Arianna Huffington Pressed to Apologize for Column Calling Catholicism a 'Jesus-Eating Cult'
Socially conservative leaders of several major organizations have together sent a letter to Huffington Post publisher Arianna Huffington demanding that she issue an apology over a column that mocks presidential candidate Rick Santorum and his Roman Catholic faith.
Larry Doyle, who formerly served as a writer and producer for "The Simpsons," is accused by the group of writing "anti-Catholic screed" in his recent Huffington Post column titled, "The Jesus-Eating Cult of Rick Santorum."
"His column should be taken off your site, and you should issue an apology for ever publishing such trash," the letter to Huffington reads.
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The letter, which was posted in its entirety on FoxNews.com, was signed by Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center; Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council; Brian Brown, president of the National Organization for Marriage; Brian Burch, president of Catholic Vote; Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List; and Richard Viguerie, chairman of ConservativeHQ.com.
The letter says that in 2005, when the Huffington Post was started, Huffington told Newsweek that readers won't find "flame-throwing, name-calling, and simplistic attack dog rhetoric" on her site, but those who signed it say that is exactly what Doyle's column consists of.
The column, which was published on Feb. 24 in the Huffington Post's comedy section, says the Roman Catholic church currently serves "as the tactical arm of the North American Man-Boy Love Association."
Referring to communion, Doyle says Catholics "participate in a barbaric ritual...in which a black-robed cleric casts a spell over some bread and wine, transfiguring it into the actual living flesh and blood of their Christ. Followers then line up to eat the Jesus meat and drink his holy blood in a cannibalistic reverie not often seen outside Cinemax."
He also goes on to say that if Rick Santorum becomes the U.S. president, then Pope Benedict XVI will be the true American leader because Santorum takes orders from him. Doyle then calls the Pope "a 'former' Nazi."
After receiving some backlash for his statements, Doyle wrote another piece in which he explains that his column was written as a satire, and his goal was to "take Santorum to task" for things like saying President Barack Obama has a "phony ideology" and for "his assertion that it is impossible to be a Christian and liberal."
"It's traditional at this point for me to half-apologize, to say that I'm sorry if anybody was offended, but I really don't mind if anybody was offended," Doyle wrote. "I hope they will now think twice before they question the faith of progressive Christians, or Mormons or Muslims. I doubt they will."
The conservatives who issued the letter aren't buying Doyle's explanation for the column. They say Huffington should apologize to Catholics everywhere and should have the column removed from the website.
"Bigots like Doyle think they can hurl the most contemptible insults towards Catholics ('Jesus eaters') and when called out, claim it was just a joke. What cowardice. What a double standard," the letter charged. "If such an article was written concerning the Islamic or Jewish faith, the public outcry would be overwhelming, and rightly so. But anti-Catholicism is the last acceptable form of bigotry, and the Huffington Post is taking advantage of that bigotry for all it's worth."
