Simpsons Did It

From last night's Simpsons:

Fox

Comments

[Salmon Rushdie]

Pussies.

[Theo Van Gogh]

No shit.

[ClubMedSux]

I miss when the Simpsons was still funny and relevant.

[fresno dan]

We are right to mock and ridicule religious extremists, or any Christians...uh, as long as they are Christian, uh, cause that other uh, believey group scares us so much we could poop our pants.

Geez, I have atheist tendencies, and it sure seems like the atheists have a lot more love and tolerance for that, uh, other believy group than they do for Christians...uh, cause they'er afraid of dying.

[Mike M.]

Christians turn the other cheek, Jews take you to court, Muslims cut your head off.

Yeah, it's not too hard to figure out which group makes the easy target.

[Episiarch]

Fuck Jesus, fuck Mohammed, fuck Moses, and fuck you. Nothing more tiresome then Christians whining about being made fun of.

[Sudden]

I didn't get the impression that he was whining about making fun of Christians. I got the impression that he was calling a substantial portion of the belief mockers a bunch of pussies for their inability to make fun of the whole Mohammadian set of beliefs.

[Fatty Bolger]

Yeah, I think his saying he has "atheistic tendencies" was kind of the give away on that.

[Episiarch]

Is it the "belief mockers" who are afraid? I wasn't seeing any fear of mocking Muslims out of Trey and Matt. What I see are media outlets too afraid to show it, whether it's Comedy Central, or newspapers afraid to show the Danish cartoons.

Again, there is nothing more tiresome than the Christian complaint that people mock them because they're afraid of Muslims. One has nothing whatsoever to do with the other.

[John]

One has everything to do with the other. Comedy Central would think nothing of broadcasting someone lampooning of Christ and Christians. They do it all the time. No one ever thinks twice about broadcasting The Life of Brian. Just imagine if that had been about Muhamad? It would never have been made much less broadcast.

I don't have a problem with them broadcasting anything. But, I do have a problem when we let one violent group exempt itself from parody and satire. And that is what is happening now.

[Episiarch]

"We" aren't doing anything. I cannot stop Comedy Central from censoring their product. The only thing that can be done is for people, such as Matt and Trey, to stand up and say what they want even in the face of threats. But we can't do anything about media outlets pussying out, other than complaining to them or to stop buying their product.

I mean, what the fuck is your point, really? That Comedy Central will play Life of Brian but not the South Park episode? No shit, sherlock. But again, what is your point?

[John]

My point is that we are fucking cowardly decadent society that only is willing to bully those who won't fight back. And any atheist who is not willing to completely excoriate Comedy Central and really the entire media complex isn't worth a sack of shit.

And indeed, on all these threads you seem more concerned with attack Christianity than you do with defending the right of free speech.

[Episiarch]

It always fucking comes back to the fucking Christian whining. EVERY FUCKING TIME. "Wah wah wah, you are pussies because you make fun of us but not Muslims 24/7".

You are so fucking tiresome. Instead of talking about how craven Comedy Central is, all you want to do is score your TEAM RED TEAM BLUE points combined with your mewling about bias.

And you wonder why you get made fun of.

[John]

You are not making fun of me. You just prove my point. In a thread about a barbaric group that is trying to take away our freedom of speech through terror, all you can talk about is how much you hate Christianity.

I am really sorry the Amish kids used to beat you up and take your lunch money. But you really are pathetic Epi. Just pathetic. Jesus, do you run Comedy Central?

[Episiarch]

John, you're the pants-wetting coward who sees Muslim terrorists behind every blade of grass, so spare me the claims of patheticness. And are you so retarded that you didn't see my point about Comedy Central being craven? "Do I run Comedy Central"? What the fuck are you even talking about? You're so convinced of these biases against Christianity that it envelops your entire world view, and frankly, that's what's pathetic.

[John]

You seem pretty intimidated by Muslims there Epi. I think it is a barbaric religion whose good parts have largely been corrupted by lunatics.

You in contrast seem to talk around that subject. But you are always sure to get your anti-Christian bonafides in, which is your right of course. The anti-Muslim part not so much. In fact, I have never once seen you say anything pejorative about Islam beyond "fuck Muhamad" whatever that means.

That is why I wonder if maybe you do work at Comedy Central. You seem a bit cowed on the topic and do a lot of pretty obvious making up for it on the subject of Christianity.

[8-year old bride]

Fucking Mohammed is overrated. He's so small not even I felt it.

[John]

+1

[John]

Give me a good I hate Islam diatribe equal to the ones you give about Christianity, or shut the fuck up Epi.

[Episiarch]

John, I don't have to give you shit. The fact that you demand it means that you aren't getting it. I owe you nothing, and I have zero need to prove anything to you.

We all know who the pants-wetter is around here, John. And I know that gets to you.

[John]

You sound just like Joe when I would challenge him to criticize a Democrat. He never had the balls to do that either. Face it Epi. You don't have the balls to go after Islam, even on an anonymous internet forum.

[Episiarch]

You're starting to get a little shrill now, John. If you think I'll give you want now that you've demanded it from me, you're stupider than I thought.

