Catholics urge South Park boycott

[Jani.R]

Catholic church leaders in New Zealand are urging a boycott of a broadcaster planning to screen an "ugly and tasteless" episode of South Park.
The episode of the US animation, called Bloody Mary, depicts a bleeding statue of the Virgin Mary.
The country's prime minister, Helen Clark, said she had not seen the show but that it sounded "revolting".
TV station C4 is to air the cartoon earlier than planned in response to the levels of publicity it has generated.
The episode was originally scheduled for a screening in May, but will now

be shown on 22 February.

Potential backlash

New Zealand's Catholic bishops signed a letter on Sunday urging the country's 500,000 Catholics to boycott C4 and its sister station TV3, which recently apologised for showing the Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad.
They asked for the ban to extend to companies that advertise their products on the commercial network.



"Making known the extent of our offence might give them pause to consider that press freedom is not a licence to incite intolerance or to promote hated or derision based on religion, race or gender," the letter said.
Rick Friesen, head of TV Works, which runs C4, said that if Catholics felt they would be upset by South Park, then they should not watch it.
Prime Minister Clark added the company was free to screen the programme, but should weigh that freedom against a potential backlash of viewers.
The episode of South Park caused a backlash when it was screened in the US.
The series, which has been running since 1997, tells the story of four boys in the dysfunctional Colorado town and regularly deals with sensitive subjects and sends up famous figures.
George Clooney has played the role of a dog, while Osama Bin Laden was killed in an episode of the programme.



*****12345

[Jani.R]

Oh and source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4735216.stm

[Holstein]

This just makes wanna watch southpark even more

[Rantanplan]

1. What is New Zealand?
2. The Catholic Church has only ONE Leader
3. *****

[Caesar]

I boycott the catholic church!

[hell]

heh, gotta love that the whole molestation thing is still an issue for the Catholic church, and they're spending their time addressing this huge problem.........c'mon now, let's shift some priorities around folks

[Eat a bullet]

Didn't that episode get banned in the UK?

[B25Hmitchell]

Behead those who insult Catholicism.

[American Patriot]

Chicks bleed from their ******s all the time.

[msnger]

South Park ftw.

[Speaker of the House]

http://www.brianz.org/images/Misc/FaithPlusOne.jpg


looks pretty religous to me

[Scrim]

There was a big to do about it over here to.
From some Catholic site gloating about how they got the episode pulled.



VILE “SOUTH PARK” EPISODE PULLED
Catholic League president Bill Donohue released the following comments today on “South Park”:

“Several news stories today are reporting on the decision by Comedy Central to pull a scheduled rerun of the ‘Bloody Mary’ episode that was shown on ‘South Park’ on December 7-10. The decision reflects what I asked for in our news release of December 8. Therefore, I commend Comedy Central for finally making the right decision. That it aired in the first place, however, does not speak well for the bigots responsible for creating it.


more http://www.catholicleague.org/05press_releases/quarter%204/051230_Southpark_pulled.htm

And Comedy Centrals response.


Dear Viewer:

Thank you for your letter regarding the "South Park" episode entitled "Bloody Mary." We appreciate your concerns about the potential influences of outside special interest groups on the media and enterainment industries and particularly Comedy Central. Though Comedy Central did not include the "Bloody Mary" episode in a special year-end marathon of "South Park" episodes in deference to the Holidays, "Bloody Mary" did in fact air in every one of "South Park's" normally scheduled repeat timeslots.
As satirists, we believe that it is our First Amendment right to poke fun at any and all people, groups, organizations and religions and we will continue to defend that right. Our goal is to make people laugh, and perhaps if we're lucky, even make them think in the process.
Despite misleading claims from those who would like to claim victory, we have not permantly shelved the "Bloody Mary" episode from future airings due to outside pressure nor will we exclude it from future DVD releases. Sincerely,
Comedy Central Viewer Services
******

[Eat a bullet]

In case anyone hasn't seen it.
http://www.hatoons.com/video/215/bloody_mary

[tyovan]

At least they didn't burn any embassies or cut off any heads during their protest. :)

[hell]

At least they didn't burn any embassies or cut off any heads during their protest. :)

HA. Good point. Whether we think a religion is obnoxious or not, I guess as long as they're getting their message across with a peaceful demonstration of some sort is always a plus.

[Rantanplan]

In case anyone hasn't seen it.
http://www.hatoons.com/video/215/bloody_mary

That was lame

[Abakan94]

1. What is New Zealand?
2. The Catholic Church has only ONE Leader
3. *****

4. jesus Biscuits are best with gravy
5. eggs are best thrown raw
6. *****

[elguapo]

I boycot stuff all the time... both for ideological and religious reasons.... and also for aesthetic reasons.... well at times also for mere contempt I must say. I just don´t see why people should get together and rally just to decide not to watch something.

[Rantanplan]

Is this the spanish counterpart to "Love Story" in your Avartar?

[elguapo]

no, unless he catches it

[FM-SCAR]

ya last time i listened to the church i got confused over how they were trying to explane the same thing, i watched south park and got in now what im trying to say is south park is my new testement.

[<Gypsum Fantastic>]

Didn't that episode get banned in the UK?

Really? I wasn't aware of anything being banned from UK TV. Especially not something that may upset catholics. We don't care what the catholics think, but "you try explaining that to those bog-brained murphy's. You'll have a better chance getting a blowjob from the pope."

God I love Brass eye...

[American Patriot]

What?

1234567

[HomShaBom]

I watched that episode, it seriously sucked, and not the 'offensive' sucked, it just sucked, was about as funny as a cardboard box.

[zonk]

i like the episode about the mormons.....laughed my ass off

[Rantanplan]

i like the episode about the mormons.....laughed my ass off

Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb

[<Gypsum Fantastic>]

Dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb

That was good.

[zonk]

so and so didnt believe joesephsmith smart smart smart smart smart

[Saranof]

Concerning Mormons, I nicked one of their nametags. Go round in black and pounce on people will ya?

[Frequency]

They're just going on and on about it on the news here in NZ.
The episode is screening tonight, and you just know a whole heap of catholics are going to watch it and then complain about it being offensive. I mean, WTF??? you know its going to be on and what the content is, just don't watch it!!

[HomShaBom]

I have that mormon episode downloaded =D

[TheKiwi]

1. What is New Zealand?


AKA Glorious Peoples Revolutionary Socialist Republic of Aotearoa

Population: 4.1 Million
Sheep: 41 Million
Difference between most of them: 0.01%
Capital: Helengrad
Glorious Socialist Leader for Life: Helen Clark
Catholic Population: 15%
Percentage of Catholics who give a crap about South Park: 0.1%
Percent of News Media this item has grabbed: 50-75%