On Thursday, I contacted the Catholic League to see if they were aware of the Eucharistic desecration videos I told you about last month. I also tried contacting the media relations department of YouTube but received no response.
Today, Susan Fani, the Director of Communications at the Catholic League, sent over the following press release:
EUCHARIST DESECRATED ON YouTube
Under the name fsmdude, a Canadian man, Dominique, has posted over 40 videos on YouTube desecrating the Eucharist. Catholic League president Bill Donohue responds as follows:
“On September 29, I wrote to YouTube CEO Chad Hurley asking him to take down these offensive videos. I left a phone message for him on October 3, but he refuses to respond. Accordingly, I have posted my own video on YouTube calling attention to this matter.
“It was a professor from the University of Minnesota, Morris campus, Paul Z. Myers, who started the war on the Eucharist this past summer by intentionally desecrating a consecrated Host. Because Myers committed this act off-campus, the University did nothing about it. The latest copycat, however, has violated YouTube’s own ‘Community Guidelines.’ YouTube makes it clear that it does not ‘permit hate speech,’ defined as ‘speech which attacks or demeans a group based on race or ethnic origin, religion….’ It also says it ‘is not a shock site.’ Now if desecrating what Catholics believe to be the Body and Blood of Christ does not constitute hate speech, as well as expression designed to shock, nothing does.
“In August, YouTube took down a video of a teenager who urinated on the Holocaust memorial in Rhodes, Greece. That was not only the right moral choice, it was consistent with its own strictures. Catholics deserve the same sensitivity, and that is why we are asking YouTube to take down these unconscionable videos. It is not only right morally, it is in compliance with its own guidelines.”
Contact editor@YouTube.com
Hopefully, this will start getting things moving. I don’t understand why YouTube has been so slow to respond. It’s bad PR, plain and simple.
I don’t understand why YouTube has been so slow to respond.
It’s simple. they’re more afraid of offending anti-Catholics than they are of offending Catholics. While the “new Atheists” and the extreme libertarians will stand up and bitch loudly at anything they perceive as even remotely similar to censorship, Catholics have shown for decades that they will not only eat the s**t sandwich with a smile on their face they will order seconds. And leave a big tip. Why should YouTube be afraid of them?