Comments for Should Catholics Have to Pay for Anti-Catholic Bigotry? at http://www.thecatholicthing.org , comment 1 to 22 out of 20 comments http://www.thecatholicthing.org Fri, 24 May 2013 08:47:01 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-15643 Hello I have been a fan of the science fiction by H.G.Wells, such as The Time Machine. I found out that he was a rabid anti Catholic & advocated bombing the Vatican during World War 2. Should I still read his book? What is your opinion? Please let me know and you can email me at ernestt@rogers.com - Ernest Turriziani Mon, 04 Feb 2013 09:56:49 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-15303 Don't back down catholics, if you put pressure on the network you eventually get the series concelled take from the Christians that had a similar experience the the anti-christian ABC series GCB which cancelled due to continuous pressure on the network to cancel the series read what what i wrote about GCB here http://21stcenturyreagan.blogspot.com/2012/06/christians-tell-abc-they-did-right.html and http://21stcenturyreagan.blogspot.com/2012/06/abc-censorship-on-facebook.html - Bryan Thu, 10 Jan 2013 22:33:57 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-15049 William Manley is right: The production and media companies are *definitely* anti-Christian (especially anti-Catholic) in the values they project. The Weinstein Company, Viacom (owners of Paramount, MTV, Comedy Central, etc.) and NewsCorp (owners of 20th Century Fox, Fox Broadcasting, FX, etc). are *the worst* offenders. One wonders why we don't have any more producers - such as the late MTM Enterprises in the 70's and 80's - that really *cared* about *quality* and also, when the occasion called for it, portraying Christianity in a positive light? Very simple: Said companies were swallowed up by these giant media companies during the 1990's and now cease to exist. To paraphrase former Parents Television Council President L. Brent Bozell III: "[These media companies'] bottom line philosophies mean bottom-of-the-barrel [product], and quality be hanged." About the closest thing we have now to real quality family shows are the Hallmark Hall of Fame specials on ABC. I watch them every chance I get. (By the way, MTM Enterprises, which gave us such quality shows as "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Rhoda" died in 1998 when they were bought out by the NewsCorp empire and absorbed into 20th Century Fox. And two other "quality" production companies, Embassy Television ("All in the Family") and Lorimar ("The Waltons," "Eight is Enough") died in 1992 and 1993, respectively, when Embassy was bought out by Sony Pictures Entertainment and Lorimar by the Time Warner empire, respectively. Embassy was absorbed into Sony Pictures Television and Lorimar into Warner Bros. Television.) *Very* sad, indeed! - Moax 429 Sun, 23 Dec 2012 14:44:07 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14981 @David Meyer: Are the downloads you receive legal? And are they free from malware? I understand that a legal study found that thousands (nearly all the most popular) BitTorrent downloads were in violation of copyright. And I've also read that as much a 20% of all BitTorrent downloads contain malware. - Brad Miner Mon, 17 Dec 2012 09:02:27 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14979 Jo the housewife said: "I agree--shut off cable. I like EWTN and would hate to punish them,..." EWTN is available to stream online! I don't have cable, yet watch EWTN regularly with the whole family. I believe it is also "on the air" for beter quality than a stream. I canceled cable and pay more for a higher speed internet connection so I could target the content I want. Computers can be outfitted with a "TV out" card also, so your big screen TV can be used to watch content played from your computer. Very easy to do. - David Meyer Mon, 17 Dec 2012 08:48:38 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14978 I havent had cable for years now. Best decision ever. Yet I still watch TV series that play on FX (the network of the awful show from the article) AMC, Showtime, HBO, etc, etc. I decided if they won't let me choose what comes into my house, I would make the choice for them. So I Bittorrent the shows I want online for free and ignore their horrid commercials and other sick shows I dont want to pay for. There is simply no way to pay ala carte for these things. Until that time comes, I will take what I want and leave the rest. The only downside is I have to wait a day for the shows to be available. No big deal. If we starve these companies they will change or die. - David Meyer Mon, 17 Dec 2012 08:31:57 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14872 I have been without cable for six years now, and I don't miss it one bit. I decided i was spending WAY too much money (about $65.00 a month in 2006) for the "privilege" of watching raunchy, commercial-infested programming. I have since used that money to purchase family-friendly programming on DVDs, and lots of them! If Cable wants me back two things will have to happen: 1. They will have to make their programming "a-la-carte" so I get (and pay for)ONLY the channels I watch. 