Penn And Teller Trash Mother Teresa

[Bonnie]

Brent Bozell


June 3, 2005

shareholders meetinA year ago, I attended the Viacom g in New York. When an investor questioned the propriety of this media behemoth launching a gay cable television network, Chairman Sumner Redstone virtually leapt at the opportunity to defend Viacom's commitment to tolerance and diversity.

But not for Catholics. Viacom has no problem whatever insulting Catholics.

The Catholic League's William Donohue is America's leading watchdog of all things anti-Catholic in the media and the culture. In 12 years at the helm he's seen a lot of bashing and trashing and believes there's been nothing as outrageous as the May 23 edition of the professional magician duo Penn and Teller's aptly titled show "B.S." [spelled out] on Viacom's pay-cable channel Showtime.

While the episode titled "Holier Than Thou" ends with a few smacks at Mahatma Gandhi and the Dalai Lama, Penn Jillette mostly savaged the world's most beloved woman of the 20th century by Catholics and non-Catholics alike. The woman beatified by Pope John Paul II and surely to be declared a saint was known as Mother Teresa. On this Viacom/Showtime program she is called "Mother F---ing Teresa."

The show features notoriously vicious anti-Catholics like Christopher Hitchens and Aroup Chatterjee. Viewers are told that she intentionally let the poor suffer, providing neither beds nor bathroom facilities. "She had the f---king coin and pissed it away on nunneries," says Penn Jillette.

Donohue said it did not bother him they called him "Catholic Boy" on the show, and not even when they referred to him with the F word since he could "only see good in her." But when they mocked the Catholic Church's teaching on the meaning of suffering; when the nuns who worked with Mother Teresa in the Missionaries of Charity were referred to with the F-word and the offensive C-word for female genitalia; and when they said of the poor that "They had to suffer so that Mother [F-word] Teresa could be enlightened," he protested. "They are behaved like monsters ... It turned into hate speech."

This anti-Catholicism is no accident. The Showtime website actually boasts about the aching anti-religious bigotry behind the show. "By their own admission, Penn & Teller have been dying to do a show like this. Confirmed skeptics and pro-science atheists (they call God an 'imaginary friend'), these magicians are big fans of the art of debunking." The Showtime booster copy continues: "As our increasingly anti-intellectual, anti-science culture moves on each day to new crackpot subject matters, Penn & Teller are there to aggressively shoot down whack-jobs and fuzzy thinkers, no matter where they originate."

Isn't Showtime a piece of work? This junkyard of "edgy" programming was the final resting place of "The Reagans," the canceled CBS TV-movie making up vile charges against a man on his deathbed. It has two regular dramatic series celebrating the gay lifestyle, "Queer as Folk" for the men, and "The L Word" for the women. It recently began airing the original movie "Our Fathers," a movie on the Boston pedophile-priest scandals, which even the Washington Post called "Showtime's Unholy Mess." Four years ago at this time, Showtime was airing the original film "Sister Mary Explains It All," starring Diane Keaton as a vicious nun who ruined the lives of schoolchildren.

Now it has the two smart-aleck magicians reviling, with F bombs, the holiest women walking the face of the Earth while attacking the entire concept of holiness as a racket for "whack jobs and fuzzy thinkers."

The Catholic League protested outside this year's shareholders meeting of Viacom in New York, but tight-lipped Showtime could only remark on this inflammatory show by patting itself on the back as a haven for free speech. They claim they're "in the unique position to give artists the creative freedom to express their views," unlike other broadcast and cable networks who avoid "controversial subject matter." Sadly, and predictably, the TV writers who've happened upon the Penn and Teller show haven't exactly criticized their shtick. Associated Press reporter Frazier Moore praised the duo as "sassy secularists in a priesthood of knaves."

Didn't anyone involved in the making of this trash -- the writers, director, producers and the like -- see the wretched ugliness of the product? What of the Showtime front office -- the programming executives, the public relations/marketing staff? In fact, they all saw it and approved it. What of the Viacom leadership, the board of directors? One presumes they didn't see it, so busy are they giving speeches about corporate commitments to diversity and tolerance.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/brentbozell/printbb20050603.shtml

 

[Annie]

I am going to go and riot somewhere. Yes I am, right now!

Seriously, I think this sucks. However, would not harm anyone, unless witholding friendship is hurting them; much less kill anyone.

 

[Bonnie]

I am going to go and riot somewhere. Yes I am, right now!

Seriously, I think this sucks. However, would not harm anyone, unless witholding friendship is hurting them; much less kill anyone.

Could they have picked a worse target??? Saintly, frail, and dead now, a woman who dedicated her life to living in squaller and tending to those afflicted with aids in third world countries never worrying about herself. My goodness!!!

Viacom as the the bastian of free speech... Hmm? well then how about broadcasting "The Passion" and some follow up Mel Gibson interviews????

 

[GotZoom]

Could they have picked a worse target??? Saintly, frail, and dead now, a woman who dedicated her life to living in squaller and tending to those afflicted with aids in third world countries never worrying about herself. My goodness!!!

Viacom as the the bastian of free speech... Hmm? well then how about broadcasting "The Passion" and some follow up Mel Gibson interviews????

They won't broadcast The Passion but I bet they will show an interview with Mel's dad.

 

[manu1959]

saw the show ... they went after ghandi and a few others ....

we should have them drawn a quartered

 

[no1tovote4]

saw the show ... they went after ghandi and a few others ....

we should have them drawn a quartered

Then burn their remains and scatter them to the ends of the earth...

