I think that you jumped into the middle of a conversation without a clue as to what I said, just blind defensiveness. You said:
Well, the Virgin Mary wasn’t maligned, only a statue of her irreverently
If the show had used a statue of your mother instead, are you saying it wouldn't be showing disrespect or ill will? Do you understand why the Iraqis beat the statue of the Saddam with the soles of their shoes when it was pulled to the ground?
" If the show had used a statue of your mother instead, are you saying it wouldn't be showing disrespect or ill will? Do you understand why the Iraqis beat the statue of the Saddam with the soles of their shoes when it was pulled to the ground?" No, it would have just been silly and irreverent. It only disrespects people who worship icons rather than what they represent.
The statue was not “sacred”. For blasphemy to have occurred, contempt for something sacred would have had to have been promoted. If they used the statue to convey contempt for the Madonna (like those Iraqis) rather than contempt for the fanatics chasing fluid dripping statues it might be blasphemous.
Your sensitivity to Catholic bashing let the episode's message elude you.