The Fundamentals of Extremism: The Christian Right in America

By Ed Buckner and Herb Silverman

On September 11, 2001, Americans witnessed horrific carnage inspired by religious extremism. We saw religious fundamentalists will stop at nothing to reign terror on those they regard as their enemies.  In our response, we began to focus on the oppressive treatment of women and children in other parts of the world where religious fundamenta

• Language: English
• Publisher: Green Grove Press
• Release date: Jan 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9780972549653

Book preview

THE FUNDAMENTALS OF EXTREMISM

The Christian Right in America

Edited by Kimberly Blaker

New Boston Books, Inc.

Michigan

Copyright

No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of both copyright owner(s) and the above publisher of this book.

Copyright © 2003 by New Boston Books Inc.

Copyright © 2015 by Kimberly Blaker

All rights reserved

This edition published by New Boston Books, Inc.

P.O. Box 195, New Boston, Michigan 48164 Printed and bound in the United States

Cover design by George Foster

Permissions acknowledgments for previously published material can be found on pages 271.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2002095474

The Fundamentals of Extremism: the Christian Right in America

Fundamentalism—Controversial literature. I. Title.

Christianity—Controversial literature.

Christianity and politics

Convervatism—United States—Controversial literature

Evangelism—United States—Controversial literature.

Women-United States—Social Conditions.

Family Violence

Child Abuse

BR526. 261.8

ISBN: 0-9725496-0-9 (Cloth)

ISBN: 0-9725496-1-7 (Paper)

ISBN: 0-9725496-2-5 (eBook)

Dedication

To Cassandra and Caleb,

For your patience and understanding.

May you grow to possess

The liberties we hold and treasure today,

In a democracy that is flexible yet strong,

With the freedom to believe

In many gods

Or none at all

And to live according to the dictates

Of your own conscience.

To Donnie,

For your support and encouragement

And for believing in me,

In every endeavor I pursue

Foreword

Finally, here is a well-documented book about the dangers of Christian fundamentalism, both Protestant and Catholic. Mind control, including a strong relationship between fundamentalism and prejudice, discrimination, intolerance, and hate crimes are exposed with fact and credible evidence. Women, especially, suffer not only in fundamentalist homes, but also from the political results of fundamentalism.

Kimberly Blaker’s book demonstrates not only the relationship between fundamentalism and far-right organizations—such as Dobson’s Focus on the Family, and those of Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson—it also reveals the funding by right-wing foundations and their corporate sponsors. It is not surprising that religious fundamentalists support private school vouchers and home schooling rather than public schools where students are taught to think for themselves.

This book also demonstrates the opposition of fundamentalism to sex education in the schools and the consequent result that teen pregnancy is higher in the United States than six other developed countries.

In fact, this is the most careful and devastating evaluation of the impact of fundamentalism on American society, politics, and customs ever produced in the United States.

Although Kimberly Blaker, a woman, is the chief author and creator of this exploration of the perils of fundamentalism, she has wisely included chapters from several men, including a medical doctor, who reinforce with their own research the basic thesis and ideas she has advanced so well.

I have seldom, if ever, reviewed a book so cogent, factually accurate, and enlightening as this one. It opens a new vista of knowledge and insight that will make a significant contribution to American parents, educators, and thoughtful religious and humanist leaders.

John M. Swomley

Professor emeritus of Social Ethics, Saint Paul School of Theology

President of The Churchman Co., Inc.

Author of Religious Liberty and the Secular State

Acknowledgments

This book has come to fruition because many people worked together to make it happen. It has been shaped not only by its authors, but also by those who have so graciously lent their assistance and expertise. I offer special thanks to all who have assisted. My coauthors Ed Buckner, Edwin Kagin, Bobbie Kirkhart, Herb Silverman, and John Suarez have shared both personal experiences and expertise in their chapters, shedding added light to issues that affect us all.

