Fordham’s tasteless Catholic joke

The Fordham Institute, a major supporter of Common Core, has a commentary section on its website called The Gladfly. On April 1, 2013 it posted a “really funny” April Fools joke regarding Catholics and the architect of the CC, David Coleman. I guess Chester Finn or Michael Petrelli from Fordham thought it would be a real hoot to blog a fictitious post about Pope Francis selecting Coleman to be part of his inner circle.

“Continuing his stunning career ascent, Common Core architect David Coleman has agreed to take a top post in Pope Francis’s inner circle, just months after joining the College Board. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Coleman through a spokesperson, who also noted that he’s converting to Roman Catholicism.”

Joking about converting to Catholicism, really?  I guess some could find humor in the complete absurdity that Coleman would ever convert to Catholicism. Personally, I laughed so hard I almost choked on a fish bone.

“He will be in charge of designing a new church liturgy, which will focus on close reading of Biblical texts and won’t shy away from the most demanding passages in scripture. “Previously, the church was afraid to assign many readings from the Book of Revelation because of its text complexity,” Coleman said in an interview. “But if we expect our faithful to be ready for Heaven—not to mention college and career—we need to aim higher.” Still, Coleman stressed, regardless of Rome’s involvement, the Common Core remains a state-led initiative.”

Whoever wrote this post for Fordham should read the book of Revelations, not for its complexity, but for the content. It might make you think twice before making tasteless jokes at the expense of Catholics or any religion.