The David Bowie controversy continues after its allotted 15 minutes, thanks a perhaps unintentionally hilarious statement by Bill Donohue from the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. His review of Bowie’s recently released music video, “The Next Day” is apparently meant to trash the 66-year-old British dinosaur rocker, but it may only serve to give the work more attention.

If you haven’t yet seen the video, I posted it for The Inquisitr yesterday, but please be warned before you decide to watch “The Next Day”.

There is a lot of vaguely Catholic-themed imagery including a priest and a woman who suffers from bloody stigmata. Bowie kinda, sorta might be Jesus. There are boobies including bare nipples.

And there are bloody eyeballs on a plate. For me, that’s it, I’m outta here. Not gonna watch any more bloody eyeballs on a plate.

As leader of the Catholic anti-defamation group, Donohue has a rather stronger critique of the controversial David Bowie video:

“David Bowie is back, but hopefully not for long. The switch-hitting, bisexual, senior citizen from London has resurfaced, this time playing a Jesus-like character who hangs out in a nightclub dump frequented by priests, cardinals and half-naked women…”

Gosh. After a lead like that, how could you NOT watch “The Next Day”?

And there’s more:

“The video is strewn with characteristic excess: one priest bashes a homeless man, while others are busy hitting on women; self-flagellation is depicted; a dancing gal with bleeding hands makes a stigmata statement; and a customer is served eyeballs on a plate…In short, the video reflects the artist — it is a mess.”

Tell us what you really think, Donohue. Don’t be so bashful!

The rant goes on, concluding that Bowie “can’t stop thinking about the Cadillac of all religions, namely Roman Catholicism. There is hope for him yet.”

The Cadillac of religions. Why not a Rolls, a Bentley, or at least a BMW? Is this for real, or is David Bowie kicking back a few bucks to this guy to create a fake controversy?

These Catholic League guys have been around for awhile, since 1973, but they’re not a historic part of a church that has existed for centuries, and they don’t speak officially for the Catholic Church. My read is that they’re sincere in the desire to defend the Church but perhaps they don’t always use the best methods.

In my humble view, the over-the-top statement merely adds life to the David Bowie controversy.

[David Bowie photo by Photobra/Adam Bielawski via Wikimedia Commons]

David Bowie Controversy: Catholic League Rant Foams At ‘Switch-Hitting, Bisexual, Senior Citizen’ is a post from: The Inquisitr

Someone needs to have a “serious talk” with comedian Bill Maher about his “bigotry,” according to the Catholic League.

A letter from the League says that Catholics have had enough of Maher’s “vile and obscene” comments about the church, and demand that his bosses at Time Warner have a “serious talk” with him about his history of “anti-Catholicism.”

The letter is signed by Catholic League president Bill Donohue, and argues:

“There is no other entertainer in the nation who has repeatedly spoken about the Catholic Church, especially its priests, in more vile and obscene terms than Bill Maher.”

The letter also argues that if Maher’s remarks were aimed at any other demographic group, he would be condemned for them. Because of that, they wonder why Time Warner has elected to sit back as a “spectator.”

The continue that Maher’s “bigotry is not merely visceral, it is relentless,” continuing that the “time has come for someone in a position of responsibility to sit down and have a serious talk with this man.”

Though Maher definitely doesn’t hold anything resembling a candle for the Catholic Church, he has been criticized in the past for his attacks on a variety of groups, mostly religious-based or politically conservative in nature. In early 2012, he wrote an op-ed defending himself for his often vitriolic attacks on such groups, arguing that people who are offended need to simply “get over it.”

“When did we get it in our heads that we have the right to never hear anything we don’t like?” Maher wrote. “In the last year, we’ve been shocked and appalled by the unbelievable insensitivity of Nike shoes, the Fighting Sioux, Hank Williams Jr., Cee Lo Green, Ashton Kutcher, Tracy Morgan, Don Imus, Kirk Cameron, Gilbert Gottfried, the Super Bowl halftime show and the ESPN guys who used the wrong cliché for Jeremy Lin after everyone else used all the others. Who can keep up?”

You can read a list of examples of Maher’s “anti-Catholicism” here, or watch a clip from a recent episode of Real Time with Bill Maher, during which he attacks Catholics, below.

[Image via: bbsrock, Wikimedia Commons]

Bill Maher Needs A ‘Serious Talk’ About His ‘Bigotry,’ Says Catholic League is a post from: The Inquisitr

Susan Sarandon has raised hackles after remarks she made at a Hamptons event this weekend during which she called the current Pope a “Nazi.”

Sarandon has been criticized strongly by the Catholic League for the remarks, and the group says that the remarks are unfair but par for the course for Sarandon in their estimation. The comments came in response to a question about her statement that she’d sent the Pope a copy of the anti-death penalty film Dead Man Walking, in which Sarandon plays a nun. When asked which Pope had received the package, Sarandon specified the previous one and added “not this Nazi one we have now.” The interviewer attempted to move on, but the actress reiterated the comment.

The Hollywood Reporter carried part of a statement from the Catholic League’s William Donohue addressing Sarandon’s remarks. He said:

“Susan Sarandon’s ignorance is willful: those who have hatred in their veins are not interested in the truth. The fact is that Joseph Ratzinger [the Pope] was conscripted at the age of 14 into the Hitler Youth, along with every other young German boy…

“Unlike most of the other teenagers, Ratzinger refused to go to meetings, bringing economic hardship to his family. Moreover, unlike most of the others, he deserted at the first opportunity. Sarandon’s comment is obscene. Sadly, it’s what we’ve come to expect from her.”

It wasn’t just Catholics that found Sarandon’s remarks offensive- Abraham Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League commented:

“We hope that Susan Sarandon will have the good sense to apologize to the Catholic community and all those she may have offended with this disturbing, deeply offensive and completely uncalled for attack on the good name of Pope Benedict XVI. Ms. Sarandon may have her differences with the Catholic Church, but that is no excuse for throwing around Nazi analogies. Such words are hateful, vindictive and only serve to diminish the true history and meaning of the Holocaust.”

Neither Sarandon nor her reps have commented on the remarks since the event.

Susan Sarandon Under Fire From Catholic League for ‘Nazi Pope’ Remark is a post from: The Inquisitr