Bill Donohue vs. Penn & Teller September 1, 2009

Bill Donohue vs. Penn & Teller

By Guest Contributor
September 1, 2009

In case you missed it, the seventh season finale of Penn & Teller: Bullshit! aired a few days ago. The topic: The Vatican.

Reasonable Catholics are speaking out against this… and by Catholics, I mean only Bill Donohue. And by reasonable, I mean batshit crazy.

“This was the most Nazi-like assault,” Donohue said. “The most unrelenting half an hour of bashing I’ve ever seen.”

…

“The Nazis couldn’t have done better,” Donohue said in a statement. “Having been in this job for over 16 years, I have never seen a more defamatory, obscene and vicious show on TV.”

Right… because 6,000,000 Jews were killed during the making of that episode.

(If someone has some free time, they should compile a list of Donohue quotations that include the phrase “I have never seen a more…” He says it every time.)

Donohue has a knack for drawing attention to the very things he rails against. So one upside to all this: More people may end up watching this episode than otherwise would!

In the same interview, he also whined about atheists:

… And over the last several decades what we’ve seen is an all-out assault. This kind of new atheism. This militant dogmatic fundamentalist atheism out there to get us.”

Right… Atheists write books and blogs and voice their opinions about the absurdity of Catholic doctrine… Catholics have their own empire in the Vatican City, and membership in the hundreds of millions (if not topping a billion). They suppressed the sex scandals and merely shuttled pedophile priests from one place to another… they are responsible for denying condoms and birth control to so many third-world countries… and we’re the fundamentalist, dogmatic ones?

Who are these 350,000 Catholics that Donohue supposedly represents? You never hear about them…

By the way, it looks like Donohue will also be sending illegally pirated copies of the episode to influential Catholic leaders.

The thought of the Pope watching a show called Bullshit! amuses me to no end.

(Thanks to K for the link!)

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  • Whereas I’ve always got along with individual religious people, I have very large problems with organized religion and dogma. And you can’t get more organized than the Catholic Church, or more dogmatic than an “infallible” Pope. And a boy Nazi Pope at that.

    For Donohue to compare Penn and Teller to the Nazis is a joke beyond jokes as not only is it grossly incorrect, but ignores the part that the Catholic Church played in Nazism, not to mention the vast number of Catholic individuals involved.

  • Todd

    Sic the MPAA on him. He’ll find himself up against someone even more batshit insane than he is. (If we could just get him to download Miley Cyrus with limewire).

  • I’m pretty sure that Donohue is the only member of the Catholic League. His own happy little club.

  • TJ

    If hate-filled nutcases like Donohue are pissed off, then somebody has spoken the truth! I’m watching the episode now. 🙂

  • And to think that this was quite likely the tamest Bullshit! episode ever…

  • Yet, amazingly hilarious for being tame. And incredibly good. Why do I think Penn and Teller wish sometimes they had 2 hours instead of a measly half-hour?

  • Everyone needs to go buy a copy of this episode immediately, and send Donohue a thank-you note for having brought it to their attention.

    And I personally would like to recommend they re-name their organization the League of Extraordinary Catholics. They’re no less ridiculous than the movie.

  • littlejohn

    @Primenumbers: You’re right about all the Catholic Nazis, like, fer example, former choirboy Adolf Hitler. Josef Goebbels was a Catholic, too, until he was excommunicated. Not for killing millions of Jews mind you, but for have the temerity to marry a Protestant!
    Is there no limit to Donohue’s douchebaggery?
    And correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t that the first Bullshit not to feature nekkid women? Otherwise, it was pretty entertaining.

  • I listened to the episode and saw that it was a bit one-sided. They didn’t give the other side a chance to say on tape that “God hates fags” or “God hates condoms” or “God hates people thinking for themselves”. But as they said, the Catholic Church has been “on-message” with this for quite some time.

  • The bible bullshit episode is arguably better though.

    Donahue is a quack. Apparently, Catholics are infallible. Remember when Kathy Griffin schooled him? Why he mixes it up with comedians is beyond belief. These people make tons of money making fun of idiots like him. Going toe-to-toe with them is the equivalent of someone like me getting into the boxing ring with Mike Tyson and thinking I have a chance to make it 3 rounds and winning.

  • Gabriel

    Wasn’t the current pople a former member of the Hitler youth? Didn’t Pope Innocent ally the church witht the nazis? Maybe Donahue is praising Bullshit.

  • billybee

    I guess I’ll now have to forgive Penn Gillette for his little “cuddle-up” with Glenn Beck…
    Oh Penn !! How can I possibly stay mad at     you…?

