Are the writers making fun of religion

I think you're reading way too far into it. It says more about Brian, illustrating what a walking mass of contradictions he is (sinner and reverend), than the religious as a whole.

Well, there are bad "church people" just like anybody else. This one happens to be bad; that's not to say there aren't plenty of good ones. Stories are always about the unusual.

Religion is up there as a target especially when it raises it big head. Knowing that G W Bush got a message from God should make every religious person take stock. You know you don't mess with ISLAM even over the last few days they show no inclination to laugh at their version of the great fairy tale.


If you really do have an interest check out the David Yallop book 'In GODS name' to see some of the antics of the top clergy, look and see how many POOR ministers appear on US TV screens preaching to a congregation and the viewer check out also the big Mormon scandal some years back.
Also do take an interest in the series 'The Borgia's' a great amount of truth is included in this saga.
Oh just in case I forget, two most recent popes with suspect histories associated with the Nazis and Holocaust and the very under the radar predilections of the Priesthood in various areas of oats sowing. You would think in this area alone they secretly suggest and bless the use of contraception. I heard that the Vatican has shares in a Condom manufacturing business. Probably an in joke of some kind but who knows.

A very early clergyman, that even in the USA might be known about, was Thomas [A] Beckett from a very long time ago. Before USA. He was the murdered Archbishop of Canterbury on the say so of Henry 11. Think of Henry as someone like Tripp Darling as king and Brian as the puppet Archbishop. Well Thomas went native and started behaving contrary to the wishes of his King and something akin to a real Archbishop. Brian may well have been of some use to Tripp he did practically begin to own the church and carry out the family ceremonies etc. Does not look as though he might go native any time soon though. Perhaps there was just a simple alluding to the fact that everyone can be bought. Even the scared church. Had the series continued he may have become the personal chaplain to Patrick if he became President of the USA. Another reason that he was not shown as a Catholic even though the settings did seem very near to that faith is that only one Catholic has made it to president and who knows this might have been the very reason for his abrupt removal.

I have a little maxim or mantra. 'Good living for a living'.

Have met no genuine religious people yet but have three cousins at least who are ministers.

It's just part of what forms Nick's opinion of the Darling family. Notice that in the opening voice-over of season 1, the comments he makes about Letitia, Patrick, Brian, and the twins are all seen as sarcastic based on the scenes they're juxtaposed against. The only ones he takes seriously are Tripp, whom he actually respects, and Karen, whom he's been in love with since he was old enough to be in love. The fact that Brian can be such a jerk while also being an Episcopal priest is just further evidence that the Darling family does what they do either because of Tripp and Letitia's manipulations or because they're insane and think they can get away with anything. Brian's in that position because he was sent to seminary, not because he particularly cares about God or the Church.
Besides which, I can't agree with you that Brian is the least likeable character on the show. Your opinion may have changed as you watched the rest of the show, but I found that I disliked Letitia and Patrick far more than Brian. I can't say I particularly like any of the Darlings (Tripp's too ruthless, Karen, Jeremy, and Juliet too out of touch with reality), but I actively disliked Letitia and Patrick. In fact, in the entire series, the only two characters I never thought had a single positive moment to their names were Letitia and Patrick. I mean, to be fair Simon Elder had very few, but I liked even him better than I liked Letitia or Patrick.