As I remember, Parker and Stone have called themselves “equal-opportunity offenders.”
Hey, and on top of that even the South Park Gods and demigods themselves are far from “perfect.” Satan isn’t that evil and Hell has some nice sections, while God is a Kobold Buddist who only lets Mormons (who’s religion was seemingly founded by a con man) into paradise and got flimflamed by Saddam Hussain’s ghost. The entire South Park world is a joke. No one’s perfect, no one’s sacred, and everyone is a potential target. Sometimes it’s a withering satire, sometimes it’s a crap joke. But it’s meant to make you laugh. And, you know what? Maybe everything deserves to be laughed at, at one time or one way or another.
About the “equal opportunity offenders” thing, does South Park make fun of the vaguely individualist-‘common sense’-utilitarian attitude of the creators of the show? I’d think that you really do need to offend your audience from time to time to get that title.
If they haven’t yet, I can only imagine that it’s only a matter of time. (Like when Trey and Matt inevitably start to argue over creative control, one of them marries a Japanese conceptual artist, and the whole thing ends in a weepy series finale where Kenny gets a “section 8” after accidentally making a Korean refugee smother Cartman. )
HPL, you read the episode as “I took it to mean that becoming an atheist for such as stupid reason as the fact that the catholic church seems to have some major issues is akin to shitting out your mouth.” Personally, I don’t see how such a view is possible. For one thing, a casual view might get the impression that all atheists have the viewpoint shown in this episode, and furthermore, if all an atheist knows of religion is an organization that claims to be the best thing since sliced bread, but in fact covers up child abuse, that seems like a pretty good reason to reject the definition of god offered to them. But then again, I am not "Spokesperson For The Whole Of Atheism"
If that is true, then they definitely believe that they, as private citizens can throw their opinion in peoples faces. Now, since people, such as myself, chose to watch the show, there is nothing wrong with their containing opinions on their show.
It’s just that, I believe they are a<words self-censored, since this is CS>s for holding such an opinion in their own minds.
furt, reading over the exact words, it looks like acsenray’s condensing is on target.
P.S. To others, them calling themselves “equal opportunity offenders” works, most of the time, but in fact, not always. Sometimes, Stone and Parker just seem to say, “Such-and-such a group is just a bunch of whining assholes and we do not feel the need to depict what they are actually saying.” As Eve has said, sometimes, hate propaganda is hate propaganda, and not “clever satire”.
Ranchoth, was that a combo of the Beatles, M.A.S.H., and “One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest”? :eek:
P.S. Posters I agree with and posters I disagree with alike, you have turned this thread into something more thoughtful then my last two attempts to express my opinion of this matter. Thank you all.
THat’s my view and it’s the same as the first time I saw it. If you can’t see how it’s possible, to me it suggests a lack of imagination on your part.
I can see how people would find “Mr. Garrison’s new vagina” episode to be an attack on transgendered people, but I don’t agree that it was.
And such a person would be an idiot.
The problem with that is Catholicism doesn’t represent the whole of christanity. It hasn’t for a long time. One could argue it never has.
To me, it seems quite a leap from “The Catholic Church is full of ****” to “God Doesn’t exist”, and to radically change your stance on the cosmos because the church is irresponsible seems a bit of a non-seqiuter to me. I could see one or two characters coming to that conclusion, but for the entire town to do so enmasse streches belief. If they were pissed at the church, there was no reason for them to give up a belief in God because of it. There are a numerous other churches thet could have migrated to. Episcopalism is fairly close to catholicism, as I understand it, and would have been an obvious choice.
I personally have a lot of problems with organized religion, but I still believe in God, despite the fact I no longer attend any church. That’s where I’m coming form here.
Episcopalianism is derived from Anglicanism – the Church of England – of which it has been said it is a most accommodating church, in that it interferes neither with a man’s politics nor with his religion.
But Episcopalians do at any rate share the Catholic belief in “apostolic succession” – that you can’t be a legitimage priest unless you were ordained by a bishop who was ordained by another bishop in an unbroken line going back to one of the Twelve Disciples. (Once when my high-school chorus did a performance at a local Episcopal church, I noticed a plaque on the wall showing a chart of the pastor’s apostolic succession – rather like a genealogical chart.) And they take communion. But they don’t have confessionals, nor the Catholic profusion of holy days, nor, so far as I can tell, veneration of saints.
My whole OP tumbles down if there was no enmity towards various concepts and ideas, expressed in the show, which do not deserve such hatred, however, I believe there is. You believe there isn’t. I guess we will have to agree to disagree.
Are you disputing the fact that idiots have the right to vote? Are you also disputing the idea that I am right to be scared by such idiots, voting against civil, and other rights, based on strawmen they perceive as a real view of issues?
If the only conception you have of god is the one taught by the catholic church, and you have decided that the church is wrong, then some will seek out other churches, while others, who have already ruled out other religious, due to the way they where raised, will turn their backs on the whole god thing. They may not have done too much research, but in my view, they are making the right choice. Too you, they are not. See my first point in this post for my conclusion.
Quite true. However, given that they had, temporarily, and given that they are mere caricatures of personalities, it makes sense for them to do so.
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