The show is an equal-opportunity offender...no group is left alone. South Park is meant to push the envelope and give people a funny, often outrageous, view of the absurd.

For all those out there who are so grossly offended by its content that they wish to censor future airings of particular shows, I would rather you just turn the channel and not influence my ability to watch these episodes. It's easy...just push that Channel Up or Channel Down button on your remote. I didn't realize Comedy Central is the only channel some people receive in their homes...interesting.

I sometimes watch South Park, and enjoy much of the humor. They certainly do push the envelope a bit. I didn't see the episode in question, but my understanding it was a statue of Mary that was bleeding, and not Mary herself. Since I didn't see the episode, so I don't know how offensive it was.

I am more offended by all the false claims of statues spontaneously bleeding, crying, or appearances of past religious figures, and the credence these stories are given. My estimate, which is rather conservative, is that 99.99% are false claims and/or hoaxes.

Well I am Catholic and thought it was one of the funniest things I've seen. And as pointed out above, they have poked fun at Jews, gays, blacks, Asians, Nazis, Middle Easterners, Scientologists and pretty much everybody on the face of the Earth. All rip roaringly funny. But I also find it very funny that people believe that Mary had a baby without ever having sex or that Moses parted an entire sea or that Noah built an ark because of this huge flood.

[ January 03, 2006, 12:08 PM: Message edited by: George_vikingfan ]

George, how do you consider yourself a Catholic if you don't believe, or, in your words, finds it quite funny about the birth of Jesus by the Virgin Mary? That's a pretty basic belief of being Catholic. Not flaming, just wondering. We had an incident over the holiday weekend where, in suburban Hampshire, religious statues were vandalized on New Year's Eve at a convent. Someone thought it would be cute to spray paint "KKK", "666" and "Go Away" on the Virgin Mary statue. Mind you, this was just a regular statue, not bleeding or crying. I can't help but think that episodes of televison shows such as South Park somehow makes some viewers think it is o.k. to go around and defile something that many people hold dear. No one was caught, yet, but I wonder if those vandals also saw this episode of South Park.

Hey, miller, I know you are proud of your Catholisism and I don't want to minimize or make light of that. Nevertheless, couldn't the vandals have been Catholic School drop outs who were still peeved over the one-too-many-ruler-strikes-to-the-knuckles that nuns (or, as Belushi and Akroyd called them, "penguins") are so famous for? I'm not excusing the defamation, I'm just offering an alternative catalyst other than a late night cartoon on basic cable.

p.s. To correct previous posts, in the episode in question, the newly annointed pope declares the the bleeding statue is not a miracle since the statue is actually bleeding out of its vagina and not its ass. Or as the pope said "There is nothing miraculous about a woman bleeding out of her vagina."

[ January 03, 2006, 11:08 PM: Message edited by: Falcon56 ]

Sure they could have been Catholic school drop-outs. That's why I said "I WONDERED" if they saw the episode of South Park in question. Considering they haven't caught anyone, heck, it could be anyone. It could have been an angry nun for all I know, although I really doubt it.

I was horrified by the reports of the vandalism, anti-Semitic, and anti-Catholic acts on New Years Day. It's just unfathomable that this garbage happens today. But the chances that the South Park episode caused the vandalism is about as unlikely. I wonder if it's because of the credence given to these statue and "appearance" hoaxes that spurred the violence, but I think that's unlikely too.

A statue of Mary is a carved piece of rock. It is not Mary. It should not be worshipped. That's called idolatry. As far back as the 10 commandments idolatry is condemned. Throughout history, people have made images out of gold, stone and wood and then turned around and prayed to them.

Religious statues, cemetaries, churches and synogogues have been getting vandalized long before some silly episode of South Park aired. It's alot more likely that these kids (if in fact they were kids) were molested ny priests or got in trouble at school. Or maybe they were gay teens who realized that everytime they have sex for the rest of their lives, their church will consider them sinners.

I was born and raised Catholic and while I subscribe to the basic moral teachings, I do not attend church or any of the other stuff.

Catholics do not, I repeat, DO NOT worship statues. Granted, we have them in our church, but we do not worship them. We worship Mary, the mother of Jesus. I can see how to an outsider, it may appear that Catholics worship statues, but that is simply not the case. There is a huge difference. The statue is there as a representation of the Virgin Mother, we all know it is not actually her. We pray to the Virgin Mary, not to the statue.

catholics don't worship mary.

catholics VENERATE mary and the saints.

You are the first Catholic that I have ever heard say that. In fact Protestants have accused Catholics of worshiping Mary for ages but Catholics have always claimed that they do not worship Mary but see her as an intersessor to Jesus. It has always seemed to me that Catholics worship Mary since there is so much of their worship emphasis surrounding her. I personally don't worship her and I don't see her as an intersessor to Christ. I don't even see her as Divine. She was blessed and special among women but nothing in the bible, as far as I know, says that she was anything more than human. She also had other children who weren't divine. I know the whole immaculate conception thing but they would be at least half divine if she was divine. Wouldn't they? Anyway, I was a bit shocked to actually hear a Catholic say that they worship Mary. I'm not attacking you or the Catholic religion. I'm just wondering if that is actually a Catholic belief or is that your personal belief? And though I may disagree with the doctrines surrounding Mary I don't make any judgment of those who see her as Divine.

Lord, all this talk about Divine has got me ready to pull out the old Pink Flamingos video.

Now that's more like it. That sounds much more familiar. My girlfriend in college was Catholic and we had this discussion. That was the word she used, VENERATE. Still looks a lot like worshiping though. At least from the outside looking in. Damn those pesky Protestants. Should have nipped that troublemaker Luther in the bud.

O.K., venerate. Not worship. Now that we have that out of the way, my previous point still stands. We do not worship statues. That is all I am trying to say. Pardon my semantics.

Then why have a plastic Saint Christopher on your dashboard or a plastic Saint Francis in your bedroom when your sick. Why light candles around a window that looks like a woman? Why bow in front of a wooden cross handing in front of a building (church)?

That's all okay tnman. Why you may ask? Because it puts more money in the church coffers. More money to help the church defend and hide it's predator priests. Don't worship idols, unless the church can somehow profit from it.

Mary's "Like A Virgin" world tour continues into 2006. Lady Madonna is currently appearing on a basketball backboard in someone's backyard. I didn't catch exactly where, but from the looks of the locals all praying before it, I'd say somewhere in Latin America or a Latino neighborhood in the US.

Bet the Knicks wouldn't mind if she'd appear on the backboards at Madison Square Garden.

I caught the news clip about Mary appearing on the basketball backboard, and I tried really, really hard to see her on the backboard when they showed the image but could not. I'm trying not to judge but what the heck is going on in this world and why does the news keep carrying these clips? Maybe I'm just a cynic...or just not blessed enough to see these miraculous visions...

To me, all of this stuff falls under the category of "idolatry". Which, if I remember correctly, is forbidden in the Bible (see 10 Commandments). So I find it silly when people feel the need to worship/revere a statue, a painting, or a honey bun w/apparition on it. The Puritans even forbade the use of a cross as a symbol because it was an icon/idol.