Catholic League president Donohue: "[P]eople don't trust the Muslims when it comes to liberty"

Summary: Appearing on MSNBC's Scarborough Country, Catholic League president William A. Donohue claimed that "people don't trust Muslims when it comes to liberty."

During the February 9 edition of MSNBC's Scarborough Country, Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights president William A. Donohue pointed to a recent Turkish film to claim "people don't trust the Muslims when it comes to liberty," as opposed to the United States, where, Donohue said, "we are civilized." The film to which Donohue was referring is Kurtlar vadisi: Irak (Valley of the Wolves: Iraq, Panafilm, 2006), which has been criticized as both anti-American and anti-Semitic for depicting American soldiers committing atrocities against Iraqi civilians and a Jewish doctor engaging in black market sales of human organs. According to Donohue, praise for the film from Turkey's prime minister shows that Turks "take the uncivilized approach" to free speech, continuing: "And then they wonder why so many people don't trust the Muslims when it comes to liberty, because they will abuse it. In this country, we prize freedom of religion. They abhor it."

From the February 9 edition of MSNBC's Scarborough Country:

DONOHUE: Now, you know, we just saw this in the Islamic world, the reaction, the barbaric reaction of so many people in the Muslim world because of a cartoon. I came out with a statement saying I agree with the United States, Great Britain, and the Vatican, saying that it was unnecessarily inflammatory. And I commend the media -- even though they're hypocritical, the way they act to Catholics -- for not reprinting it or showing it. But the fact of the matter is, I am less interested in [actor] Gary Busey [who appeared in the film] than I am in the Turkish officials. I read what the Turkish officials said about the movie. They thought it was great, including the prime minister.

Now, in this country, we are civilized. We don't appreciate it when somebody sticks it to you in the name of freedom of speech, sir. We condemn it. But over there, they take the uncivilized approach. And then they wonder why so many people don't trust the Muslims when it comes to liberty, because they will abuse it. In this country, we prize freedom of religion. They abhor it.

—S.G.