SNL Joke, Catholic Church Demands: Thoughts?

Not sure if anyone here watches SNL, but I heard on my local morning news yesterday that Pete Davidson made a joke that basically drew a comparison between R Kelly (the singer recently in a heap of legal trouble for sexually abusing girls under age) and the Catholic Church (Which...well., it's the Catholic church, you know what they're up to). I don't want to repeat the joke because it doesn't translate on a retelling, but the truism that made it work was that if you continue to support the Catholic Church, how can you not support R Kelly? This got the Catholic Church, I believe specifcally the Brooklyn diocese, all up in arms and demanding an apology. Clutching their pearls, as if HOW DARE YOU say that about the Catholic church! Where do you get the nerve! We're a religion!

My thoughts: the Catholic Church better pipe the F down. First of all, it's a satire program and second of all, you can't look MORE clueless than saying "The Catholic Church has done more for sexual assault victims than any other organization" in your demand for an apology. If you're the Catholic church and you don't like getting constantly connected to anything regarding sexual assualt against minors, maybe you ought to actually do something about the real problem, which is RAMPANT ABUSE OF MINORS in the Catholic church, and not worry about something said on late night television pointing out that behavior. I thought it was a real mistake from a PR perspective for the Catholic church, even as I don't think the joke was SUPER funny. This is a classic example of "respect religion only because it's a religion," when in fact this organization which certainly has had some members do plenty of objectively decent things, doesn't deserve it. I don't care how many homeless people you give a meal to if as soon as you're done you go make a nine year old give you a blow job. You don't get to say "but I gave meals to homeless people," the two are not equivalent. 

Google George Pell the number three in the Vatican who has just been sentenced to six years in prison for children fucking.

Sorry, that meals for the homeless quotes were mine, misused. I meant it as a reference to the idea that they've done a lot of good, therefore we should respect their feelings about all the really bad stuff they've done. It's a common argument for all religion. 

Interesting observation about Islam, I don't think that faith deserves default respect either, and not just because of terrorism. In short no belief deserves respect just because it's a belief someone dearly holds. 

I have to disagree that the tone of this press release is anything less than pearl clutching victimization complex in the face of actual facts:

"Apparently, the only acceptable bias these days is against the Catholic Church. The faithful of our Church are disgusted by the harassment by those in news and entertainment, and this sketch offends millions. The mockery of this difficult time in the Church’s history serves no purpose."

Poor you, wealthiest landowning organization on earth! Someone made a joke about a well known and disgusting epidemic you've worked for decades to cover up: abuse of children. Wow, the bias against child abuse! You're right, Pete Davidson is the monster here. Please. No diocese or parish should ever look for credit by saying "We haven't abused children since at least 2002, guys, give us a break!" He also didn't target the diocese of Brooklyn, it was the Catholic Church on the whole. Let the pope excommunicate him I guess. It ends with this particularly tone deaf nugget:

"It is likely that no other institution has done more than the Catholic Church to combat and prevent sexual abuse. The insensitivity of the writers, producers, and the cast of SNL around this painful subject is alarming." 

I don't want to make a full judgment about a joke I haven't heard myself. If it was funny I would've had no qualms laughing. But if you asked me seriously, I'd probably say I don't think the Catholic Church and R. Kelly can be equivocated in that way. One is a very large mixed bag of both good and bad people, and the other is one bad guy.

I'm all for criticizing the structure of the joke, I didn't think it was super funny anyway. What I'm interested in is the response from the church. 

The joke is at 0:21, "If you support the Catholic Church, isn't that the same thing as being an R. Kelly fan? I don't really see the difference. Only, like, one's music is significantly better." It's not particularly funny, and the audience groans more than laughs.