# Has The Onion gone to far? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 10, 2002, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653 "2002-10-10T11:21:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bifar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bifar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bifar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/1 "2002-10-10T11:21:18Z")
Watch out, Onion, your anti-Catholic agenda’s showing: [http://www.theonion.com/onion3837/starving\_masses.html](http://www.theonion.com/onion3837/starving_masses.html) Does anyone else think this article is a bit beyond the pale? For one thing, I got the impression that some Catholic organisations in the Third World actually promote birth control (though I haven’t got any cites). I’m not Catholic, but I found this article insulting and fatuous. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/2 "2002-10-10T11:25:37Z")
Anti-Catholic agenda? Based on one article? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/3 "2002-10-10T11:25:48Z")
Hmm, I think it’s a little slanted to put it down to any sort of _agenda_; The Onion pretty much takes the piss out of _everything_, why is this any different? ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/4 "2002-10-10T11:29:16Z")
Some previous gems from the Onion. There’s no “my kid’s got cancer in team” Child Abuse. How much is too much. It’s the Onion for fuck sake . It can be offensive without having a agenda, well apart from being funny and offensive that is. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/5 "2002-10-10T11:39:55Z")
Nevertheless, it is interesting that a search on the word “liberal” from The Onion’s front page turned up 0 documents out of 957, whereas conservative turned up 21. ---
**Author:** ![bifar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bifar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bifar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/6 "2002-10-10T11:40:12Z")
I know that part of the humour is in being offensive. But I didn’t find this one funny. And I dunno, it seems fairly brutal here. And here are some more anti-Catholic articles: [http://www.theonion.com/onion3301/popehellbound.html](http://www.theonion.com/onion3301/popehellbound.html) [http://www.theonion.com/onion3819/pope\_forgives.html](http://www.theonion.com/onion3819/pope_forgives.html) The Onion picks on Protestant fundies too, but never any specific church or its particular tenets, and never any leader of that church. (Oh, and sorry for the typo in the header.) ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/7 "2002-10-10T11:50:42Z")
**bifar** , the reason the Catholic Church tends to get picked on is it’s a large, monolithic, somewhat secretive organization with a single, very visible leader. Protestant churches don’t usually share that. (How many non-Baptists would know who the Southern Baptist leader is, until he puts his foot in his mouth at the annual convention?) And the Onion does not pull punches with anyone, which is why it seems so brutal. Robin ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/8 "2002-10-10T11:56:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Libertarian \* > \*\*Nevertheless, it is interesting that a search on the word “liberal” from The Onion’s front page turned up 0 documents out of 957, whereas conservative turned up 21. \*\* I got 11 returned for “liberal” (and 21 for “conservative”) - bizarre. Anyway, I’m not sure that too much can be read into that without looking at the context of every front-page story (regardless of the language). For example, one of the hits for “liberal” was a story ridiculing Strom Thurmond. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/9 "2002-10-10T11:56:53Z")
There have been articles mentioning Lutherans and Baptists, but I think the name and location of the specific churches were made up, probably to avoid litigation. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/10 "2002-10-10T11:58:54Z")
I believe that some or all of the names mentioned in this article may eb real people too: [http://www.theonion.com/onion3631/christian\_right\_lobbies.html](http://www.theonion.com/onion3631/christian_right_lobbies.html) ---
**Author:** ![Myrr21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Myrr21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrr21)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/11 "2002-10-10T12:07:14Z")
> [@](#): > > I know that part of the humour is in being offensive. But I didn’t find this one funny. And I dunno, it seems fairly brutal here Shit man, grow a goddamn spine. The whole point of the thing is to make fun of everybody and everything. Sometimes it’s pretty scathing. You don’t like it? Point your browser elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/12 "2002-10-10T12:50:36Z")
Generally the Onion is an EOI (Equal Opportunity Insulter). The Catholic articles are simply leaves in the storm. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/13 "2002-10-10T12:51:53Z")
**Area Man Whines When Own Religion Instead of Other is Criticized** ---
**Author:** ![cuauhtemoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecb155/32.png) [@cuauhtemoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cuauhtemoc)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/14 "2002-10-10T12:55:01Z")
I personally have never heard of any Catholic organization promoting any method of birth control other than Natural Family Planning. Do you have a cite for that, **bifar**? ---
**Author:** ![bifar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bifar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bifar)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/15 "2002-10-10T12:57:44Z")
Nah, well I don’t cuauhtemoc, but I will take a look and I can find something. Actually, I just remembered… when I was working at l’Arche (a Catholic organisation for people with learning disabilities) it was fairly common to give the Pill to the young women there. That’s not the same as the third world of course. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/16 "2002-10-10T13:02:02Z")
That’s certainly not the first time the Catholic Church has been criticized for preaching the “evils” of birth control to over-populated third-world nations, so IMHO it’s not only not going too far (if such a thing exists) but it’s also one of the most unoriginal things I’ve seen in The Onion. The “farthest” they’ve ever went IMHO was the “Columbine High School Safe Again For Bullying” article. ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/17 "2002-10-10T13:12:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bifar \* > \*\*Nah, well I don’t cuauhtemoc, but I will take a look and I can find something. > > Actually, I just remembered… when I was working at l’Arche (a Catholic organisation for people with learning disabilities) it was fairly common to give the Pill to the young women there. That’s not the same as the third world of course. \*\* what? that goes against teh Catholic Churches teaching on birth control. As for the Article, it is accurate, which is why it is so funny. ---
**Author:** ![blanx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f04885/32.png) [@blanx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blanx)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/18 "2002-10-10T13:41:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Legomancer \* > \*\ ***Area Man Whines When Own Religion Instead of Other is Criticized** \*\* 2 things- 1. The Onion, as has been said before, goes after everyone and everything. 2. **Legomancer** rocks my world. Short, pithy, to the point. ---
**Author:** ![Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Myron\_Van\_Horowitzski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myron_Van_Horowitzski)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/19 "2002-10-10T14:42:52Z")
The _Onion_ article is timely, based on issues such as this (even in my own little town): [http://www.lacrossetribune.com/news/00news.php](http://www.lacrossetribune.com/news/00news.php) Fortunately, the general consensus seems to be, “Screw 'em then.” I, like a lot of others who never much paid attention to the CROP Walk for Hunger before, plan to participate now that the La Crosse Diocese has given it so much publicity. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2002, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653/20 "2002-10-10T14:52:01Z")
This thread reminds me of when I read _Holidays in Hell_ by PJ O’Rourke. It was great. I really enjoyed laughing at all the funny foreigners. Except the chapter about “Euro Weenies”. That chapter was mean. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-the-onion-gone-to-far/131653.md?page=2)