The Mugging Of St. Patrick`s (The Jewish Press re: the "Opie and Anthony" show)

The Jewish Press ^ | 8/21/2002 | Editors

[veronica]

The controversy over what Loretta Lynn Harper and Brian Florence did or did not do in St. Patrick`s Cathedral last week as part of a WNEW radio "shock jock" promotion will doubtless be played out at the Federal Communications Commission and in the NYC Criminal Court.

But the extra-legal dimension to the story is far more compelling.

A complaint has been filed by the Catholic League with the FCC, which is responsible for enforcing laws banning "obscene, indecent or profane" material, over allegations that, by prearrangement, the station broadcast Harper and Florence engaged in a lewd act several feet from worshippers.

Harper and Florence have also been criminally charged with "public lewdness," and are currently each out on $500 bail. Paul Mercurio, a producer of the "Opie and Anthony" show which broadcast the episode, was charged with "acting in concert with public lewdness" for providing live, on-air commentary via cell phone.

Yet, whether they are all guilty as charged — Harper`s and Florence`s lawyer said the two were only simulating — is really beside the point in the larger scheme of things.

The radio show involved has long been notorious for its foul-mouthed, obscene programming and is but one example of a disturbing genre that has been allowed to embed itself throughout the media.

There is now little that is not fair game. And this sort of thing sells, big time.

How we got to this point is, of course, complicated. But it is clear that where we are is reflective of the notion that there are no transcendent standards and any talk of decency is just so much babble.

All norms are the product of the human mind which precludes even the thought of something properly held sacred and beyond the reach of human tinkering.

Intellectually, all activity is deemed impersonal and reducible to a primal physical essence.

Thus, most anything goes, especially, as in the assault on St. Patrick`s, in the name of mocking traditional morality.

[Robert A Cook PE]

Where the h*ll do you get the impression that catholics don't care about the homosexual assaults on teenagers by homosexual priests?

There are millions of disgusted, mad, irritated and fed-up Catholics about these incidents....

But you (and the national anti-Catholic/pro-abortion) press doesn't want to mention that.

[DBtoo]

I agree. Some things in life should be sacred.

[AdA$tra]

They'll be rehired someplace soon.

All depends on whether the FCC pulls their licenses.

[Between the Lines]

Doesnt this stink of hypocracy here the catholics dont seem to have a big problem with child molesters as priests.

Most Catholics (spelled with a capitol "C") do have a big problem with pedophile priests, it is the church hierarchy that prefers to take care of it themselves and keep it out of the criminal courts.

But yet these same hypocrites demand vengenance from the government.

Wrong. It is the Catholic League that filed the complaint with the FCC and the same Catholic League has filed complaints with the several dioceses in regards to the abuser priests and the lack of action on the part of the dioceses. I see no hypocrisy in either of these actions.

[AdA$tra]

What hypocracy? We are dealing with the problems in the Church in front of God and everyone. My Archbishop is one of eight that has called for a Plenary Council to further deal with the issue. There is no excuse for the actions of the few priests we are talking about or with the Bishops that failed to deal with it. However, it does not compare to the willful pre-conspired acts of these shock jocks, their management or the "contestants." I, for one, wish they would have tried it in a mosque. Great nominiees for the darwin awards if they had.

[scratchgolfer]

George McGovern took the Democratic party to the lunatic left and things have never been the same. His anti-war position gave aid and comfort to the Village Voice crowd, the anything goes sleep-around druggie types who infested this country with filth.

[catonsville]

I also thought about their being hired somewhere else.

If so, then the good people must get angry again. Where ever these fools show up, and it will be a major market, we make the protests louder, more damning than before. We scream , we holler, we boycott.
And it will work.

We must not forget

[Desdemona]

Just to add a little to the outrage here:

We Catholics DO have a problem with priests molesting teen-age boys, just as we have a problem with the bishops that cover up. Not all bishops did this, in fact, more dioceses than not, have been laicizing such priests regularly for the last 15-20 years. You just don't hear about it.

Furthermore, if you aren't Catholic you wouldn't know this, but August 15 is a Holy Day of Obligation. It is one of the most sacred days of the year (Feast of the Assumption). I've read accounts that this action took place during Mass. Even if the public lewdness and disgrace of doing something so vile in a church, ANY church, weren't an issue, disturbing Mass on a Holy Day, let alone any other, is just beyond rude.

