Sacrilege?

He’s just a “regular guy” who, like so many of us, heads off for a new, exciting life in the Big Apple. So reads the plot sketch for a cartoon series Comedy Central is considering called “JC.” The protagonist leaves for NYC to “escape his father’s enormous shadow,” which actually sounds pretty funny. Apparently, JC’s father is not an interventionist God: he dallies along, ignoring his departed son.

The network got into a fracas with another world religion recently when South Park attempted to depict the Prophet Muhammad. After a NYC-based website threatened the show’s creators, Comedy Central retreated, censoring the episode. Hussein Rashid has an excellent rundown of the controversy and the various Islamic responses to portrayals of Muhammad.

In response to the proposed show, William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Civil and Religious Rights, released a rather obtuse statement:

It’s not certain what is more despicable: the nonstop Christian bashing featured on the network, or Comedy Central’s decision to censor all depictions of Muhammad.

It’s been a few years since the Danish comic scandal sparked interest in this issue. But now it appears to be back. Is there a double standard on depictions of religious figures? Should there be one? Does satire help or hinder religion? Maybe each needs the other.