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05/14/2009
Barack's door: They knock Knox, we knock noxious attacks
They say:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500-0003Dear Mr. President,
On April 6, you named Harry Knox to your Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. You claim to have created this Council, among other things, to “bring everyone together – from both the secular and faith-based communities.”
Harry Knox is the hate-filled antithesis of this noble objective. Knox is a virulent anti-Catholic bigot, and has made numerous vile and dishonest attacks against the Church and the Holy Father. He has no business on any Council having to do with faith or religion.
We do not know if you or members of your Administration were aware of Knox’s deplorable, abusive attitude towards the Church and Pope Benedict XVI when you named him to the Council. We assume you were not. But since then, there have been numerous press reports on Knox’s loathsome, and clearly bigoted rhetoric, so there no longer is any excuse for your failure to act. We can remain silent no longer.
As Catholics, we call on you to remove Mr. Knox from his position and to formally disassociate yourself from his militant anti-Catholicism. Failure to do so will result in the tainting of your Faith-Based Council—and indeed, your entire administration—as anti-Catholic. We urge you to give this matter your immediate consideration.
Sincerely,
L. Brent Bozell III
Founder and President
Media Research CenterJudie Brown, President,
American Life League, Inc.
Stafford, VALarry Cirignano
Catholic Activist and Founder
CatholicVote.orgEileen Cubanski
Executive Director
National Association of Private Catholic and Independent Schools (NAPCIS)Bill Donohue
President
Catholic LeagueChuck Donovan
Executive Vice President
Family Research CouncilDeacon Keith A. Fournier
Editor in Chief, Catholic Online
Founder, Common GoodDeal W. Hudson
Director
InsideCatholic.comPhilip F. Lawler
Editor
Catholic World NewsLeonard Leo
President
National Catholic Prayer Breakfast
** Affiliation listed for identification purposes onlyTom McClusky
Vice President of Government Affairs
Family Research CouncilKate O’Beirne
President
National Review InstituteThomas Peters
American Papist BlogAl Regnery
Publisher
The American SpectatorPatrick J. Reilly
President
The Cardinal Newman SocietyCharles Rice
Professor, Emeritus
Notre Dame Law SchoolAustin Ruse
President
Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-FAM)Phyllis Schlafly
Founder and President
Eagle ForumFr. Robert Sirico
President
The Acton InstituteRichard Viguerie
President
American Target Advertising
We reply:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500-0003
Dear Mr. President,
On April 6, you named Harry Knox to your Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships. If Faith-Based Partnerships are to be a part of American government, then I applaud you for “bring[ing] everyone together – from both the secular and faith-based communities.” I also applaud you for incorporating people who think that any God who gave humans a brain with a capacity for deep analysis, a heart with a capacity for true love, and a mouth with an ability to ask hard questions would want us to utilize all three.
Harry Knox has a noble objective, which is to serve as an antithesis to the sometimes outwardly hate-filled, sometimes casually biased mindsets that have kept LGBT people unequal and vulnerable. Knox is a valiant opponent of bigotry, and has offered numerous guileful and honest criticisms of those policies that he sees as going against what the Church and Holy Father should be suggesting to the world. Not only does he have business on any Council having to do with faith or religion -- it's imperative that inclusive voices like that of Harry Knox are allowed to challenge those who brazenly suggest that they have all the answers, and that those answers are above questioning or reproach.
I do not know if you or members of your Administration were aware of Knox’s respectful-yet-unabashedly-scrutinizing attitude towards the Church and Pope Benedict XVI when you named him to the Council. I assume you were. But since then, there have been numerous loathsome and clearly biased press reports attacking Knox’s views -- so I hope you will excuse these "reporters'" failure to act in an analytical, objective manner. I can remain silent no longer: When those who so regularly hijack religion proceed to paint a gay person of faith as a "bigot" simply because he's "radical" enough to stand up for his own life, love, and religious freedom, I simply have to speak out!
As someone who respects all religions, I call on you to fully utilize Mr. Knox in his position and to ignore those who have defamed him as a "militant anti-Catholic." I would never be so bold as to ask you to "formally disassociate yourself from" these folks or make suggestions about what a "failure to do so" will mean for your administration -- you are of your own free will, and it would be grossly unfair (not to mention anti-intellectual) to say that your failure to reject a certain person or group would make you "anti-anything." But I do urge you to give this matter your immediate consideration, as a fair-minded and genuinely decent man is being demeaned by people who wrote him off as soon as they heard the word "gay."
Sincerely,
Jeremy Hooper
Good As You
www.GoodAsYou.org
cc L. Brent Bozell III, Judie Brown, Larry Cirignano, Eileen Cubanski, Bill Donohue, Chuck Donovan, Deacon Keith A. Fournier, Deal W. Hudson, Philip F. Lawler, Leonard Leo, Tom McClusky, Kate O’Beirne, Thomas Peters, Al Regnery, Patrick J. Reilly, Charles Rice, Austin Ruse, Phyllis Schlafly, Fr. Robert Sirico, Richard Viguerie
*EARLIER: Harry Knock: 'Church Defamer'
Your thoughts
Excellent, Jeremy!
Posted by: Bonnie_Half-Elven | May 14, 2009 12:05:45 PM
Good job. Posted to fb. too ... and sent a copy, to the Whitehouse via email.. as a CONGRATULATIONS.
Posted by: LOrion | May 14, 2009 12:16:53 PM
Phyllis Schlafly is Catholic??? who knew. I always assumed she was of the hellfire and brimstone crowd.
Posted by: Timothy | May 14, 2009 1:32:57 PM
OMG I haven't heard much from Larry Cirignano since the time I pissed him off when I told him that instead of beating up women, he should be using some Crest White Strips!
He probably hasn't taken my advice.
Posted by: Scott | May 14, 2009 3:16:07 PM
Well done. I'd add my name to the signature line, were I given the honor to do so.
Posted by: Katelyn | May 14, 2009 7:00:13 PM
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