I cannot begin to express my gratitude to Richard Dawkins, Gerald A. Larue, John Shelby Spong, Nadine Strossen, and John M. Swomley, all of who eagerly agreed to read my manuscript without prior familiarity with me. Each of their wonderful endorsements to this book was a thrill I never anticipated. Their kind advice was appreciated as well.

My cover designer, George Foster, has done an outstanding job and given this book the cover it deserves. Jay Van Dyke has offered ongoing assistance and advice, and has been a dream to work with. I want to thank TeriLynn Hinkle for photographing me and making the most of a non- photogenic subject.

Much credit also goes to those who reviewed and critiqued the manuscripts, offered editorial suggestions, assisted with documentation and indexing, provided source materials, and/or provided interviews, all for merely a thank you. For these services, we owe special thanks to Cassie Blaker, Ken Bonnell, Diane Buckner, Jack Censer, Amanda Chesworth, Larry Darby, Jan C. Fox, Sharon Fratepietro, Pat Harris, Jim Heldberg, Dillard Henderson, Helen Kagin, Paul Kurtz, William Martin, Jon Nelson, Paul O’Brien, Fran Prevas, Marjie C. Swomley, and Dr. Harvey Tippit. Maxine Parshall deserves credit for reviewing the complete book and offering extensive editing recommendations without compensation. I thank Timothy Dillon for copyediting and ensuring our manuscript is as free from error as possible.

Finally, I thank Margaret O’Kelley for allowing me the opportunity to hone my writing skills as a reporter for The Huron River Weekly. I also acknowledge the terrific impact my college instructors Timothy Dillon, Dr. John Holladay, and Ann Orwin had on this project. Without their outstanding teaching skills and high expectations, I never would have come to realize my ability to attack this project and discover my love of writing.

Chapter  1: Introduction: THE PERILS OF FUNDAMENTALISM   AND THE IMPERILMENT OF DEMOCRACY by Kimberly Blaker

Those who control what young people are taught, and what they experience—what they see, hear, think, and believe—will determine the future course for the nation.¹

James Dobson

Who could say it better than Dr. James Dobson, former Professor of Pediatrics and founder of Focus on the Family? He is known to Christian conservatives as America’s foremost parenting authority and is the calm voice parents across the country turn to daily on more than 2,000 radio stations. From Dobson, they seek answers to questions regarding marriage, relationships, and childrearing.

To others, Dobson is known for his strong web of ties to the Christian Right. In fact, his ability to wield power over the Republican Party suggests he is the Christian Right. Dobson, an evangelical, a patriarch, and an advocate of corporal punishment is an opponent of reproductive choice, homosexual rights, free speech, liberal sex education, and the right to die with dignity. Yet, he has a remarkable ability to manipulate unsuspecting Americans who otherwise might not agree with his views. His sly maneuvering through the political arena unseen and unheard—except by those whose chains he pulls—has been a key to his power and success. Dobson’s pronouncement, however, which opens this work, is a revelation into the evangelical and fundamentalist mentality. It displays a hunger for mind control of youth, scarcely different from Pakistan and Afghanistan’s Islamic fundamentalists.

Many Pakistani children are raised in such a controlling environment. Pakistani Muslim boys as young as six, mostly from poor families, are often given over to madrasahs, or religious schools, where they spend their youth learning an extreme form of Islam. In the madrasahs, boys are given little opportunity to socialize, spending most of their first three years memorizing the Qur’an in Arabic, a language they do not even understand. They are taught no science or math, and the only history they will ever learn is of the Muslim world. It is the graduates of these madrasahs who swell[ed] the ranks of the Taliban in the mid-1990s.² The Taliban continues to gain adherents through the training of children, from an early age, to think dogmatically—as do the Taliban leaders.

