Human beings are intolerant and cruel. During that era, Catholic and non-Catholic single mothers alike went through that same mill. There are similar stories about public orphanages, public "schools for girls" etc. They just aren't as juicy as when you tell it on nuns.

Abusive people gravitate to positions of power, just as pediphiles go into trades that put them into context with children.

To judge an entire organization based on the actions of a few insane people is wrong in any context be it Catholic, Muslim, Protestant, Republican, Liberal, Communist, etc.

That said...all of us do it at some point.

Anyone who says that they don't is a liar, or totally lacking in self-awareness and introspection. Liberals label conservatives, conservatives label liberals, etc.

It is an unfortunate occurance in the human condition to be petty, illogical and cruel. When you catch yourself you can respond to this within your nature.

I will not judge Mel because the fact is I have labeled and blamed people. I'll confess to labeling Paris Hilton a dumb broad who set back the women's movement a hundred years. Some of it is her actions, and some of it is because she has better shoes than I do. I would be a liar to say it is all her actions that makes me ill. There is a percentage of me who hates her for being wealthy in what I consider an undeserving manner and wish I could take vacations in St. Tropaz.

I've said that Victoria Beckham looks like a cross between a Slim Jim and a lollipop with hair. Do I know her? Is that fair? No, I am jealous she's with that hot pants, David Beckham.

Now, being cruel about anyone is un-Christian, but no one would take a swipe at me for it because they are celebrities. Well, cruel is cruel is cruel.

Yeah, Mel messed up and ran off his mouth while drunk, in an attempt to goad the Jewish police officer. Had he been Muslim, he might have said something anti-Muslim. Had he been Southern he might have made a hillbilly comment. People...he was drunk.

I also want to point out that when the Last Temptation of Christ came out some of the same anti-Passion of the Christ people said "Don't judge a film until you see it"...I KNOW many of the anti-Passion folks never saw the film and were strident about not wanting to give money to it.

We are all hypocrites, all cruel in our own way. We need to recognize it and work on it. There are no exceptions or special treatment that should be given to cruelty. I'll start by saying that Paris Hilton has a pretty face and that Victoria Beckham looks like a good mom.

"what did ole Mel say about women? It does seem like an incomplete piece of journalism if that was left out?"

He called the arresting officer's female partner "Sugartits".

...am I the only person in America who is so tired of seeing/hearing/reading religion everywhere I turn that I could puke?

for the double post..

I'm puking right now.

Okay, since we're hiding anti-Catholic bigotry behind thinly veiled sophistry now, I challenge you to name one other religion that has been subject to so much, ahem, "criticism" and "satire" in movies, songs, plays, celebrity rants, etc. as the Catholic Church has.

Is the Catholic Church the only church that "engages in some rather antiquated notions about sex, gay people and women"? Could not the same be said of many branches of Protestantism and Orthodox Judaism? Name ten movies about Protestant ministers or Orthodox rabbis that present them in the same vicious light that movies about nuns and priests do.

I disagree with the Catholic Church on a whole host of issues. But it is pretty obvious that the Catholic Church is far more frequently the victim of "satire" in Hollywood than any other religion. That's a fact. You can dress it up however you like, but it doesn't make it any less true.

Also, these works do not not qualify as "criticism." They do not take issue with specific Catholic stances. They portray nuns, priests and devout Catholics as out-and-out wackos--frigid, hypocritical, alcoholic, you name it. And the wackos are the benign ones!!

If the playing field is not at least somewhat balanced--if all faiths do not come in for a similar amount of "satire" (and no, I don't mean identical, but at least somewhat similar)--then yes, it smacks of bigotry. And Catholicism is far and away Hollywood's favorite religious target.

"During that era, Catholic and non-Catholic single mothers alike went through that same mill. There are similar stories about public orphanages, public "schools for girls" etc. They just aren't as juicy as when you tell it on nuns."

The difference is, the Catholic church placed itself as the highest and final moral authority, and had everyone believing that they were infallible and no such thing as sin ever crossed the threshold of their buildings.

THAT is why people tell these stories with such zeal. State-run schools did the same thing? Yeah well whatever, what do you expect from a godless bureacracy. But from the Brides of Christ? It's not just the stories of abuse, it's the revelation of an all-encompassing hypocricy, and the realization that just about everything the Church said was a lie.

This piece which equates liberals with the anti-Christ is an incredible piece of crap. That this nation is a Christian nation, just because George Bush and his pseudo Christian whackos calls it so, is garbage. Conservatives (i.e. self righteous bigots) and their phoney value system are similar to the Pharisees that Jesus hated. How does intolerance, hatred and hypocrisy equate with Jesus' teachings? The Jews find themselves in the midst of the Muslim world. That's a fact. Jews are NOT Christians, they are not Buddhists, nor are they Hindus. They are JEWS. If they were Buddhists they would not kill. But like Christians, they like to kill. So much for their crap religious beliefs. This entire piece which places much so much value on Mel Gibson's anti-Semitic rantings, portrays Gibson as another sick, alcoholic Christian whacko. That much seems to be true. So what else is new????