Common Folk Using Common Sense

First let’s do a little background on this so everyone’s up to speed. Trey Parker and Matt Stone have, for a number of years, written a scathing, irreverant cartoon called “South Park“. It is shown on the Comedy Central TV channel. Comedy Central has no problem poking fun at Christians and Jews, probably because Christians and Jews don’t try to kill people for insulting them. Scientologists and radical Muslims, however, have proven that they can frighten Viacom into submission. South Park Executive Producer Anne Garefino said that the show was faced with two options: deliver the episode as written and animated with Mohammed shown and then allow Comedy Central to censor it, or edit out the disputed scene and write their own language explaining why Mohammed was not being shown and whose decision it was. You do remember, don’t you, a cartoon Jesus defecating on George W. Bush and the American flag, as was depicted at the end of Part 2 of “Cartoon Wars”? Lots of laughs there. And who could ever forget an episode called “Bloody Mary,” featuring a menstruating Virgin Mary statue? Oh yeah, they had them rolling in the aisles with that one. Mocking Jesus and Christianity is such fun, right? And that’s something we’d NEVER want to do to Islam (and Scientology).

But last month, the network yanked a rerun of an episode that poked fun at Scientology and its most prominent celebrity member, Tom Cruise. And several days before it was scheduled to air, Isaac Hayes asked to be let out of his contract providing the voice of Chef on the edgy animated series, because he had just noticed that the cartoon series about four precocious potty-mouthed fourth graders in South Park, Colo., makes fun of his religious group. Ahhh, the power of impending lawsuits do wonders, don’t they?

But now came their episode that was to include a cartoon image of Muhammad. So the episode aired and just when Muhammad was supposed to make his entrance we were treated to a black screen saying something about censoring any image of Muhammad. Comedy Central is now the subject of intense ridicule on the internet … and here.

Huh? Jesus taking a dump on the American flag is funny while a brief appearance of the founder of Islam, with him only handling a football helmet with a salmon on top, is taboo?

And all this is going on the same time that MTV, also owned by Viacom, is scheduled to broadcast a cartoon lampooning the pope and Vatican hierarchy. The series portrays the pope as an uncontrollable, infantile character who pogo-sticks around a Vatican populated by corrupt, money-grabbing cardinals.

So why did Comedy Central censor ‘ole Muhammad? It’s because Christians and Jews are a fair target, because all they will do is complain or maybe start a boycott. Muslims are not, because all they will do is kill. Via Michelle Malkin:

Dear Viewer,

Thank you for your correspondence regarding the “South Park” episodes entitled “Cartoon Wars.” We appreciate your concerns about censorship and the destructive influence of outside groups on the media, entertainment industry and particularly Comedy Central.

To reiterate, as satirists, we believe that it is our First Amendment right to poke fun at any and all people, groups, organizations and religions and we will continue to defend that right. Our goal is to make people laugh and perhaps, if we’re lucky, even make them think in the process.

Comedy Central’s belief in the First Amendment has not wavered, despite our decision not to air an image of Muhammad. Our decision was made not to mute the voices of Trey and Matt or because we value one religion over any other. This decision was based solely on concern for public safety in light of recent world events.

So the Islamic terrorists have won the war as far as Comedy Central is concerned. Since Christians and Jews don’t go around killing people it’s OK to say or do anything you like against them. But because Islamic terrorists have already shown that they have no problem killing anyone that doesn’t see things exactly the same way they do then you have to let them get their way.

Or, as we refer to them down here in the south, Comedy Central as a bunch of wimps. Which makes their entire catalog of satire suspect and questionable. The First Amendment is fine just as long as a gun is not pointed at you.

Trey Parker, Matt Stone, South Park, Comedy Central, Viacom, Islam, Scientology

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