 

[manu1959]

Then burn their remains and scatter them to the ends of the earth...

i thought you stuck thier heads on a pike at the gates to the bush compund?

 

[Bonnie]

i thought you stuck thier heads on a pike at the gates to the bush compund?

You have to wonder why such seething hatred for unhatable people??? They have been fortunate in their lives with a modecum of fame and fortune, why so bitter?

Never will understand that!!

 

[KarlMarx]

Looks like a good example of the double standards that we all are well aware of:

Hatred is a sin of the Right, not the Left. The Left, after all, is just full of enlightenment and compassion. When the Right accuses the Left of Hatred (as in this example), it is because the Right has no sense of humor. Of course, any example of hatred by the Left is because of misunderstanding, close mindedness. Of course, Stalin's purges were not mass murder, they were "a mistake", Castro isn't a brutal thug dictator that has exploited the Cuban people like a robber baron of old, he's just misunderstood, Yassir Arafat, he was a freedom fighter who stood up to the Zionist conspiracy that is Israel, the United Nations is full of compassionate, all knowing, unbiased bureaucrats who are above graft and corruption, anyone who criticizes the UN is a unilateralist (which is something like an imperialist, a colonialist, or a capitalist, except more "icky")

Bigotry also is a sin of the Right. The Left is all inclusive and all embracing. The Left loves everyone, everyone except for Catholics, Evangelical Christians, Orthodox Jews (well, perhaps Jews in general), Republicans, free market types, conservatives, talk show hosts that espouse conservative ideas, women who stay at home to raise their children, home schoolers, Catholic priests, President Bush, Karl Rove, Dick Cheney, Janice Brown, Condi Rice, conservative justices in general, Mel Gibson, Jesus Christ, most Christian saints, anyone that says the rosary, pro-life advocates, anti-stem cell research types, Ann Coulter, David Horowitz (and any ex-Lefties), my Mom, your Mom (unless she had you aborted), heterosexuals, nuns, monks, oil company executives, CEOs, black people with conservative ideas (e.g. Thomas Sowell, Clarence Thomas, Walter E. Williams and others that I've already mentioned), the Military, Joseph McCarthy, Richard M. Nixon, Ronald Reagan, white men, men in general, white people in general, people from Europe, Rev. Billy Graham, the Pope, Oliver North, ex-gays, you, me, women who are conservative, men who are conservative, anyone that owns their own business, anyone that believes that America is a source of good in the world, patriotic people, anyone that flies the American flag, veterans (except the ones who were affected by Agent Orange)..... anyone that posts on USMB, cadets at West Point, Annapolis, the Air Force acadamy, the Citadel or the Virgina Military Academy, ROTCs, Terri Schiavo (or anyone on a feeding tube), embryos or fetuses in general, land developers, corporations, stock holders, people who wear WWJD bracelets (as "What Would Jesus Do") and......

anyone who disagrees with anything, even slightly, with the Left and its agenda.

Except for those people (and a couple of million other examples that I might have forgotten about), the Left likes you just fine ....

 

[Merlin1047]

Brent Bozell


June 3, 2005




http://www.townhall.com/columnists/brentbozell/printbb20050603.shtml

Puzzling indeed. While the Catholic church is certainly a fertile venue for criticism due to events of the last ten years, picking on Mother Teresa is pretty much like kicking a puppy. The woman dedicated her life to relieving the suffering of poor people throughout the world. So I can only surmise that these people chose to attack her for much the same reasons that South Park chooses it's program topics - they believe that it will generate ratings. It seems that the current theory in the media is that the more outrageous and offensive a program is, the more attention it will draw.

I will place a small bet - my guess is these same people who trash Mother Teresa will rise up in indignation and characterize as heartless bigots those of us who criticize the violence and hatred taught by the moslem faith.

 

[Bonnie]

Puzzling indeed. While the Catholic church is certainly a fertile venue for criticism due to events of the last ten years, picking on Mother Teresa is pretty much like kicking a puppy. The woman dedicated her life to relieving the suffering of poor people throughout the world. So I can only surmise that these people chose to attack her for much the same reasons that South Park chooses it's program topics - they believe that it will generate ratings. It seems that the current theory in the media is that the more outrageous and offensive a program is, the more attention it will draw.

I will place a small bet - my guess is these same people who trash Mother Teresa will rise up in indignation and characterize as heartless bigots those of us who criticize the violence and hatred taught by the moslem faith.

Sad but true!!

 

[Bullypulpit]

I used to like Penn & Teller, but to trash Mother Theresa simply goes beyond the pale. This woman lived her faith...she saved lives...she brought hope to those who had none...

It's time for Penn & Teller to retire...in disgrace.

 

[Bonnie]

I used to like Penn & Teller, but to trash Mother Theresa simply goes beyond the pale. This woman lived her faith...she saved lives...she brought hope to those who had none...

It's time for Penn & Teller to retire...in disgrace.

 

[no1tovote4]

I used to like Penn & Teller, but to trash Mother Theresa simply goes beyond the pale. This woman lived her faith...she saved lives...she brought hope to those who had none...

It's time for Penn & Teller to retire...in disgrace.

I need to see this and judge for myself. I like their Bullshit show, but if this is a truth and they really have "trashed" Mother Theresa then I think they are done. Much like Skinhead O'Connor and her tearing up the photo of the Pope.