  • TJ

    I find it quite typical that these nimrods didn’t bother to argue any of the points raised. They just use the usual cliched statements of outrage and that’s the end.

    Perhaps it’s because they have no legitimate side and they can’t defend themselves, other than through bullying people into silence.

  • Citizen Z

    … And over the last several decades what we’ve seen is an all-out assault. This kind of new atheism. This militant dogmatic fundamentalist atheism out there to get us.”

    “Yeah, what is with these atheists? It’s like the Spanish Inquisition!”

  • I don’t particularly care for Penn Jillette, I think he’s an abrasive prick, but he tends to be right about certain things.

    Also, anyone who makes Bill Donohue piss himself with rage gets at least a nod of respect.

  • BC

    Uh-oh! Copyright bores attacking free speech again. Ugh.

    Go here.

    Watch copyright bores play whack-a-mole. Hilarious!

  • Shannon

    Oh my. I just realized all this time I thought we were talking about PHIL Donahue, lol!

    I keep chasing this video and it keeps getting pulled. The link I saw last night is gone and the one on this post is now gone. For now it’s here http://vimeo.com/6337117

  • Shannon

    “I think he’s an abrasive prick, but he tends to be right about certain things.”

    Ditto. And, you know, abrasive pricks can be pretty funny 😉

  • Shannon

    Crap, my link is now dead! I just finished re-watching it and now it’s gone again!

  • BC

    This is working (for now).

  • I wonder what Mr. Donahue would think of what Louis CK learned about the catholic church…

    (via Cycle Ninja)

  • Tom
  • Stephen P

    I’m pretty sure that Donohue is the only member of the Catholic League.

    If you check their site they do have a board of directors, and some of them do say something from time to time. But yes, Donohue does seem to make more noise than the rest put together. I wonder what the other directors actually think of him?

  • Epistaxis

    By the way, it looks like Donohue will also be sending illegally pirated copies of the episode to influential Catholic leaders.

    Didn’t you just link to an illegal pirated copy of the episode on your blog?

  • Siamang

    Didn’t you just link to an illegal pirated copy of the episode on your blog?

    Epitaxis nails it.

  • 10 plus, thanks for the love.

    BTW: On the question of calling Ratzinger a “Nazi Pope.” Bill Maher got gigged by the Catholic League for that, too. And he actually admitted it was a mistake for two reasons. First, Ratz-fink was a member of the Hitler Youth, which was a far cry from being a member of the Nazi Party (and he was about 14 at the time, too). Second, it distracts from the fact that had the child-fucking scandals been perpetrated by anyone OTHER than the Catholic Church, its leader would have been in jail long ago. Hold them accountable for their ACTIONS, not their sketchy group affiliations.

  • Whenever I hear or read of “outraged Catholics” they turn out to be Bill Donohue. I’ve not heard other Catholics say anything like “Yeah, Bill Donohue represents our views.”

    I’m waiting for the Vatican’s response to P&T. I have a feeling it will be amusing.

  • Regarding the video being pulled, I recommend to Firefox users the indispensable free plugin “DownloadHelper” which will take most streaming video and download it to hard disk for viewing at leisure.

  • Stephen P

    First, Ratz-fink was a member of the Hitler Youth, which was a far cry from being a member of the Nazi Party (and he was about 14 at the time, too).

    On the one hand, the Hitler Youth was not at all a far cry from the Nazi Party: it was set up as training-ground for the Nazi Party and the SS. On the other hand, membership was later made compulsory; if it is true that Ratzinger joined involuntarily he should not be criticised for his membership.

    On the third hand* his background makes Donohue’s Nazi comments even more tasteless and stupid than would otherwise be the case, and it is perfectly fair to point this out.

    On the fourth hand, this …

    Second, it distracts from the fact that had the child-fucking scandals been perpetrated by anyone OTHER than the Catholic Church, its leader would have been in jail long ago.

    … is a very good point.

    * sometimes I wish I was born as a spider monkey.

  • Stephen P:

    If Ratzinger joined voluntarily or not isn’t the issue: his age at the time was clearly under an age of consent, therefore the membership shouldn’t be held against him.

    His age when he wrote his decree in the early 21st century, placing the results of any investigations of child-rape under Papal seal, is unquestionable, his actions execrable, and should be denounced out at every opportunity.

  • Proof that Godwin’s Law is a virus. It has spread past the internet.

