"The View" vs. "The Onion": Two Takes On Scandal Rocking the Catholic Church

Yeah, guidance from above might help.

We've attempted not to step too closely into the growing pedophilia scandal with the Catholic Church. It's not exactly our thing, no matter how amazed we are that CNN thinks the Catholic League's Bill Donahue has any credibility left to discuss the subject.

Yet pop culture intersected handily on Monday in two different ways, so I get to weigh in. The ladies of The View started it off with a wide ranging discussion on the church sex abuse scandal. You know how you know the Catholic Church is on the wrong side of the issue? When all five ladies at the table say the Church is wrong.

I was especially thrilled when Barbara and Whoopi went out of their way to draw a line in the sand that this is about pedophilia, or at best pederasty, and not about homosexuality as CNN has irresponsibly allowed Bill Donohue to claim.

Later in the day we had a different, hilarious take on the subject from TheOnion.com. They seem to take the view that the pedophilia is more like pollution - you should keep it under 5 parts per 1000. "They should know that they're only allowed one small child every other month." Like getting into your skinny jeans, it's all about moderation.

The whole thing is a funny take on a serious subject. When it crossed social media, someone from another blog said that he predicted that the reality of the news, and the satire of the news from TheOnion.com would intersect sometime around late April. I think he may be right.

Like all great satire, they borrow from reality, such as the current game of blaming the victims:

"The truth is there will always be a little bit of molestation—it's simply unavoidable," Vatican spokesperson Rev. Federico Lombardi said. "But the fact that young boys have gotten much more attractive over the past few decades is no excuse for the blatant defiance of church limits that have been in place for centuries."

The whole thing is a great read. And I'd like to thank the ladies of The View for taking the problem on directly, and drawing a line in the sand about the fact that this is a pedophilia problem and not a homosexual problem. Middle America needed to hear that in the same clear, certain terms that the Catholic League is using to claim the opposite.