https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/distinctly-catholic/backlash-not-welcome-let-comedians-push-be-funny
Note to MSW. Puritanism is not about sex. They had plenty of that. It was about a purer faith in reaction to increasing Romanism in the Church of England. As a Plymouth descendant, I take umbrage at the misuse of the term in a derogatory manner. It is no more appropriate than using INNA (Irish Need Not Apply), or at least by someone non-Irish. Getting your Irish up is a similar phrase. Humor is tribal and for some jokes non-members need to watch themselves, especially if the tribe undergoes persecution or is still sensitive to it. By the same token, only married people can tell jokes about marriage and they must do so with no hint of misogyny.
On the Oscars, I would love to see Kevin Hart and Neil Patrick Harris co-host. It would be a clever way to deal with this.
Above all, humor cannot be spiteful. Donald Trump's humor is mean. This has signaled the MAGAts that they can follow suit. This has coarsened society.
Poking fun at the powerful is still OK. Indeed, it is necessary to shame them, especially if they abuse their power. Kenny Bruce was known for his jokes about the Catholic Church at a time that it was acting as moral gatekeeper for the larger society. I suspect many bishops pine for that age, but it was abusive to outsiders and itself. Indeed, the term puritanical is often used in reference not to the seventeenth century but in association with the post-war Catholics.
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