Chris Matthews, a Catholic who, just a few years ago was honored at my alma mater Saint Joseph’s University, said recently that if you’re anti-gay you should become a Catholic.”

You know us Catholics. We’re all about being anti-gay.

Soctt Whitlock of Newsbusters writes that Chris Matthews “sneered that Catholics are attracting bigots.

While talking about Richard Nixon, the so-called Southern Strategy and racism, the Hardball host berated, “If you’re really anti-gay, you become a Catholic now.”

At a question and answer session after the event, I confronted him about the quote and asked him if he wished to “expand or apologize.” He spat back, “I’m saying that some people who are bigoted against gay people have changed religions. Yes. You got it right.”

You see, you can’t just be pro-traditional marriage, you’re anti-gay.

This kind of thing sickens me.

Matthews is comparing what he calls the Republican “Southern strategy” which is to be the racist party in order to attract Southern racists to the Catholic Church’s stance on sexuality. You know, because the church recently revamped it’s policies on sexuality in order to attract the rabid anti-gay crowd. It’s not like the Catholic Church has had a consistent view on sexuality for a while.

This kind of anti-Catholic bashing is par for the course at NBC.

Oh, one note that was probably not in your bulletin this week. Bingo in the church basement sponsored by the Rosary Society is cancelled this Wednesday. Instead the Rosarians are all going to pile into Widow Calabash’s Buick LeSabre and cruise on over to the rest stop for some gay bashing. You up for it?