On a recent episode of Conan O’Brien’s TBS show, the host took a cheap shot at the pope and the Church. Unlike Jay Leno and David Letterman, the Catholic League has rarely had a problem with Conan O’Brien. But recently he took several shots at the Catholic Church, one of which was clearly below the belt.
In a monologue on Pope Francis, light fun was made of the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Baptism. It was the one-liner subtitle about children being molested by priests that was a low blow: “Kids can opt out of fondling by texting #nothanks to the Vatican.”
Religious profiling—portraying all priests as molesters—is not out-of-bounds with late-night hosts. Now if Conan had said, “Kids can opt out of fondling by texting #nothanks to gay priests,” he may have been fired. But just smearing all priests is considered perfectly acceptable. These are the rules in liberal land.
