Posted on 12/09/2005 5:50:13 AM PST by NYer
Catholic League president Bill Donohue remarked today about last night’s episode of “South Park” (it will run again for the next three nights):
“A ‘South Park’ character gets a DWI and is ordered to attend AA meetings. Told about the 12-step program, he concludes that he needs a miracle to cure him. The plot then focuses on a statue of the Virgin Mary who is ‘bleeding out her ass.’ The Vatican dispatches a cardinal to investigate and he is sprayed with blood when he walks behind the statue. He then declares this to be a miracle, which draws even more people. The alcoholic, now in a wheelchair, is also sprayed with blood: he then claims he is cured and jumps out of his seat.
“Pope Benedict XVI goes to investigate. He, too, is sprayed with blood when he walks behind the statue. A reporter says, ‘The pope investigated further and determined that the statue was not bleeding out its ass, but its vagina.’ To which the pope replies: ‘A chick bleeding out her vagina is no miracle. Chicks bleed out their vaginas all the time.’
“Comedy Central is a subsidiary of MTV, which is owned by Viacom. On the board of directors of Viacom is a practicing Catholic and a distinguished public servant, Joseph A. Califano; he served under Presidents Johnson and Carter. We are writing to him today requesting that he intervene in this matter. We want a) an apology to Roman Catholics and b) a pledge that this episode be permanently retired and not be made available on DVD. In the event Viacom does not cooperate, we are asking Mr. Califano to issue his own statement of condemnation. We are asking our members to contact him as well. Remember, they chose to insult Our Blessed Mother on the eve of the Immaculate Conception, and the holy day itself.
“Joseph A. Califano is chairman of the board of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. He can be reached at CASA, 633 Third Avenue, NY, NY 10017; phone, 212-841-5200; fax, 212-956-8020; email, employment@casacolumbia.org.”
I am supposed to assume that the descriptions of the episode were inaccurate, I guess. Don't give me that nonsense that one cannot criticize a film or book that one has not read or seen, not unless the author is capable of presenting the idea with some delicacy. It is the idea that I find offensive. Faulkner once characterized this sort of approach by saying that he first came up with an ofensive idea, like raping a woman with a corncob and then built from there. What these guys do--and I HAVE seen some of their stuff-- is mostly crud, not rising to the level of Monty Python.
Nyer I think that Virgin Mary episode pretty over top what took them so long trashing Cathoic church they been on the air for eight year
You won't see them trash the Koran reason is I think Matt and Trey love their life too much
What about the holy book of Vatican law, the mother spider, and pedophile priests??
That didn't offend the catholics???
Guys like them pick soft targets.
Actually they trash Scientlogy pretty well in that one episode them goof on Tom Cruise now that funny LOLOL!
I'm Catholic, but I don't equate statue-worshipping with respect for the Virgin Mary
Even the Bible is pretty brutal with people attributing miracles to statues. For instance, Isaiah 44 calls them stupid:
18 Such stupidity and ignorance! Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see. Their minds are shut, and they cannot think.I doubt that the Virgin Mary or Jesus get offended when humorists poke fun at idol worshipping.19 The person who made the idol never stops to reflect, "Why, it's just a block of wood! I burned half of it for heat and used it to bake my bread and roast my meat. How can the rest of it be a god? Should I bow down to worship a chunk of wood?"
20 The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes. He is trusting something that can give him no help at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, "Is this thing, this idol that I'm holding in my hand, a lie?"
No. Bill Donohue and his friends simply didn't complete their Pasteur treatments.
You're the one who asked that we not bring up episodes you haven't seen. Now, are you going to tell me how the Virgin Mary was offended, or are you going to talk about my mother or the flag or apple pie?
Only started watching these last few months so yeah, probably.
You have a point?
Does that mean no?
The very first South Park episode insulted Christ. Were they outraged then?
I think this is over the top. I don't mind a little good natured teasing of Catholicism or some other religion, but this goes beyond the pale.
For instance, I would have mixed feelings about the Life of Brian. You can take it as blasphemous, or you can take it as what happens when someone is put into the position of the Messiah but unforunately doesn't qualify. But I can't think of any excuses or explanations for what is described here.
I take it you're a pagan?
I'm not.
I never saw that episode. If I had, I would have ceased watching the show sooner.
HOLY COW!
While I find what they did on the show disgusting and blasphemous, the Catholic Church leaves itself wide open to this when it passively promotes the idea that God speaks through toast, dirty windows, and trees. Miracles in the bible usually had a point, they weren't meaningless gimmicks happening every week or two. I don't recall numerous stories of the image of Moses, Elijah, or Mary appearing in Biblical oatmeal for little discernable reason.
But according to 12 step it's the only way that works and that simply isn't the case.
I don't think there's anything to look past, the fact that AA insist all addiction is a disease and their approach is the only one possible does give it a cult like quality. And that right there is a well for satire, if you're going to satirize something you generally don't go past the funniest layer.
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