Christian coalition already offended by Comedy Central's still-in-development Jesus cartoon
In a surprising move for a religion that’s normally all about the fun, a group of Christian leaders has joined forces with several of the biggest media watchdogs in the nation to protest Comedy Central’s planned Jesus cartoon JC, which finds the son of God leading a normal life in New York City while trying to get out from under the shadow of his “powerful but apathetic father.”
The show hasn’t even been completed yet, but already the newly formed Coalition Against Religious Bigotry hates it with a passion—a passion that burns like the hellfire that will consume all network executives on the day of reckoning—and considering who’s involved in said coalition, we can probably expect to hear a whole lot more about it: Its leadership is comprised of Brent Bozell (president, Media Research Center), Tony Perkins (president, Family Research Council), talk radio host and film “crusader” Michael Medved, Catholic League president Bill Donohue, Rabbi Daniel Lapin (American Alliance of Jews and Christians) and Tim Winter, president of the perpetually pissed-off Parents Television Council.
Among the group’s chief complaints is that Comedy Central gave in to pressure from Muslim extremists in the recent South Park kerfuffle, and that the refusal to likewise censor a show that could be read as offensive to Christians reveals a double standard. Thus, the Coalition will hold its first press conference this week to try and convince advertisers not to support the show if and when it makes it to air. In the meantime, Bozell has released the following statement, suggesting that they’ve already put together some kind of “greatest blasphemies” clips package to illustrate how the network has mocked Jesus in the past. Bet that’s going to be pretty funny:
“After we reveal the vile and offensive nature of Comedy Central's previous characterizations of Jesus Chris [sic] and God the Father, we expect these advertisers to agree wholeheartedly to end their advertising on Comedy Central and discontinue their support for unabashed, anti-Christian discrimination. Why should they be supporting a business that makes a habit of attacking Christianity and yet has a formal policy to censor anything considered offensive to followers of Islam? This double standard is pure bigotry, one from which advertisers should quickly shy away."