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We're not thin-skinned. I'm a practicing, conservative Catholic, and I thought Monty Python's "The Meaning of Life" was hysterical. Sure, "Every Sperm is Sacred" is a bit irreverent but they made fun of everyone. The very next scene has the two stuffy Protestants talking about having only one child and how they, just like Catholics, get pregnant every time they have sex . But this "Committed" episode was the outright portrayal of the desecration of our most cherished sacrament. There's room for humor in all institutions, but this was way WAY out of line.

I'd forgotten about the "Every Sperm is Sacred" number . . . what a riot! The kick-line of cardinals and nursemaids was great. Reminds me of so many great lines - "The Lord would see right through such a cheap trick" . . . "Well, I'm going to have to sell you all to Medical Science" . . . And the whole riff with the Protestants - "Well, we've had sex twice, and we have John and Mary . . . " and the guy proclaiming that his Protestant creed centers around being able to use specifically described prophylactics . . . ouch!

Monty Python is fairly irreverent as you say, but to me they never cross the line of disrespect to Our Lord. They carry ideas ad absurdum . . . but they leave the central tenets and the Deity Himself alone. The only time I can remember an actual depiction of Christ (in Brian), you saw him far off giving the Sermon on the Mount - he was in soft focus, dressed all in white, hieratic gesture, could have been out of a Sunday School lithograph. All the comedy was in the foreground, with the two mokes on the edge of the crowd who thought he said, "Blessed are the Cheesemakers" . . .