[John]

You never have done it in the past. And you won't do it now or in the future. You are a typical PC libertarian who earns his bones by running around beating up on politically acceptable targets. You are too afraid to be called a racist or anti-Islam to treat it like you would Christianity or Scientology.

It is not like you have all these rants about Islam and are now refusing to just make a point. You never do such rants but are more than willing to rant about other religions. Your actions and lack of action speaks for itself.

[Episiarch]

You seem to know a lot about what I will or won't do, John, just like you're sure that everyone's biased against Christians, and you're sure about all your TEAM RED TEAM BLUE bullshit.

And you wonder why no one takes you seriously.

[John]

The truth always hurts worse than lies Episiarch.

[Episiarch]

Your lack of self-awareness while making that statement is stunning. Well done.

[John]

LOL. I perfectly self aware. I have never doubted your right to make fun Christians. I will gladly defend your right to do so. And I am not bothered by you doing it. I am only calling you a coward for being unwilling to apply the same standards to other religions. You will never call out Islam or say anything bad about the religion, because you are a PC coward. And you know it. And that is why someone pointing out Comedy Central's hypocrisy makes you so angry. You are guilty of the same cowardice and hypocrisy. And unless and until you grow a pair of balls and slam Islam, you will be just as guilty.

Since you are singularly ballless on this issue, I am not holding my breath.

[Miss Crabapple]

Girls, girls! Time out!

[Fecal McStool]

I like to talk about stool.

[Freddie]

wow Episiarch, fuck fuck fuck. lots of fuck, and coward this and pathetic that and retarded this and spare me that, and give a shit this, and pants-wetter that. all grown up and self-actualized are we now? john stewart much?

[zoltan]

Shh, John doesn't want everyone to know about his pee problem.

[Don Reflecto]

Appease-i-bitch and doltan, if you are not actually the cowardly hypocritical attackers of only the targets considered acceptable to politically correct eunuchs such as John says you are, then repeat after me:

"Allah is a cocksucking niggerfaggot, and Muhammed is his one true kiddie fiddler! Allah hates fags!"

"Carl Sagan was a fucking dumbass and he's burning in Hell and science is better off without his brain-dead bullshit! Cosmos sucked ass!"

"Militant atheists are all imbeciles! If their mothers knew they were gonna turn out this way, they should have just HAD THE OPERATION!"

"Anton LaVey was a dumbass too, and what makes his bitchy daughter think she could kill her own father with a death curse? Doesn't she know all that Satanic magic shit he taught her is BULLSHIT!? I wipe my ass with pages of the Satanic Bible!"

"Public schools are bullshit! Kevin Jennings is a buttfucking pedofaggot! We should burn those billy houses to the ground and fire Keving Jennings' pedofaggot ass! He should be somebody's prison bitch!"

"And who believes in ALL of this shit at the same time? That's right: our new Islamonazi dictator Buttcrack HUSSEIN 0blahblah! How the hell did all you niggerfaggots who voted to deprive a Kenyan village of its idiot ever find your way to the voting booth?"

If you can't yell these things on your "libertarian" message board while farting proudly, then you really are the spineless eunuchs John is making you out to be.

[Doc Merlin]

Whining about whining? How meta.

[Sudden]

+1

[Slim Charles]

That last question, John, is below the belt.

[Jamie Kelly]

Epi, I grow tired of that whining too. So as a Presbyterian, I have this to say to my Christian brethren: Grow some thicker skin, bitches.

[Acceptor]

Episiarch,

Time to alter reality and deliver the Tandu fleet to the Vatican, eh? Or maybe to the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA?

[MikePencetheNazi]

all of you people are stupid. Praise Buddha!

[John]

No one is whining about anything. But if you are going to wear the "I don't believe in the flying spaghetti monster" badge, you better be willing to go after all religions not just the ones with people who don't threaten to kill you. There is nothing more hypocritical and cowardly than beating up on Christianity and then sitting silently while Islam terrorizes its critics.

[Lost_In_Translation]

I don't think its about any particular religion afraid of Muslims, its just media self-censoring because they're afraid of upsetting the extremists. Frankly its all bullshit IMHO. If you're afraid to be controversial towards those who need the most controversy, I'm afraid I can't be bothered with you anymore.

[John]

It is total bullshit. And if we don't stand up to this shit, we will lose our freedom. I am sorry we don't have freedom of speech if it includes the right to attack and satirize only certain groups. And that is where we are headed.

[zoltan]

And who exactly on this site is supporting Comedy Central's decision? Everyone here is calling bullshit on their censorship. Just because some of us don't believe in your diaper-wearing deity doesn't make any difference to our criticism of the pussies who won't air this and the dickheads who are terrorizing them.

[Lost_In_Translation]

You forgot to mention the assholes.

[T]

Wait, there's a deity who wears diapers? Not just a deity for those who wear diapers?

Man, I must check my references when I get home. I missed the diaper deity.

