Part 2: Christianity

Comparing South Park’s (SP) portrayal of Scientology (part 1) to the portrayal of Christianity is like comparing Hiroshima to the invasion of Iraq.  The attack on Scientology was mostly done in one epic episode that aimed at completely dismantling the cult’s credibility.  Christianity, on the other hand, is given some lenience.  Parker and Stone attack Christianity often, but not nearly as harsh.  It’s more like a slow moving invasion of Christianity’s most cherished beliefs.

Their main source of lampooning this religion is through one of SP’s most beloved characters, Jesus - a resident of South Park.  Parker and Stone have anthropomorphized  Jesus, taking him off the podium where Christians have placed him.  To Parker and Stone, Jesus was just a normal guy; that is…if he even existed at all, which is evidenced in season 11 where they have Jesus residing in “Imaginationland.”

The funniest Jesus antics are his attempts at magic.  In “Super Best Friends” Jesus loses a battle of magical talents to David Blaine.  In the scene, Blaine first eats his own head and the crowd goes wild.  Jesus pulls out a cart of fish and exclaims “Certainly not enough to feed this entire crowd, but now - turn around.”  As the crown turns around Jesus pulls out fish and bread from behind the cart and piles it on top of the cart.  Jesus then tells the crowd to turn back around, which does, and to the viewers’ amazement, starts cheering in awe.  What better way for Parker and Stone to make fun of Jesus then to show how people are gullible to simple miracles magic that Jesus most likely performed (if he even existed).

Aside from poking fun at Jesus, SP also takes on the institution of Roman Catholicism.  In “Red Hot Catholic Love” father Maxi from South Park goes to the Vatican to inform them of his shocking discovery that all American priests molest little boys, only to find out that all of the members at the Vatican do as well.  Even the Galgameks molest their children.

In “Hell on Earth 2006” priests and bishops are shown walking with little naked boys on leashes.  They attempt to get into a party being held by Satan who is ironically gay. To make matters worse, in the SP world, the Vatican is governed not by the Pope, but by a giant queen spider that appears before the members of the Vatican.  Father Maxi is fed up and gives a typical SP rant.  “When you start turning the stories into literal translations of hierarchies and power, well… Well, you end up with this. [shows the ruins, and then the Queen Spider, then the Gelgameks].”

In another instance, Jesus tells the Pope “…men are so easily led astray. St. Peter was a rabbit. And a rabbit should be Pope.”  It’s a safe bet to say Parker and Stone don’t like Catholicism when they speak of a rabbit having better judgment than the Pope.

On numerous occasions, Christian organizations have attempted to have SP episodes banned from TV and DVD sales, but to no avail.  The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, run by Edger’s beloved friend Bill Donahue (insert sarcasm), condemned an episode because of the portrayal of the Virgin Mary.  They demanded that Parker and Stone apologize to Roman Catholics and that the episode be retired from ever airing again.  Parker and Stone did neither.  The American Family Association (A Christian backed organization) convinced advertisers like Best Buy, Geico, and Foot Looker to pull out their advertisements during the show and even persuaded J.C. Penny to stop carrying SP merchandise but failed to get episodes pulled.

One only has to look at how many Christians live in America to see how dedicated Parker and Stone are to attacking the taboo.  They risk losing millions of viewers because of their portrayals of Christianity, and surely they’ve lost many, but continue to make fun of it nonetheless.

For the sake of keeping you from reading too much, I’ve left out other SP attacks on Christianity.  Here is a shortlist of some more.

South Park has shown,

• God as a hippo-like creature.
• Father Maxi having sex in a church.
• Kyle killing Jesus.
• Cartman manipulating Christians with crappy Christian Rock.
• Cartman taking on the persona of an televangelist after learning that only getting into heaven matters.
• The inconsistencies of doctrine when father Maxi tells children that Timmy (who is deaf/dumb) will go to Hell if he can’t confess his sins
• Jesus killing Bill Donahue.
• Jesus killing terrorists.
• The Pope as senile.
• Christian missionaries abundantly eating  juxtaposed with starving Africans.
• Pat Robertson begging TV viewers for money for an interstellar cruiser to go proselytize other planets.
• A statue of the Virgin Mary shitting blood on the Pope.

Next week is Part 3 - Islam

Last 5 posts by Tyler Handley

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