Similarly, Christian fundamentalists frequently home school their children or send them to ultra-conservative Christian schools in an effort to limit socialization that would otherwise open doors to critical thought. The key concept of fundamentalist education is controlling what children learn. As do those funding and running Pakistan’s madrasahs in preparation for the Jihad, Dobson realizes, If the salvation of our children is really that vital to us, then our spiritual training should begin before children can even comprehend what it is all about.³ Dobson further reveals:

I firmly believe in acquainting children with God’s judgment and wrath while they are young. Nowhere in the Bible are we instructed to skip over the unpleasant scriptures in our teaching. The wages of sin is death, and children have the right to understand that fact.⁴

Christian fundamentalist schooling is known for indoctrinating children through recitation and memorization of Bible verses and prayers, reinforced with hellfire and brimstone lectures. Moreover, these children are taught from textbooks that distort scientific and historic facts. As you will learn in Chapter 3, these children learn only what neatly fits into the myopic views of their parents and teachers. In math, they are taught only mechanics and absolutes. New math that teaches problem solving skills is abhorred because it reveals that everything is not black and white.

Fundamentalists know too well that children who learn to think on their own may someday stray from their indoctrination. The ideology of children in fundamentalist families is predetermined. Mind control, therefore, is the mode by which fundamentalists, whether Christian, Islamic, Jewish, or any other group, gain adherents. Authoritarian in nature, their interpretation of sacred textscalls on them to dominate society and to determine the future course for the nation, as Dobson suggests. If fundamentalists do not guard against children learning to think on their own, they risk turning out adults who will choose a path inharmonious or even opposed to their own. For many fundamentalists, this path is simple, to serve God by bringing him loyal servants. However, a large proportion works to raise leaders and followers who will bring about political change and build a society ruled by an ideology not conducive to democracy. Equally troublesome, some fundamentalists intend to raise an army of puppets who will kill—and even die—for their predetermined cause.

America’s new war on terrorism, resulting from the staggering death toll of the September 11, 2001 attacks, has made one thing clear. Those who threaten our lives and security, even those who stand in the way of capturing terrorists will be wiped out for the good of the world—that is, providing they are neither Christian nor American. There has been a disturbing double standard in the United States’ way of dealing with extremist factions. The Bush administration’s objective to exterminate terrorism abroad neglects to recognize and address the dangers we face from within our own nation. In fact, President George W. Bush has called for more of what contributed to such an atrocity in the first place—the intrusion of religion into government.

America is not immune from breeding such extremism, as was seen when Christians Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh bombed the Alfred

P. Murrah Building in Oklahoma City. Nichols and McVeigh were influenced by the extremist Christian Identity movement. The bombing was McVeigh’s way of speaking out against the government invasion of the Waco Branch Davidians, a Christian sect. It was also in retaliation of the shooting deaths of the white supremacist Weaver family at Ruby Ridge, followers of the Christian Identity faith.

Terrorists of the Christian kind

It would be unjust to place all fundamentalists in the same category as terrorists. Yet, there is undoubtedly a strong relationship between fundamentalism and violence. And there are those who will stop at nothing to reign terror and destruction on whomever they perceive as their enemies. One such group, the small but radical Army of God, has targeted abortion clinics and been involved in kidnappings, bombings, and shooting deaths. According to many reports, they have even been linked to the 280 anthrax threats that hit abortion clinics in October following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The poisonous mentality of this group was demonstrated when Army of God supporters met on January 21, 2001, in Bowie, Maryland, for its fifth White Rose Banquet. During the event, numerous speakers called for violence against abortion clinics, approved of murdering abortion providers, and made jokes about killing homosexuals,⁵ reported Church

& State. Chuck Spingola complained, Now, these people [gays] are vile folks. . . . If you deal with these people long enough, you understand the wisdom of God when he says they should be put to death.⁶ Reverend Michael Bray, who served a six-year sentence for his involvement in abortion clinic bombings, was also awarded the title of chaplain during the event.⁷

Catholic fundamentalists are no less extreme. Reverend David C. Trosch wrote to Congress on July 16, 1994:

