Posted on 05/25/2005 4:57:31 PM PDT by wagglebee
When shareholders of media conglomerate Viacom show up for their annual meeting tomorrow, they'll face the wrath of Catholic League President Dr. William Donahue over a shocking Showtime episode that slandered the late Mother Teresa and her order of nuns in the vilest of terms.
According to Donahue, who plans a press conference in front of the hotel in New York City where the Viacom meeting is being held, an episode of Showtime's Penn and Teller show "Holier Than Thou” was a "Nazi-like assault on Catholicism, and on the person the show calls "Mother F***ing Teresa.” Showtime is owned by Viacom.
Stormed Donahue, "In the 12 years that I have been president of the Catholic League, I have never witnessed a more vicious attack on Catholicism than what appeared this week on the Showtime program, ‘Penn and Teller.’ The episode, ‘Holier Than Thou,’ was a frontal assault on Mother Teresa and her order of nuns, Missionaries of Charity (as well as Gandhi and the Dali Lama).
"Like most Americans, I like parodies and have no problem, per se, with irreverent humor. But when humor becomes insult, that is a different story. And that is what happens here: comedy quickly morphs to vitriol. Indeed, as the show progresses, the level of anger becomes palpable and the degree of distortion becomes mindboggling. This is no comedy—it is Nazi propaganda right out of the Leni Riefenstahl school of filmmaking.
"The Mother Teresa that the world has come to love and revere is made to look like a cruel, exploitative, self-serving nun who ripped off the poor. We are told that Mother Teresa intentionally let the poor suffer, providing neither beds nor bathroom facilities. ‘She had the f***ing coin and pissed it away on nunneries,’ says Penn. As for the nuns who worked with Mother Teresa, they are referred to as ‘f***ing c***s.’
"It does not bother me when they call me ‘Catholic Boy’ on the show (though the term ‘Jew Boy’ would never cross their lips), nor does it concern me when they talk about ‘f**ers like Bill Donohue [who] only see good in her.’ But when they mock the Catholic Church’s teaching on the meaning of suffering, and when they say of the poor that ‘They had to suffer so that Mother F***ing Teresa could be enlightened,’ then they are behaving like monsters.
"We will mail a tape of select portions of this broadcast to many interested parties, including the bishops. And we will hold a press conference tomorrow outside the hotel where Viacom is holding its annual stockholders meeting. They haven’t heard the end of this yet.”
Donohue, who will be joined by some Catholic League staff members, said he will answer any questions following a few remarks. He promised that copies the Catholic League news release on this subject, "Mother F***ing Teresa—Courtesy of Viacom,” will be distributed to Viacom shareholders as they enter the hotel.
Amen to that.
Simple, the show was about how so many people spend their lives adoring the "holier than thou" folks. They did a bit on Ghandi, Mother Theresa, and the funniest segment was where they did a bit on the extremely nutcase fans of Clay Aiken (a false "Idol").
I winced a bit watching the show, but you know what? There is free speech in this country, views like that are allowed, thank God they are!
Wow, I'm speechless. My God!
I know. Do you remember that just the day before Mother Theresa died, Michael Douglas was on either Leno or David Letterman's show, and he was commenting about the hysteria in Britain and said, "If Mother Theresa were to die would she get this much attention?"
And we got the answer to that the next day.
It was surreal. I remember watching Elton John play "Candle in the Wind" at Princess Di's funeral and thinking, "this is like a bad episode of the Simpsons!" It was so utterly ridiculous.
Hitchens has his personal demons to contend with. He's a devout atheist, which means he can't stand the idea that anyone else can have a religious belief. He must try and tear them down because their faith offends him, most particularly if they're Christian.
Mother Teresa was greatly beloved in India, the majority Hindu country that she served so many years in. The Indians have never called her a fraud, even the Hindus loved her dearly and that should be enough proof for anyone.
I agree with your views on free speech. I think the answer to speech that one finds offensive is more speech! And that's precisely why I am here now venting and why I support anyone who wants to picket the hell out of Viacom. And for that matter, anyone who wants to make fun of the incredible poor taste of these two idiots Pen and Whatever. I never found these two buffoons remotely funny.
LLB is young, and difficult as it might be to believe, her comment on this thread are not her worst or her most foolish or her ugliest.
I see LLB has apologized (sort of), not that it matters to me. Her opinions are often off the mark. She lacks manners. Pity.
Thank God for free speech, indeed! Now let's see them do a show ripping Mohammed and Allah some new ones. That's free speech, and since they've knocked Christians and Hindus, they should be fair and go after Muslims.
And you and I both know that they won't.
Free speech, be damned, they're scared of the Muslims, but it's safe for those chickenshiites to kick a dead Mother Teresa.
Vent all you want! I watched the show, didn't agree with everything, but was entertained by it. You can speak up to Showtime with your disgust, I will tell them the opposite.
Its an interesting show, the language and crudidty aside, you might enjoy it, they target what they see as BS from the left and the right and are pretty even handed. The show is about their opinion, and is not an open forum for all sides. Its much like talk radio, but with swear words.
BTW, the first and second seasons of the show are out on DVD now, so you can buy them, or rent them.
I've never liked P&T. This is vile. I can't believe this passes as entertainment. Many of us here wouldn't watch it or find it amusing if we did. But so many others will and will allow themselves to be influenced by it, much to the detriment of us all. Just like Nazi propaganda films.
There is nothing that horrifies and offends an atheist more than a saint because saintly people with their selfless nobility cannot be explained with God.
Mother Teresa was greatly beloved in India, the majority Hindu country that she served so many years in. The Indians have never called her a fraud, even the Hindus loved her dearly and that should be enough proof for anyone.
Of course she was. I have seen pseudo-Hindu/Buddhist gurus come to La Jolla and charge rich shallow limousine liberals $50 to hug them (literally -- just to hug them!), meanwhile it takes a nun from Albania to care for the sick and helpless on the streets of Calcutta! So who do you think the average Hindu is going to respect more?
Actually, I hope they do a show on Scientology, that is where you have to worry about being attacked and sued!
Ask them do to a show about Muslims, they do a great job skewering all religions and kooky new agers.
I won't watch. My time is too valuable to waste on trash.
Surreal sums it up. The "outpouring of grief" seemed to take a media life of it's own. It's hard to describe it. And Diana's brother gave his self-righteous eulogy when he was treating his own wife far worse than Charles had ever treated Diana. Crazy....
And while many Saints performed miracles while alive, many did not perform miracles in the traditional sense but lived holy lives and some, by their actions made life better for those around them. Some performed no known miracles and lived cloistered lives of prayer, the miracles or benefits thereof will not be known now.
I don't watch them either, but caught part of their act somewhere on a TV special. They occasionally do guest spots on sitcoms. I find them creepy.
You are a day late and a dollar short. Read the tagline.
Well said. Mother Teresa is an inspiration to us all.
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