South Park vs Religion

It seems now that Muslims are a special protected group. Everyone and everything can be mocked and insulted with the exception of Muslims. The National Geographic special on the so called Gospel of Judas cuts at the core of who Jesus was and links him with the Gnostic movement of the first century. The DaVinci Code blatantly challenges the Bible's version of Christ, yet these are fully supported and played up by the press. Big headlines with the Gospel of Judas announced how this would challenge Christianity. But show an image of Mohammad...no we can't go there, someone might get their panties in a wad and go all postal.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Bradylama

Nobody has been denied the First Ammendment, the problem however, is that we've allowed it to become undermined due to intimidation.

Very true. This is a problem however that can lead to denial of First Amendment rights. If the squeaking wheel gets coddled consistently you risk the establishment of a specially protected group that cannot be spoken of negatively at any time. If corporations are intimidated, how far a leap is it to intimidate congressional representatives and so on. I'm not saying this has happened, but I fear it's close.

There is also a basic misunderstanding among people as to freedom of speech. Comedy Central understood that freedom of speech doesn't mean that the speech is without consequences. In Houston some restaraunt workers were fired because they didn't show up for work when they attended the anti immigration protests. They are now being represented by an advocacy group saying that they were punished for exercising their freedom of speech, when in reality they're being punished because they neglected to show up for work. I'm sure Comedy Central weighed its options and said, Meh..its just not worth the hassle.

That being said, I think their decision was very hypocritical in light all the other South Park episodes. Apparently all these easily offended people are incapable of changing the channel.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Skexis

Let's be honest here. Your solution is to continue bullying Islam as a whole until they see the light or you send them to it.

It seems to me that Islamists are the ones doing the bullying here. Images of Christ are ok to portray in any vile or negative form because Christians generally won't threaten to kill the cartoonist or burn down the embassy of his home nation. Muslims on the other hand seem to be more inclined to such violence and therefore they bully various media outlets to conform to their demands. You advocate patience, but patience is dangerously close to appeasement. The radical arm of Islam hasn't changed in many centuries, how long are we to wait before we dare satirize any aspect of Islam?

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Originally Posted by Watts

Can anyone say that they're really surprised it came to this? Parker and Stone were going to push South Park to the limits of what most people would deem decent acceptable entertainment. Comedy Central was bound to stop them at some point.

Parker and Stone long ago pushed the limits of what MOST people find acceptable. The problem here is that they did something that a select few violent people find unacceptable. Do you really think most americans give a shit if Mohammad is portrayed in a cartoon? Are you saying most Americans think Jimmy and Timmy beating the crap out of each other in a cripple fight, or jesus being beaten up by the devil or a talking piece of poo are just fine but a cartoon Mohammad, well damn, thats over the line? Why did Comedy central use this as the stopping point. Are they afraid of violent retribution or are they being as politically correct as the rest of the media and granting a special protected status upon islam?

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Sure South Park has crossed the line for some folks. I love the show, yet there are several episodes I'd rather not watch because I think they're sort of offensive, so, no big deal, I just don't watch them. It just seems very hypocritical to allow any and all other abuses take place but keep Islam off limits. If this intimidation is taken to its logical conclusion we could be facing Sharia like laws making the denegration of Islam a crime...all because we don't want to piss certain people off.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Skexis

Do I think it's right to encourage inflammatory media when the point is made already? Doing it twice, three times, or more, "Just because it's right" is equally irresponsible, and shows a considerable amount of naivety in my eyes.

It was the Muslims who encouraged the inflammatroy media. Had they lodged their protests and perhaps had some peaceful boycotts or something the entire issue would have long ago faded away. But their hysterical over reaction to a cartoon prompts the media to highlight the reason for their irrationality. They bring mocking and dersion on themselves by acting like such nut cases. It was right for the Danes and others to publish the cartoon. It is right to stand up against intimidation by a gang of psychotic zealots. It is right, not irresponsible, to stand up for freedom while exposing total intolerance and hypocrisy. These same Muslims have no problem publishing horribly anti-semetic cartoons in their papers.

The more we buckle to intimidation from those who threaten violence the more power over our society they will gain.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

When I said Muslims I was only referring to the protestors, but its easier than always saying "the insane fanatical Muslim protestors"

I agree with you on the fact that the media often chooses what to print and what not to print. The point here is that the media is being cowed by the nut case Muslim fanatics. Comedy Central isn't suddenly getting a conscience and saying that a cartoon Mohammad is over the line. They are being intimidated by threats of violence. I'm sure there are many Christians who would be horrified at the end of the episode where Cartman forms a Christian rock band, where he curses Jesus in some of the most flagrant ways at the end. Or his romantic Jesus songs, one implying oral sex, would offend millions. But since there were no Christians threatening to kill Parker and Stone and no one was burning any embassies, Comedy Central though the material was just fine. Had Cartman said these things about Mohammad I think they would have been censored in fear of reprisal.

Your contention that inflammatory media is wrong is flawed because it isn't based on what is newsworthy or current, it is based on who screams the loudest on outrage. "If you give a mouse a cookie"....next the Muslims, oh, I'm sorry, radical fanatic nutcase Muslims, may insist that a telivised Christian preacher, who happens to give a sermon on what he considers the error of Islam be censored because he is being hateful towards Mohammad. Just protest and threaten to kill him, the network executives etc. and the network will fold.

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