In the not too distant future, it is anticipated that we will be faced with a civil war . . . It is murder to take human life at any time following conception . . . a very bloody civil insurrection shall begin . . . first shot was fired in Pensacola early this year . . . Dr. Gunn was a practicing murderer . . . it took World War II to stop the slaughter of millions of innocent people . . . God will hold them [the faithful] accountable for not taking direct action to prevent this evil . . . [When] the normal constraints of pacifism, which pervades throughout this country, is overcome . . . the killing, in protection of the innocent, will begin to spill over into the killing of the police and military who attempt to protect them. Thereafter, it will begin to affect those who direct them to protect abortion providers. . . . American Civil Liberties Union will [be] place[ed] high on the target list . . . . National Organization of [sic] Women,  members  of  Planned  Parenthood  and  other  pro- abortion/choice  organizations  .  .  .  terminated  as  vermin  are terminated . . . Participation in the destruction of evil would soon become understood as a meritorious action, as a prerequisite for entrance into eternal life . . . hoped that this will be sufficient for the Congress of the United States to reverse [US Supreme Court decisions] ‘Roe vs. Wade’ [sic] and ‘Doe vs. Bolton’ [sic]. . . . religious beliefs take precedence over civil laws when they are in conflict . . . socialism is a creeping evil. . . . National health care is a part of this creeping socialism. . . . no human force able to stop this movement once it has begun in earnest. . . . Lives of all who speak in favor of abortion will be at grave risk. Perhaps, even probably, the lives of those politicians who fail to strongly oppose abortion will be at risk . . . No personal threat is intended. . . . Sincerely in Christ, fr. David C. Trosch.⁸

Two weeks later, Paul Hill, a former minister, drove to The Ladies Center, an abortion clinic in Pensacola, Florida, and shot to death Dr. John Bayard Britton and James Barrett, the doctor’s escort. That same year, bullets were mailed to clinics in Montana with doctors’ names inscribed on them. Clinics across the nation received death threats by mail and phone, and on August 9, a bomb was found outside a Planned Parenthood clinic. Despite the fact that Trosch had been advocating the murder of pro-choice doctors and adherents for years, only after these murders did the Catholic Church decide to disassociate Trosch from the Church.

The U.S. downplay of its own extremist factions has grown increasingly apparent. While focusing its war on terrorism halfway around the globe, there has been little, if any mention of the many Christian-based militias and training camps based across the U.S. and the many extreme Christian sects. Nonetheless, when the parallels between Christian and Islamic fundamentalism fully come to life, the reality will become something we can no longer ignore. The need for Americans and our government to recognize the threats posed by those living next door is imperative to our safety. Terrorism is terrorism no matter under what religion it is cloaked. It needs to be dealt with to assure every American’s safety, not just safety in numbers, while at the same time preserving our democracy.

Our lives, their lives, and the media

Although one of the gravest dangers stemming from Christian fundamentalism, terrorism is only one of a multitude of problems posed by such extreme beliefs. As will be developed in later chapters, not only do children in fundamentalist homes often lack an adequate and appropriate education, they are at high risk for physical abuse and incest. And regardless of fundamentalists’ opposition to premarital sex, they are at high risk for teen pregnancy. When these teens become sexually active, they are less likely to use contraceptives. Other children are affected as well by censorship that makes adequate sex education programs in public schools extremely difficult. They are also affected by censorship of literature and even textbooks. Furthermore, fundamentalist children, especially girls, are at risk for lower educational attainment.

Women are affected whether they come from fundamentalist homes or not. Lack of reproductive choice, educational and career opportunities, spousal abuse, rape, sexual and mental disorders, and welfare dependency are all highly related to Christian fundamentalism. Fundamentalist beliefs in the home contribute not only to these problems, but also to social stereotypes and political action, or inaction, resulting from Christian Right views. Men are no less affected as will be revealed throughout the following chapters. The negative impact on men is most often demonstrated by their treatment of women and children, through their political actions, and sometimes through acts of violence and terrorism.

