Mahony Responds to Rosenberg

I read in utter disbelief Howard Rosenberg’s Sept. 16 column in which he attempted to demonstrate that it’s just fine to “bash Catholics” in the controversial “Stop the Church” film, but don’t try “bashing Jews” in “Animated Stories From the New Testament.”

His original column on “Stop the Church” on Aug. 14 tries to say--almost with a yawn--that taking after everything sacred in Catholic belief, practice and worship is just fine; don’t be timid, KCET.

What is most incredible in his Aug. 14 article is this sentence: “ ‘Stop the Church’ attacks the church as a political institution, not as a religious institution.” That is preposterous. If a church leader were testifying at some local government or congressional hearing on HIV/AIDS, possibly I could have accepted his statement.

But this awful, bigoted film attacks our very basic Catholic beliefs, our faith practices and our worship. The reason ACT UP is so upset with us is precisely because we proclaim God’s revelation as found in both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Christian Scriptures, not because of any so-called “political” views. Our Catholic teachings on human morality and ethics deal with human behavior, not with any legislative or political agenda.

Then on Aug. 30, Rosenberg attacked with vigor a set of videos on the New Testament, with almost twice as much space, precisely because he felt that the Jewish people/faith are being improperly characterized. Mind you, no one said a negative word on the videos--he just didn’t like the way the characters “looked.”

Rosenberg definitely has double standards, and as long as it is not “Jew-bashing,” any other kind of “ethnic or religious-bashing” is just fine with him and should be featured on television.