So a priest, a rapist and a pedophile walk into a bar. And that was just the first guy.

Does this joke make you chuckle? From a purely comedic standpoint, I find this joke incredibly cliche and embarrassingly unfunny. But I'll admit it--I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to humor. And who am I to tell you what is humorous?

But if you did laugh, try replacing these sentences with an equally malicious stereotype about a race, another religion, or even a sexual orientation. If I would have started this column trying to joke that all Middle Eastern people are terrorists or that Native Americans are casino-owning alcoholics, how would you react?

Our strong reaction to the recent, ignorance-fueled events which have so rocked our campus has made me to wonder: Why, especially on this campus, is it so socially acceptable to make light of some racial, ethnic, or religious groups and not others?

As a white, middle class, Catholic male, I am not going make a ridiculous claim that I've ever been even close to oppressed, but I have certainly heard enough (Cathlo-phobic?) comments and eye-rolling jokes, prompting me to question our very definition of tolerance.

While I tend not to remember most of the specific words, I will never forget the "I'm sorry" I received during one of my first days at Grinnell upon informing someone that I am a practicing Catholic. Thank you very much for your condolences, isn't it possible that I still go to church because I actually enjoy it?

And I'll always remember those who have asked me with their smug grins whether or not I have ever been touched by a priest during my days as an alter server.

Molestation jokes? Give me a break. What if I had been in the minority to have been molested by a priest? I wonder what it would feel like to be witness to a corny trivialization of the pain it caused.

Apparently, belittling the victims of sexual assault is socially acceptable, as long as the crime was committed by a stereotypical perpetrator.

So let us look specifically at the Catholic faith. Why is it ok to put this religion down while protecting the integrity of others? Perhaps you think this rhetorical question is easily to answerable.

"Come on," you may say, "the Catholic Church is a historically closed-minded, patriarchal, fear-mongering, and violent institution."

Yes, from its history of indulgences to its frustrating and ongoing irrational stance on gay marriage, all of these adjectives may describe a few unfortunate aspects of this manmade institution.

Man-made: this word is the key operative. If I wanted to, I could structure my counterargument by including an incredibly long list of positives related to the practice of the Catholic faith. Believe me, faith-guided Catholics have performed some pretty clutch deeds over the past thousand plus years (not to mention their often heavenly mastery of the fish fry).

But it is much easier to point out that our world itself is often a closed-minded, patriarchal, fear-mongering, and violent place.

Any man-made institution, even one devoted to service and compassion, will at some point (or many points) be affected by the negative elements which so plague the human race. Let's face it--sometimes people are just plain awful.

Does this mean that we should wake up each morning deriding the evils of all of mankind? Unless you have a case of "The Mondays," I think not.

So if I were to pull the incredibly, bigoted, insensitive and stupid stunt of making light of minority group on our historically activist and politically correct campus, those few chuckles responding to my original Catholic joke would be replaced the sounds of outrage and disbelief.

Angry mobs of students (most likely toting pitchforks borrowed from some country music fans) would be quite justified in marching towards my room, waving signs simply asking, "WTF?"

It is quite likely that someone would circulate an initiative to add "except for Jim Malewitz; he's a butthead" to our newly concocted "Hate Free Grinnell" slogan. That reaction would be justified. But what justifies the non-protection of a group such as the Catholic Church?

Yes, in this crazy world of ours, stereotypes of all varieties and magnitudes abound. And certain people are more sensitive to some of these than others.

But especially now as we find ourselves in the midst of our reaction to some surprising acts of intolerance, it is interesting to reflect upon what our own ideas and practices of tolerance really are. Is it just tolerance for a select group of minorities? Or is it groups of people in general?

While I actually find each individual cliched Catholic jokes more offensive to my sense of humor than to my religious faith, the idea that they are acceptable to some annoys me the most. After the events of last week, our campus is justifiably outraged and concerned.

But unless we relax our hate-free standards to allow all sorts of lame, group-stereotyping jokes, I don't understand why we can't make our protections more inclusive of other groups.

But who am I to say? I have significant percentages of both Irish and Polish blood in me, so it is acceptable to label me both drunk and stupid.