Christian fundamentalism also creates a host of other problems. First, there is a strong relationship between fundamentalism and prejudice. This leads to discrimination, intolerance, and hate crimes often directed at gays, other races or religions, and women. Also problematic is the Christian Right’s blocking of legislation that would otherwise give people options to reduce or end their pain and suffering. It opposes medicinal marijuana for the terminally ill and calls for prosecuting doctors who euthanize terminally ill patients at the patients’ requests.

Fundamentalists also lack concern for the environment based on their belief in man’s God-given dominion over all things, as is described in Genesis. They look to the Second Coming of Christ in the not-so-distant future, therefore, eliminating the need for the planet to sustain life for hundreds of millions more years.

In addition, fundamentalists misinterpret the United States Constitution, most specifically the First Amendment and its Separation Clause, and they rewrite history to fit their Christian Nation theme. In recent years, the political power of the Christian Right has seen significant gains by taking an alarming number of seats at all levels of government. In the upcoming chapters, the magnitude of the problems resulting from Christian fundamentalism will be fully uncovered. Fundamentalism affects our lives in a preponderance of ways, and it will be revealed how fundamentalists leave few groups of people and few social and political issues untouched.

But of more immediate interest is how this can be so unapparent to so many. The answer lies, in part, in the illusions the Christian Right strives to create. As Barbara M. Jones, author of Libraries, Access, and Intellectual Freedom: Developing Policies for Public and Academic Libraries, points out, The religious right has become a particularly important interest group in shaping public opinion.⁹ The Christian Right accomplishes this in several ways. In addition to its ownership of many media outlets, Christian organizations and denominations such as the Southern Baptist Convention and Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights have come to be known for their control of the media. They threaten lawsuits and public embarrassment and participate in letter writing campaigns. In addition, they boycott companies that sponsor programs or publications to which the Christian Right is opposed. Through such actions they are able to silence negative publicity and most programming critical of religion or in direct conflict with their views.

I saw the reality of the media control firsthand when I unexpectedly encountered the Catholic League—an organization whose purpose is to prevent and eliminate all criticism of Catholicism and its leadership. On September 20, 2001, the San Francisco Examiner published a commentary I wrote identifying the similarities between Islamic extremists and their Christian counterparts. I revealed the Catholic League’s use of intimidation to keep opponents and the media in line, as follows:

While less violent in nature, The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, a contradiction in itself, exists for the purpose of Canon Law 1369, which states: ‘A person is to be punished with a just penalty, who . . . utters blasphemy, or gravely harms public morals, or rails at or excites hatred of or contempt for religion or the Church.’ ¹⁰

Furthermore, I pointed out:

at a prayer breakfast during the 2000 Republican Convention, Father Frank Provone of Priests for Life claimed, ‘The church does not dictate the policies of the nation. The Church proclaims the truth of God to which all these [public] policies must conform.’¹¹

The Catholic Church is one of the main organizers and supporters behind the Christian Right. However, it has kept its identity concealed by calling on Baptists and other Christian sects to do its bidding. In a concerted effort, a wide range of Christian Right groups are working to break down the wall between church and state.¹²

Following the publication of my opinion editorial, William Donahue, president of the Catholic League, immediately telephoned Editorial Page Editor Michael Stoll at the Examiner. Donahue charged that I had libeled millions of Christians.¹³ According to Donahue’s account, he requested the Examiner provide [him] with evidence, drawn from criminal records, that the Catholic League is a violent organization.¹⁴ Stoll responded that while his criticisms may have been valid, my comment, while less violent in nature, was no more than a rhetorical flourish,¹⁵ as was obvious, and my own opinion¹⁶ to which I was entitled. Donahue then retorted, And it is my opinion that she be fired for making patently reckless, and arguably libelous, accusations against the Catholic League.¹⁷ Anyone reading the full opinion piece would have easily recognized the metaphor for what it was. I made no claim the League had acted in violence. Rather, I indicated the nature of the organization, while not as extreme as those I had previously discussed, was still, based on the wording of Canon Law 1369, a dangerous organization to be reckoned with.