  • TXatheist
  • flawedprefect

    I never pay attention to quoted statistics about how many Catholics there are in the world, because sadly, I count as one. I am non-practicing, I consider myself non-theist, but because I was baptized, went to a Catholic school, etc, I count. Think of how many others are out there like me: Atheist, Agnostic, yet still on the books. De-baptism is not recognized everywhere, and excommunication involves acts which usually conflict with honest moral behavior (assassinate a Pope?!)

    So for every Bill Donohue, there are thousands of Irish and Roman Catholics having a great laugh at “Bullshit” getting everything they are talking about.

    Go Penn & Teller!

  • medussa

    I think I saw several links posted above, but just in case they don’t work: I just watched the episode here.

  • Neal O
  • jamssx

    This was a great episode. Unfortunately 1/2 an hour was not enough to really cover all the crap the Catholic Church gets up to. It’s amazing how little Catholics know about the tricksters that run the system they are affiliated to. How little of the money raised goes to helping people. This isn’t even a question of believing in a god or not, this is a corrupt system that needs to have its wings clipped. (Though I have to add to be fair most other churches especially in the mega church belt are not any better!)

  • jamssx

    Oh yes and it makes me glad I went to see their Vegas show… 😉

  • thilina

    Catholics are so quick to bring up the Nazi comparisons (i guess the pope should know a few things about the subject).

    btw loved that episode of Bullshit!, Thank you Penn and Teller (and the producers of the show) for having the balls to do that.
    From article:

    declaring that “militant, dogmatic” atheists are “out to get” Catholics and dismantle American society.

    When atheists start causing half the kind of damage and suffering the catholic church causes (child molestation, gay rights, birth control, etc.(and that’s just the stuff happening now and the stuff we know about)), then Donohue can go on with his rants about how the church is a victim.

  • gribblethemunchkin

    I love Penn and Teller (although i think politically they are very much on the opposite side of the fence from me) and Bullshit has always been a great show.

    I loved the show they did on Gandhi, Mother Theresa and The Dalai Lama. Not necessarily because it told me the real deal about them (as always, to quote Ben Goldstein “Its a bit more complicated than that”) but because it showed that even these supposed paragons of virtue were only fallible humans.

    As for Bill Donohue, I’m surprised the man hasn’t had a heart attack yet given how much rage he seems to continually generate.

    Also, what is Bill going to do if Atheists start bombing churches and murdering priests? Bill already calls us Nazi like militants. He is going to have to come up with even stronger language if we actually DO become nazi like militants. Whats more vicious than nazi like militants.

    Maybe we should try to establish a ground rule that all atheists on TV shows with Bill Donohue refer to him only as a “Blood drinking cannibal pedophile”. The blood drinking cannibal bit can be fairly easily established by catholic mass and as for pedophile we can simply say Bill is in league with the catholic church, an organisation which harbours and shelters pedophiles from justice. That could be quite a laugh.

  • Donohue’s rhetoric about Nazis is ironic given the facts that Hitler was a right wing Catholic and that the Catholic Church was aligned with Hitler during his rise to power and during WWII.

  • You poor pathetic mob, The Roman Catholic has done nothing but state the truth. Catholics are free to seek other religious practices that may be more aligned to their personal beliefs, if they find themselves outside Catholic Doctrine.
    You are all so brave as to lampoon the Church, not so brave when it comes to doing the same to the followers of Islam. Let’s see Penn & Teller do an HBO Show on assaulting the tenants of Islam. Are they brave enough? Easy to pick on a group that isn’t going to fight back.

  • cypressgreen

    Easy to pick on a group that isn’t going to fight back.

    Uh, I think Bill Donohue shows they DO fight back.

    Catholics are free to seek other religious practices…if they find themselves outside Catholic Doctrine.

    You’re right, it’s called “excommunication” and “heresy”.

    You are all so brave as to lampoon the Church, not so brave when it comes to doing the same to the followers of Islam.

    When some followers of Islam start interfering with my rights in the USA, you can bet I’ll do so.

  • Father Time

    “Let’s see Penn & Teller do an HBO Show on assaulting the tenants of Islam.”

    Ok stop demanding the show be canceled and it just might happen.

    Islam has so little influence in American life that I doubt it’ll happen.

    Although it’s kind of funny. Don’t pick on us pick on the violent fundy crazies over there.

    Oh and if Bill thinks the episode was brutal he clearly doesn’t watch the show too much. If you want to see a real brutal episode watch their one on PETA (which they actually call violent and crazy).

  • Sorry, but Donohue, in my opinion, is a media whore and loser, who only comes out onto TV to be shocked and enraged by stuff. There’s enough of a hierarchy to Holy Mother Church that it doesn’t need a grandstanding buffoon to show up on Fox News.