2. The "V-Chip" Law will have to be amended to INCLUDE COMMERCIALS. Parents must CRINGE whenever a program their children are watching goes to a commercial break, you can have a toy commercial on one minute, next comes an "ED Pill" Ad! :( Parents should have the right to block Ads they don't want their kids to see! - William Hughes Mon, 10 Dec 2012 15:10:03 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14820 I worked in NY publishing for a nearly a decade. The only Catholics I met were on the Catholic left. Perhaps one reason why I was so long becoming a Catholic. The fact is that feminism and gay activism has taken over in so much of American life and that these movements are by their nature anti-Catholic. This is true not only in Hollywood or Manhattan's media ghettoes. It is true in corporate America as well. Check out any career site of any major corporation and you are grilled regarding tolerance and inclusion and "getting along." The fact is that if you are a practicing orthodox Catholic you will discover that "getting along" is a one-way street. Only this week a co-worker overheard me saying I attended Mass on Sunday. She repeated again and again "I don't go to church." And again and again I ignored. But she knew whereof she spoke -- her validation came from the human resources department and management themselves. After the election things have only worsened because the unthinking leftist masses have been emboldened by the re-election of the president who is overtly anti-Catholic as is his entire administration. I suspect that this is true in virtually every metropolitan area in the United States. The ugliness of the media was emphasized during the election by the Samuel L. Jackson, Lena Dunham, and Michael Moore ads. And Chris Rock's faux ad on a late night tv show. When tv went digital, I donated my TV to a children's ward fund drive raising money with recycling electronic devices. - Graham Combs Sat, 08 Dec 2012 14:35:04 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14815 Thank you for your article. For years I have only kept cable for EWTN and local news. Local news I can get for free over the air and it seems that EWTN is now available by streaming video over the Internet. I had not realized this. Cutting the cable... - David Sat, 08 Dec 2012 10:05:43 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14810 Well said. I have a nifty little television which features a DVD slot in its side. I view the movies I want (most recently THE LITTLE WORLD OF DON CAMILLO and THE RETURN OF DON CAMILLO) from my own modest library of films. To subscribe to cable or satellite is to pay other people to put out weird stuff. - Mack Sat, 08 Dec 2012 06:03:19 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14794 I share your outage and frustration at the content of this aparticular piece of trash and cable bundling that finances it. I will express my sense of wrongness to the cable supplier. But I am sure many at the Cable company, as well as FX and the production company of this show are Catholics, and will proclaim such along with not going to mass, believing in the real presence or Sacrament of Marriage, etc. The point being, there is no definable Catholic. 60 years of poor and inadequate catechesis has made it an amorphous personal choice. This trash will appeal to large Catholic segment. Equally frustrating. Much less the de-brief that will follow in RCIA meetings. - Frank Fri, 07 Dec 2012 08:00:06 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14793 I agree--shut off cable. I like EWTN and would hate to punish them, but I can do without the rest. Just think what good people could do with their time trying to make our world better if we shut off 10-20 hours (wasted hours!) a week! DO IT! - Jo the housewife Fri, 07 Dec 2012 07:49:12 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14792 I think most people would love an a la carte approach to cable programming--for the reasons the author gives as well as many others. The vast majority of cable viewers only watch a handful of channels. So it has a superficial appeal. But it will never happen. Cable's business model depends on bundling for several reasons. The biggest is that they have a business with high fixed costs for infrastructure and content but very small marginal costs for each program or channel watched. So bundling is the real way for them to make money. People paying $50-$100 a month for the whole package would expect a big discount if they could only sign up for the channels they wanted. That would destroy cable's revenue stream. Moreover even if we did mandate that cable did offer a la carte pricing all the channels would have to make up the lost affiliate fees in subscriber prices. So subscribing to your 10 favorite channels would not be any cheaper for you than the cable bundle of 200. But the end of the annoyance of feeling like you are paying for content you don't like and aren't watching and thus saving money every month is the major appeal of a la carte pricing. When people figure out they can't save money..the rationale for supporting it falls away. Moreover the easiest way for cable to attract new subscribers is to offer more channels rather than fewer ones thus creating a bigger bundle to surround the core channels with broader appeal. EWTN for instance would not work on an a la carte basis (too few eyeballs) but reaches many many homes because it is part of the bundle and many areas. Many niche channels are like this and could not work as stand-alone deals but could as part of the broader package. If you forced cable to price a la carte they'd just respond by carrying only the channels that have a broad appeal. But there is one misconception in the article. The subscriber is not subsidizing the bad channels...not really. Affiliate fees in cable are based on