Posted on 12/09/2005 5:50:13 AM PST by NYer
Catholic League president Bill Donohue remarked today about last nights 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.
Come on, that is a lame grievance.
Lets move on to the feats of strength! Best 2 of 3 falls! After that we can jump in the pool and see who can handle the cold weather!
I'm looking for a good sized pole, can't be too flashy or commercialized.
If you're the type to think a bleeding statue will cure disease, and you'd wait in line to pray to it.... then yes... you're the reaction that they, and many of us, find humor in. :~D
Now who is the one jumping to conclusions? Now we've moved on to HEALING BY STATUES? I know you're trying real hard to deny MY point by insulting me, but I think you know exactly what I'm saying about this and you just don't want to give it any weight. But others who read this may.
Those people who would flock to a bleeding statue or some other apparition of Mary in mold on a window, or in a piece of toast, are the only target for mocking in the episode.
If you don't like the show, that's fine... Matt and Trey will still eat tonight. I am merely correcting errors of fact that you, and others were making, in describing a show you haven't even watched.
You naughty Question_Assumptions. See the firestorm you created with just one little opinion? Good work.
You were the 20th person to suggest it, and you were all wrong. :~D LOL The response to you indicating you were was dripping with sarcasm along the lines of "Here we go again"!
It worked well for those of us who did :~D
That's the thing. Sometimes you have to actually participate in order to understand the jokes :~D
Well that shows you've never watched an episode. Chef turns to Islam in Chef Goes Nanners (season 4) and then turns back IIRC. Matt and Trey make fun of anybody and everybody. The episode with Osama Bin Laden comes to mind as well
But that is NOT what the argument is about. You clearly miss the point, that being that this statue is representative of the very real Virgin Mary, and for the sake of a few laughs at those who might "flock to a bleeding statue or a piece of toast", by showing blood pouring out of various orifices (whether statue or not), indicates a presence of sacrilege. And that's NOT NICE. And those who find the South Park episode/segment to be over the line have a right to feel that way, whether you miss their point or not. And you DO, and you ARE. Additionally, based on the various posts of others concerning this, including yours, is it really necessary for me to actually SEE the segment (we're not talking Gone With the Wind here, are we?) to offer an intelligent argument against ONE thing in it? I didn't realize we were talking about the entire series, were we?
Well that shows you haven't read the whole thread.
Don't take my word for it. ... I'm kidding. You weren't the first. ;-)
Yes, they have. Muhammed was depicted as one of the Super Best Friends in the episode of that name. During season 5, IIRC.
The answer is they have. Many times. Not only in South Park, but in the movie Team America, they have made fun of the crazy elements of Islam and of characters like Osama Bin Laden.... not the religion, per se, but the nutty fringes of it and the things people DO. Which is really their point. They aren't making fun of the Catholic faith, or God, in this episode, they're making fun of people who believe in apparitions of Mary being real or having any healing or curative power if you pray to them. They assert that they are fake and that people are foolish to believe in them. And they do it in somewhat vivid and funny ways.
I looked at my festivus pole, and I saw the image of finely machined aluminium alloys. It was a miracle! I went out and bought some green and red peppers to celebrate!
Praise Festivus!
You contradict yourself
You have condemned both the show and the viewers. Thought you were a bit harsh on the audience.
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