[gdani]

They'll be rehired someplace soon.

All depends on whether the FCC pulls their licenses

It's the *station* that has the license, not the DJ(s).

[Malesherbes]

It has nothing to do with the Catholic Church or hierarchy. It would have been equally offensive if it had taken place in a Jewish synagogue or a Protestant chapel...or for that matter, on the lawn of your local courthouse.

[Orangedog]

First, what these people did was just plain wrong. And it would appear that the parties involved have been dealt with or will be in short order.

That being said, what the Hell did the Catholic Church expect when they refuse to clean their own house? Yes, what the radio morons did was (to say the least) disrespectful. But how much respect can anyone have for a church that will not excommunicate the pedophiles and assist the police 110% to see that they are punished? ( I mean "church" as in the Catholic church as a whole, not this one particular building).

Cardinal Law needs to go. The current Pope needs to retire. The Pope is not able to lead due to his age and poor health. Law abused the trust that his position gave him.

Somehow, I don't think Anus and Acne would have even considered pulling this particular stunt if it wasn't for the mess that the Catholic church has allowed to be hidden under their own roof.

[E Rocc]

I also thought about their being hired somewhere else.

If so, then the good people must get angry again. Where ever these fools show up, and it will be a major market, we make the protests louder, more damning than before. We scream , we holler, we boycott.

And we'll yell louder, and mock the hell out of the holier-than-thous (which they hate more than anything else) and each and every one of them had better not have any skeletons in their closets. The companies that advertise on shows like O&A don't sell much to prudes anyway, but just in case we'll make sure they know that caving into pressure will hurt them more than standing firm.

In the major cities, the puritans just about always end up losing fights like this, otherwise Howard Stern would be someone no one's ever heard of instead of as big as he's gotten. It's just a matter of making it an actual fight.

Censorship cannot be allowed to stand.

-Eric

[hellinahandcart]

Wow, how very original. No one but YOU has brought up the priest scandal in the eight days since this story broke. What a deep thinker you are, and how quick to make connections.

Why don't you really go for broke and astonish the multitudes with more pearls of wisdom and insight, along the lines of "Sex between consenting adults is a natural and inherently beautiful thing, I'd rather my children were exposed to THAT than violence".

You see, I don't think anyone's heard that one before either.

[fporretto]

what the Hell did the Catholic Church expect when they refuse to clean their own house?

The Church is not the clergy, but the billions of communicants to whom it is the Mystical Body of Christ. The clergy is supposed to serve the Church, not use it as a private playground for sodomy and dissolution. To say "the Church" won't clean house is to imply that the clergy has tainted the communicants by its actions. This is demonstrably untrue; the communicants are outraged beyond their power to express. I'm here to tell you; I'm one such.

Please see also:

Isolating The Issue

Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit the Palace Of Reason: http://palaceofreason.com

[justshutupandtakeit]

McGovern had nothing to do with the cultural revolution you complain of and, in fact, was ridiculed by the radical left at the time. He had his faults and would have been a terrible president (worse than Ford or Carter I doubt though) but you cannot truthfully lay hippyish ideas at his doorstep. It just ain't so. He wasn't pushing dope, free love, macrobiotic diets or the Jefferson Airplane.

[gcruse]

How we got to this point is, of course, complicated.

'Yuh hear that, Hill?  Ah tole you ah wuz a complicated guy.'

'Shut up, dillhole, and get back in your own bed.'

[lasereye]

All depends on whether the FCC pulls their licenses.

Do they pull individual licenses? I thought that was only the radio station.

[3AngelaD]

This is for OrangeDog, too. I agree with much of what you said, but fporretto has articulated very well what I didn't do a very good job of saying. I am one of those offended communicants, too. I am glad the radio people (and I use the word loosely) were fired, and I hope the people who actually committed this sacrilege get fired from their jobs as well. Did anybody ever say where they work?

[Aquinasfan]

Intellectually, all activity is deemed impersonal and reducible to a primal physical essence.

That's what makes this crime so profoundly disturbing.