Catholic League president Bill Donohue goes after anyone he believes is engaging in anti-Catholic behavior, real or imagined. But as we have come to see, Donohue's criteria for response depends less on the content of a statement as who makes it.  And if the anti-Catholicism emanates from a religious libertarian conservative such as Fox News analyst Andrew Napolitano, mum's the word. Donohue has frequently demonstrated this double standard since the ascendancy of Pope Francis.

What I did not realize was just how much more brutally ugly these comments would become - while at the same time the self-proclaimed Guardian of all things Catholic looks the other way.

The annual Values Voter Summit (VVS), the nation's largest gathering of the Religious Right, begins today. The event, sponsored by the Family Research Council (FRC), the American Family Association (AFA) and other far-right groups, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary. In light of that, I thought it might be interesting to look back at some of the highlights (or lowlights, if you will) of this event.

Here we go:

Much has been and will be written about the Pope regarding his historic visit to the U.S.  But it will be important to try to filter the hype from the historic as a man who is cast as a humble priest and a breath of fresh air, is simultaneously cast as a great leader striding across a global stage and treated as a celebrity.

My friend Frank Cocozzelli has been writing about how Pope Francis has been driving Catholic neoconservatives and the wider Religious Right and a large swath of the Republican Party quite crazy since his tenure began.  These are among the many indications that Francis may be able to right a badly listing institution.  But it is also worth considering that from the earliest days, the much ballyhooed "Francis effect" has been mostly ephemera --and that a number of writers caution that as much as Francis may challenge the culture warriors of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, it is wrong to expect that Francis will be a liberal reformer.  

Three years ago, Religious Right phony historian David Barton published a ridiculous book called The Jefferson Lies that argued, in part, that Thomas Jefferson was a fundamentalist Christian who wanted Christianity to form the basis of the U.S. government.

The tome marked a turning point for Barton. His previous books had been self-produced, but The Jefferson Lies was issued by Thomas Nelson, a respectable publisher of evangelical works.

In a recent press release, Catholic League president Bill Donohue warned, "Pope Visits To U.S. Occasion Ugliness." Donohue then went on to describe the activities of several Catholic and non-Catholic Progressive leaning organizations during the last two papal visits. As is his wont, Donohue recklessly tarred dissent (by the Women's Ordination Conference, for example) as anti-Catholic behavior.  Donohue demagogically conflates progressive and liberal dissent with hate. There are important differences between hate and dissent, regardless of the source.

But with the ascendancy of the more open-minded Pope Francis, the Catholic League president all-too-conveniently overlooked much of the ugliness aimed at the pontiff from the Right.

Let's say some people at a company want to get together during lunch hour and hold a Bible study. It's totally voluntary, and they don't pressure anyone else to attend. This is not likely to cause any problems.

But let's say the boss organized the Bible study and attends it regularly. Now we might have a problem if subordinates are coerced to attend overtly or even subtly. (If, for example, those who attend get in good with the boss and are first in line for promotions, raises, etc.)

Kim Davis, the county official who refused to grant marriage licenses, fits the profile of a long line of civil disobedience from the South.  Kim's lack of respect for the ruling of the Supreme Court fits well with positions of her lawyer.  Her legal advisor hails from a school whose founder claimed the Supreme Court ruling against school segregation was a satanic plot.  Attorney Matt Staver advised Kim to refuse the order from the court.  Matt's alliance with Jerry Falwell's Liberty University helps set the stage for the controversy.

I recently posted a short excerpt here, from an interview I published with Rev. Dr. John Dorhauer, the new General Minister and President of the United Church of Christ.  I wanted to say a little more about this, and highlight a few more excerpts. -- FC

Eight years ago, John Dorhauer published an article describing the long term campaign  by conservative political, financial and religious interests to sew discord and disruption in mainline Protestant churches.  So called "renewal" groups, often affiliated with the neoconservative Institute on Religion and Democracy, wreaked considerable havoc.  (I have written a fair amount about this subject myself.) His work in this area led to the publication of book that was a turning point in the battle: Steeplejacking: How the Christian Right is Hijacking Mainstream Religion.

When Dorhauer assumed the office of General Minister and President of the historic, million member United Church of Christ this month, he knew what he is up against.

I realize that people may be tired of reading about the saga of Kim Davis, the Rowan County, Ky., clerk who is in jail because she ignored a federal court order to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. But on Friday I received a blast email from Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council (FRC), that is so littered with lies that it demands a reply.

Headlined "Help free Kim Davis from jail," the email takes the form of a petition to Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, demanding that he spring her from the Carter County Detention Center.

Kim Davis, the embattled Kentucky county clerk who sits in jail for defying a Federal Court order to issue marriage licenses to everyone who is eligible -- including LGBTQ people -- has been called many things.  She has been compared to leaders of the Civil Rights movement and to a Jew living in Nazi Germany for her stand.  Critics have answered that she is not the victim but the oppressor in these and similar analogies. And that may be so.

But one person she has not been compared to is John. F. Kennedy -- and with good reason.  Kennedy's situation as a Catholic elected official, and his views on religious conscience and the role of elected officials is actually the more apt comparison.  But Davis and her supporters would not dare to go there, because Jack Kennedy would have no sympathy for her situation, as he made clear in a landmark speech to the  Greater Houston Ministerial Association during the 1960 election.  

Real estate magnate Donald Trump says lots of outrageous stuff, but none of it seems to slow him down. His latest gaffe, however, ought to give some pause to his fans in the Religious Right.

Trump was asked by a reporter with Bloomberg News about his favorite book, which is allegedly the Bible. Asked to name his favorite verse from that tome, Trump stammered, "Well, I wouldn't want to get into it because to me that's very personal. You know, when I talk about the Bible it's very personal."

On my journey to the American Renewal Project in Austin, Texas, I listened to hard right talk radio out of Houston.  There was an ad about Christian Reconstruction leader, Dr. Steven Hotze, hosting a new natural health remedy program with Houston Second Baptist Pastor Ed Young.  The ad helped set the tone for the event.    The meeting was provided free of charge for interested pastors and other activists.  Each participant received a free two nights in a five star hotel along with free banquets.