Ridicule of religion gets too much

Soul singer Isaac Hayes is quitting South Park, complaining of the show's "inappropriate ridicule" of religion.

The show has mercilessly mocked just about every faith in the past ten years – but writers say it was only when Hayes’s own Scientology beliefs were ridiculed that he decided to leave the role of the lascivious Chef.

Co-creator Matt Stone said: ‘In ten years and over 150 episodes of South Park, Isaac never had a problem with the show making fun of Christians, Muslim, Mormons or Jews.

‘He got a sudden case of religious sensitivity when it was his religion featured on the show.

‘Of course we will release Isaac from his contract, and we wish him well.’

However, in a statement explaining why he quit, 63-year-old Hayes did not mention the autumn episode poking fun at Scientology, instead citing ‘growing insensitivity toward personal spiritual beliefs’ across  the media.

‘There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs ... begins,’ he said.

A spokesman for Comedy Central, which airs the show in the States, said: ‘Obviously, Matt and [co-creator] Trey Parker are disappointed that he's not going to be part of the show, but they're not going to make him do something he doesn't want to do.’

‘Their premise is as long as you can make fun of everybody, then everybody is a potential target. The minute you start pulling punches, then the show's reason for being sort of gets compromised.

South Park has its very roots in satirising religion, becoming commissioned after Stone and Parker circulated two short films: Jesus vs. Frosty and The Spirit of Christmas, featuring a martial-arts duel between Jesus and Santa.

Over Christmas, the show landed in trouble with the Catholic church about an episode which featured a statue of the Virgin Mary which started bleeding. When an animate Pope Benedict XVI investigated, he concluded the icon was merely menstruating, declaring: ‘A chick bleeding out her vagina is no miracle. Chicks bleed out their vaginas all the time.’

 

Published: 14 Mar 2006