House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) has joined Media Research Center President Brent Bozell, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI) and a coalition of Catholic leaders today in an open letter to the White House demanding that President Obama fire Harry Knox (depicted at right*), an appointed member of the Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
This week Knox once again boldly and shamelessly showcased his hatred for the Catholic faith, its teachings and leader by reaffirming his belief that the Pope “is hurting people in the name of Jesus” by not promoting the use of condoms as a means to control the spread of HIV. As first reported by the MRC's CNSNews.com who documented the attack with video footage, Knox reaffirmed the charge he made against the Pope in March of 2009 by declaring “I do” when directly asked by CNS News if he still stood behind those words.
The outrage has spurred Catholic leaders from across the country to convene and issue the following open letter:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20500-0003
Dear Mr. President,
The self-proclaimed anti-Catholic bigot you appointed to head up faith-based partnerships has reiterated his deep seeded prejudice against the Pope and the teachings of the Catholic Church, and your failure to remove him from office speaks volumes about how much you really value respect for diversity and religious differences.
We first warned you in a May 2009 letter that Knox’s long and tainted history of bashing the leader of our faith stood in direct opposition to the community he was tasked with building.
But you never responded. You never acknowledged that his appointment to the Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships stood in sharp contrast with the Council’s mission to “bring everyone together – from both the secular and faith-based communities.”
In fact, you never even acknowledged that Knox’s comments were the least bit offensive, even when we gave you the benefit of the doubt that perhaps you were unaware of Knox’s prejudices before appointing him.
Now that Mr. Knox has again offended millions of Catholic Americans – standing behind his brazen assertion that the Pope “is hurting people in the name of Jesus” – we can only interpret your continued silence and complicity with his grave offense as wholehearted support for this bigot and his words of hatred.
We are now forced to demand the firing of Harry Knox. It is the only remaining action you can take to dissuade faithful Catholics that your Council is not a sham and that your “commitment to diversity” is an absolute mockery.
Sincerely,
John Boehner
House Republican Leader
Member of Congress
Rep. Thaddeus McCotter
Member of Congress
L. Brent Bozell, III
Founder and President
Media Research Center
Alfred S. Regnery
Publisher
The American Spectator
Richard Viguerie
American Target Advertising
Thomas Peters
American Papist Blog
Dr. Kevin Roberts
Executive Director
Catholic Families for America
Larry Cirignano
Faithful Catholic Citizens
*Photo via Catholic News Agency, which has a February 4 story on Knox here.
