On five occasions over a period of just three days, five different television shows on Comedy Central went on a tear bashing Catholicism.
- A clip was shown of a priest greeting children, shaking their heads. Tosh implied that the priest was overcompensating, as if to say, “look at me not fondling these children!” (“Tosh.0,” 3/15)
- Comedian Pete Holmes said “my girlfriend from Christian college” offered to perform oral sex on him (he used an obscenity), “but I turned it down for the Lord. You owe me, Jesus.” (“Not Safe with Nikki Glazer,” 3/15)
- Comedian Bret Ernst recalled how his grandma demanded that he clean his room, stating that “I’m Roman Catholic, so my grandmother had those crazy saint statutes—she bitch-slapped Saint Peter on the floor.” (“This Is Not Happening,” 3/15)
- Chris Hardwick asked Lauren Lapkus and John Early what Instagram filter the pope would use. Lapkus said, “Whatever best shows off that body of Christ.” Early said, “The filter that obscures all the child abuse.” (“@Midnight with Chris Hardwick,” 3/16)
- Trevor Noah said St. Patrick’s Day “is supposed to be a religious holiday,” but Jesus didn’t authorize a drunken fest. But because blacks don’t participate, “you can have six million drunk white people screaming on the streets.” (“Daily Show,” 3/17)
Noah’s comment may not be over the line, but the others are; his remark is noted because he wouldn’t dare make a crack about the violence that accompanies the West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn every September. Indeed, Comedy Central almost never finds it comedic to obscenely bash other demographic groups the way it does Catholics. Point of fact: In the course of a year, the network doesn’t trash the protected classes as much as it does Catholics in just three days. There is something really sick going on there.
