In Defense of South Park

Seth Macfarlane, the creator of Family Guy, was on Larry King tonight talking about comedy and where to draw the line. He brought up several of his past, particularly controversial jokes. Then they brought on two other comedians and talked about South Park and the threat against their lives regarding their depiction of Mohammad.

I was a little disappointed because I felt that they missed the mark on all accounts. There was reference to Seth's morals, to whether the joke is worth risking their lives, and the woman babbled without making a point at all.

Honestly, I have serious issue with the fact that Comedy Central caved to their demands. You know what their actions mean? As long as the members of the religion are not going to threaten you with physical violence, you can make fun of them. It's interesting to note that this may be why there seems to be a disproportionate amount of jokes made at Christianity's expense. As far as I know, there aren't a whole lot of Christian terrorist groups whose threats will be taken seriously. I've always thought it was more because Christians are the majority in this country, but maybe the real root of it is fear.

I also have to wonder why it is Muslims expect the rest of us to follow their religion's rules? I'm not Muslim, I don't believe what they believe, I don't believe it's wrong to draw a picture of Mohammad, so why do they think I'm not allowed to? That's like the French government coming over here and arresting US citizens for breaking French laws. Everybody agrees that's wrong. The Muslim religion has no jurisdiction over my life, and the Muslim religion is no more sacred than any Christian religion. If it's okay to make fun of Christians, it's okay to make fun of Muslims.

Though I'll point out for fairness sake, Christian groups have proven through their political actions that they intend on making the rest of the world follow their religious rules as well. Their constant insistence that the government not pass gay marriage due to their own religious beliefs is just as ridiculous.

We shouldn't be talking about the creators of South Park, we should be talking about the members of religious organizations that think they're above criticism.