Following Donahue’s call, the League issued a news release on its website¹⁸  that later appeared in its print edition of the Catalyst, as well. Both of these are outlets dedicated to the harassment of all who dare speak out publicly against the abuses of the Catholic Church and its political agenda. Those who offend Catholics in any way are candidates for severe censure. Using my words out of context and misleading its own members, the League then persuaded, "We urge members to write to Michael Stoll, San Francisco Examiner . . . and ask why the newspaper still hasn’t dropped Blaker."

Intimidation is the League’s means to an end. Opinion that does not paint religion or Catholicism in a positive light is libelous according to Donahue and his attractors, despite laws to the contrary. Donahue’s ludicrous call for the firing of a freelance writer was a further attempt at bullying the Examiner into compliance and silencing me.

Following the posting of the Catholic League’s news release, the Examiner was bombarded with more than a hundred letters coming from states other than California. Nearly all of them demanded I be fired from a publication with which I had never been employed. And, not only had I been elevated to a staff member, many of the League’s letter writers took it to higher levels and were enraged over the fact I was a reporter who had opined in the news.

That, however, was just the beginning. Most letters to the Examiner had included words like libel and slander. Many went so far as to hope the League would sue the newspaper. One woman wrote requesting that the Examiner supply her with proof the League is a threat to liberty. Stoll responded:

I would note that many people of many political and philosophical persuasions consider a wide variety of institutions, people and ways of thinking a ‘threat to liberty.’ It is a statement that is pure opinion, and in my estimation does not require proof. Nor can it be proven or disproven. That is precisely why it appeared on the opinion page.¹⁹

Little did this woman realize her own allies were busy stating my case for me. From Louisiana came a letter calling on the Examiner to do the right thing because the Supreme Court [sic] of the United States has affirmed that the United States is a Christian nation. . . . While the statement itself is false, this was, in fact, the exact threat in which I described in my opinion editorial—an attempt to create a religiously based government. Additional proof of the League’s threat to liberty came from an Oregonian who requested the Examiner "take a more critical view of such articles and censor [emphasis added] such blatantly biased writers. It would seem the Catholic League’s membership unknowingly contradicts the League’s stated purpose, which is to defend religious and civil rights." Apparently, free speech, at least for the nonreligious, does not fall into that category.

A couple of League members even wrote that the Examiner should have automatically turned away my submission because I was a known atheist. A Nevada woman also insisted an editor’s note should have appeared underneath the commentary specifying, that she is a noted atheist, even though opinions expressed by believers hardly ever have an editorial note identifying the author’s religion.

The actions of Donahue and these members of the Catholic League indicate they are defending Catholic religious civil rights, not the religious and civil rights of all. What also became apparent is whether something negative said against Christianity or Catholicism is libelous or pure fact is not important. What matters is that public criticism of Catholicism takes place at all. This was evidenced by several League members. A Massachusetts man argued that his relative who is a priest has done good works. Therefore, he reasoned, What right does she [Blaker] have to criticize people who have given up a comfortable life to do this type of work? In the eyes of many fundamentalists, Christian or Catholic, any good works should eliminate all criticism.

But, what makes the Catholic League’s members so apt to participate in these letter-writing campaigns? In addition to believing all criticism of religion should be suppressed, many are also convinced the Church and Catholics, in general, have become targets of a widespread contempt for Catholicism. A New Yorker shared this typical belief described in many letters from Catholic League members. His grievance was, Anti- Catholicism in America today exceeds acts of bias against any other ethnic, racial or religious group, even though this is patently untrue. Regardless, the member pointed out, "Page after page of the Catalyst newsletter is evidence of the hostility and intolerance the Catholic Church is subjected to in America."