ratings and unpopular stations do get dropped unless cable is forced to carry them or they are affiliated with a larger more powerful network. So you can rest easy that none of your monthly cable bill is paying for FX but really this is the pro rata fees of those who do watch it. My advice...Don't watch FX or better still, do what I've done and drop cable entirely and watch everything on demand!! That's the way to go! - petebrown Fri, 07 Dec 2012 07:08:33 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14789 Good article Father! We cut off cable for Lent a year and a half ago. It has been off ever since and we are much richer for it, just like DS said, much more family time, we are much closer and that poison is out of our house. Cut it off, starve this evil tree at its roots! - Achilles Fri, 07 Dec 2012 05:02:23 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14788 @William, The double standard seems to be obvious,great point. Jack - Jack,CT Fri, 07 Dec 2012 04:44:19 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14786 Actually to some degree most television and film productions are anti-Christian in the values they project. The damage these shows do to the whole concept of traditional Judeo-Christian morality is significant. It's why I choose to have no television service at all. I love the personal freedom stemming from that decision. Another point: Can you imagine the furor that would ensue if the program you are discussing went after Muslims/Buddhists/Hindus (or fill in your particular blank) rather than Catholics? Why is it politically correct to attack Catholics so viciously? - William Manley Fri, 07 Dec 2012 04:13:43 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14783 @Frank, I agree totally agree,you make my point for me,we cut the money train off and the "Media", The "Liberal media will respond to lack of funds. Thankyou for a refreshingly SIMPLE but great solution! Jack - Jack,CT Fri, 07 Dec 2012 02:47:44 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14781 Father Peter, The simple answer is NO, we should not have to pay for this trash. But I refer back to the movie "The Untouchables" where Sean Connery's character asks Elliot Ness (Kevin Costner), "And what are you willing to do? And then what?" I'm keeping the satellite TV until my father-in-law leaves from his Christmas visit. He likes his football and being a widower and a distinguished veteran of WWII, I will accommodate him all that I can. But after he leaves, the satellite TV is gone. I don't need to protest in the streets or lobby my legislators for a law...JUST CUT OFF THE MONEY!!!! When enough people begin to target their opposition at the pockets of the progenitors of this filth, hearts and minds begin to follow. There are other areas of which my wife and I are cutting back targeting markets whose employees are predominantly entry level and probably voted for Obama. These people need to feel the sharp sting of unemployment and the rigid rod of reality that elections do have consequences. Take a cue from the American Revolution and an organization called The Committee of Correspondence. They had feather pens, expensive rag paper, four legged horses, and two legged couriers to communicate ideas, intentions, and actions. We have our ideas, our intentions, a keyboard on a computer and an Internet operating at the speed of light to communicate. Sometimes, freedom demands of us a sacrifice. Walk the rows of headstones at a National Cemetery and you will come upon the graves of many who were killed in action to ensure our freedom. All gave some and some gave all and I can assure you that I find it much more to my advantage to spend my time working and spending my hard earned cash on other endeavors than to pay for and and having my common sense and intellect insulted by such tripe as Nip Tuck or Here Comes Honey Boo Boo! And lastly, we can take a cue from Don Corleone who had to slap around a pitiful Johnny Fontaine, "You can act like a man!" said the Don! "We can act like mature men and women!" I say; justifiably indignant and committed to finally drawing the line in the sand and tell those who are bringing rot to our culture, "This is far as you get, the push back starts NOW!" - Frank Fri, 07 Dec 2012 01:59:44 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14780 Father, One does not have to look hard to find evil',we can find it all around us. the perception of us is very "Ugly" to some,Reality.. I agree this show and shows like it are wrong but we also must forgive and not be burdened by this.I do understand where! you are coming from but the more "Attention" you give to this type of garbage" the more they win the arguement. Father this really has to start at the home, and "Parents",parents play the role of "Monitor". Welcome Father and Merry Christmas. Jack - Jack,CT Fri, 07 Dec 2012 01:47:04 +0100 http://www.thecatholicthing.org/columns/2012/should-catholics-have-to-pay-for-anti-catholic-bigotry.html#comment-14779 Agree with Ib. Can the tube completely. We recently bought a new house and my wife and I decided to experiment temporarily with no TV. We feared a backlash from our children, but they don't miss it at all! Neither do we. Now we read more, play board games as a family, talk longer over dinner, spend time outdoors and get more sleep. Of course, nobody is perfect. We still have an Internet connection. But with no large screen in the house, it's hard for streaming TV shows to be come the "go to" option. - DS Fri, 07 Dec 2012 01:17:48 +0100