, gay activists and KCET are all less than honest in their positions on ‘Stop the Church.’

As the controversy swirling around KCET’s decision to air the video “Stop the Church” diminishes to a dull roar, we are left with the unmistakable feeling that we have all been snookered and sidetracked.

The film, made by a member of the New York chapter of the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP), chronicles a demonstration against Cardinal John O’Connor at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. The demonstration, organized by ACT UP and Women’s Health Action Mobilization (WHAM!), was intended to draw attention to the Catholic Church’s policies on AIDS, the use of condoms and the right of women to choose contraception and abortions.

The demonstration was disturbing and arguably blasphemous, and the film makes it clear that this was the intent of at least some of the participants. Being offensive was, in their view, the best means of bringing public awareness and discussion to ignored issues.

As people committed to the free expression of ideas and to ending the AIDS epidemic, We offer this advice to the key players in the controversy:

Advice to Cardinal Mahony

Tell the truth. You asserted that the film shows the desecration of the Host, a claim repeated and later retracted by The Times. To put it bluntly, you lied. Although one man reportedly dropped a wafer on the floor, the film does not show that or any other “desecration.” By misrepresenting the film, you seem to seek to inflame passions against it but succeed only in damaging your own credibility.

You characterized the film as “Catholic bashing,” comparing it to the firebombing of synagogues. Nonsense. Criticizing, even ridiculing, the teachings of the Catholic Church in a public demonstration may be distasteful, but comparing it to the burning of Jewish houses of worship is ludicrous.

Admit that the church is not doing all it can to stop the AIDS epidemic. Three years ago, you banned educators from AIDS Project Los Angeles from church property, leaving parishioners with incorrect or inadequate information on AIDS and safer sex. You point to the two hospices run by the archdiocese but fail to understand that providing a comfortable place to die is not enough when you can act to save lives, too.

Acknowledge the political intent and impact of the Catholic Church. There’s nothing wrong with the church having its point of view and exercising political influence. But when it chooses that path, it has to expect and respect political response. The church can’t have it both ways.

Stop the hypocrisy. You, Cardinal Mahony, charged that pressure by ACT UP and its supporters on KCET to air the film was “terrorist-like,” but then conspicuously withdrew your own support from the station for showing the film. You can’t have this both ways, either.

Advice to ACT UP

Tell the truth . Explain the issues straightforwardly and admit that legitimate disagreements with church policy are often intermixed with deeply held anger and resentment toward it. When you mount a political action, keep it political.

Focus carefully. Attacking church policy is very different from attacking an individually held belief, or individual believers. The distinction is often lost in the media and in people’s understanding. “Stop O’Connor” would have been a better theme for the protest than “Stop the Church.”

Remember that being offensive is not necessarily being effective. Offending people is easy. Challenging people to think is hard.

Refine your technique and get back to the work. Our work on sex, sexuality, AIDS and personal freedom is far from over.

Advice to KCET

Tell the truth. Acknowledge that political pressure played a role in your decision to air the film and to package it with commentary. Admit that the public--including gay men, lesbians and people living with AIDS--have a right to expect more from KCET than from commercial TV.

Take a look at your programming. According to statistics released by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, programming on gay, lesbian and AIDS issues amounted to no more than 1% of KCET’s presentations; the biggest portion of that was on AIDS. Gay men and lesbians are at least 10% of the population and probably a much higher proportion of your viewers and subscribers.

Don’t expect the Nobel Prize. You did the right thing by airing the film, but you bobbled in producing a boring discussion and in failing to criticize PBS for pulling it. The waffling leaves mistrust in its wake.

The most distressing aspect of all of this sound and fury is that the film is a sideshow to the real issue: the AIDS policies of the Catholic Church.

It is a known fact that condoms, used properly, block the transmission of HIV, the virus associated with AIDS. Despite this, the church categorically condemns their use while teaching that taking a human life in self-defense is morally acceptable. The perverted message is this: The violent use of a knife or a gun to protect your life or the life of someone you love is perfectly moral; the loving, responsible use of a condom to protect your life or the life of someone you love is a grievous sin.

That message places the lives of those who look to the church for guidance at horrifying risk of contracting a horrifying illness. And in that, at the very least, the church must be stopped.

Gunther Freehill is a former Catholic and a member of ACT UP / LA. Eliseo Acevedo Martinez is personnel director for the AIDS Healthcare Foundation. They both live in Los Angeles.