The League exploits its membership by crying foul and riling it up for every  minor offense against the Church. Yet, rarely does it exhibit evidence of discriminatory practices or hate crimes against Catholics. This is despite numerous documented cases of discrimination toward African- Americans, homosexuals, Jews, Muslims, atheists, and other minority groups in this country. The bias these Catholics denounce is most often criticism of Catholic beliefs imposed on its adherents and the beliefs it attempts to impose on the world, including Americans. Regardless of criticism, no one obstructs the practice of Catholic beliefs. And although they may say otherwise, today there is little discrimination against them.

Ironically, in December (2001), a freelance production assistant contacted the Examiner to discuss the fracas. While I was following up with the production assistant a couple of days later, he explained that a video magazine, American Catholic, had been asked to do a segment on Catholic bashing. However, the journalistic investigation quickly took a turn. According to the freelancer, in his attempt to uncover these injustices, he instead unmasked much to the contrary. What he found was the Catholic League wielding its power against anyone who exposed the Church or the League. ²⁰ It appeared that the program would instead develop into an expose of the intimidation tactics used by the Catholic League in its efforts to keep negative publicity under wraps. As would be expected, the segment never materialized.²¹

Not long after, the Palm Beach Post became a target of the Catholic League when it published a cartoon by Don Wright, which also appeared in the New York Times and the Sacramento Bee. The cartoon depicted a contemplative woman who says:

For women, sexual conduct is always closely monitored. The Catholic Church tells me what I can or cannot do with my body. Truly unforgiving. Absolutely no compromises. Unless, of course, you're a pedophile.

At Donahue’s command, the League’s director of communications, Patrick Scully, telephoned the editorial page editor of the Palm Beach Post demanding an apology. Randy Schultz responded, "There will be no apology because there is nothing to apologize for. Schultz pointed out to Scully the cartoon was merely a critique of the Church's policies. But to the League, it was no less vicious than my own criticism and deserving of another letter writing campaign. This was regardless of the cartoon’s factual basis and that the League could not even misconstrue libel." The League urged in its Catalyst, Now it's time that Schultz heard from you.

The address to the Palm Beach Post was published with a request to, Tell him [Schultz] that he and his boy Don Wright are doing such a good job that we've decided to honor them with an entry in next year's Annual Report on Anti-Catholicism.²² As it turns out, I was honored in that report, as well.²³ Similar to Schultz’s response to the Catholic control- mongers, the Examiner’s Stoll informed me, None of the letters convinced me of anything other than that there are hundreds of people around the country who are defensive and intolerant of criticism.²⁴

In these two instances, the Catholic League’s bully tactics did not pay off. As Stoll pointed out, It was more of an annoyance than anything. But, the Catalyst contains many reports of victories in which businesses have capitulated to the League’s demands; if for no other reason then to avoid the hassle as was described by Stoll. These threats are often effective. To many businesses and corporations, the time and costs involved in a legal suit are not worth the hassle. This is so, even when the company being threatened would ultimately win the case. In the end, the League plays a crucial role in the formation of public opinion as it latches its restraints on every form of media.

Fomenters of mass hysteria

At the same time, as Jones points out, the media also plays a crucial role in shaping public opinion because Americans accept the spin the media places on issues before critically evaluating the information and messages they are receiving.²⁵ The Christian Right uses this to its advantage as well. It knows the hunger of the media and the media’s tendency to sensationalize. So, the Christian Right feeds it with misinformation and half-truths about anything to which fundamentalists are opposed. In this way, fundamentalists can easily meet their objectives and gain the upper hand. This is effective because of the controversy created, which leads to full-scale national debate. Such scare tactics lead the public to political action and voting booths as nothing else could. And it is exactly what has happened with the recent controversy