[John]

While no one is defending comedy central, episiarch is convinced the Christians have no right to call Comedy Central out for hypocrisy as well as cowardice. The fact that they are so willing to criticize virtually any other religion besides Islam, makes them look even worse. Why the point is controversial with some. I have no idea.

[Ray Ray]

Comedy Central does not owe it to you to air something controversial that is percieved to be potentially life threatening. You still have every right to write the company and express your disappointment. You can even campaign to have people boycott Comedy Central. Nobody has violated your rights- certainly not some guy on the internet who took issue with your rant about everybody drinkin the Christianity Haterade.

[Nick]

What do you mean "we" Kemosabe? How have I lost my freedom? I post here and on Facebook and will say aloud to anyone who will listen about how fucked up Islam is and they can piss off. Others who are afraid may lose their freedoms, but I have not. The pants-wetters have earned their oppression by being silent. Matt and Trey remain free. Comedy Central censors, not so much.

[John]

As the cowards allow this kind of thing to be effective it will become more and more prevalent. Try moving to Canada and posting those things. You will wind up before a civil rights board. Yeah, "we" haven't lost our rights yet. But this kind of cowardice is what leads to us losing our rights. People in Europe and Canada already have.

[tots37]

John, will you be my facebook friend? Seems there's just not enough Christians out here anymore. Thanks

[John]

I am a terrible Christian. I just look like a good one because the standards on Reason are so low.

[The irony is]

John, saying "I am a terrible Christian." is actually what makes you a good one.

[Bill]

Methinks he doth post too often.

[MJ]

Then what the media is teaching here is that being successful at censoring media criticism of your group requires a credible threat of violence.

I don't think that is a lesson I'd want to get out if I were the media.

[Rick]

Because Christians aren't violent?? Muslims would have a good laugh at that.

[MJ]

I am sure the Byzantines would have good laugh at that too. Or they would, if the Muslims had not destroyed them.

[freddie]

so Episiarch's quite the online shouter isn't he: fuck fuck fuck. lots of fuck, and coward this and pathetic that and retarded this and spare me that, and give a shit this, and pants-wetter that. all grown up and self-actualized isn't he? my guess is john stewart.

his method of 'debate,' if you want to call it that, is contageous. it has a way of making teeny bopping adolescents of us all. one thing i learned is that the internet gives people like 'John" a forum for playing out their fantasies of telling people off. i can only wonder what ever happened when he tried a stunt like that in person. i don't have time to lampoon all the other shouters out there, but you know, like, who you are and junk, man. i WAS going to post this, but i not with this thread. to all those others out there who have outgrown pubescant tendencies, i can humbly offer the advice that agitators will NEVER learn anything from you because to do so is to lose a pissing contest essentially. the best thing to do is to not reply to their taunts.

[Jorgen]

and when was the last time you heard of a court case against someone mocking Jews? And you better tell Donahue that Christians turn the other cheek so that he can quit with all of those boycotts.

[Cthorm]

Ever heard of the Anti-Defamation League?

[Slim Charles]

Do they actually sue? I thought they just bitch and moan...

[Tom]

Evidently you haven't. Point me to an instance of them suing a media outlet for mocking them

[Pro Libertate]

"That's 'cause Christians don't pull people's arms out of their socket when they get offended. Muslims are known to do that."

[Vesman]

Muslims are Wookies?

[Artifex]

That explains a lot

[Pro Libertate]

Just rehashing (again!) a previous comment.

[BakedPenguin]

Wookies are Muslim. That's why Chewbacca didn't want to go into the garbage dump - it was unclean. Also, Lucas didn't want to film Ewoks on Endor, he wanted it set on the homeworld of the Wookies. However, it's like Mecca there - no infidels - so he had to settle for Endor instead.

[Ralph Wiggum]

I bent my wookie. 🙁

[Nick]

Anyone who wipes their ass with their bare hand shouldn't talk about what is clean and what isn't.

[Nick]

Language may be similar, but I'd like to see Muslims repair a hyperdrive.

[Ragin Cajun]

Hyperdrives are haraam.

[colleen]

OH PUH-LEAZE. Yea, Christians turn the other cheek, when they're in church. Wow. What an elitist. What a martyr you are.
The people I've come across in my lifetime overall whom have the best morals are atheists, and they dont need to be prodded with a prize at the end or subordinate out of fear of the end. They just do it because its the right thing to do.

[ClubMedSux]

Claiming that atheists are more moral than Christians is just as retarded as claiming the opposite. There are moral and amoral Christians. There are moral and amoral Muslims. There are moral and amoral atheists. But any time you make generalizations about two billion people you're going to be wrong plenty of the time.

[colleen]

I didnt say all. I said the people a came across in my lifetime, so I'm speaking of my life experience. Thats what I have to go by. Obviously you have good and bad in each and all.

[ClubMedSux]

Fair enough, though your "Christians turn the other cheek, when they're in church" comment seemed to be generalizing. My greater point is that, whether Christian or atheist, we often draw our conclusions from a small sample size. If I were an atheist living in Lubbock, Texas, I would think all Christians are bat-shit insane. As it happens, I'm a Lutheran in Chicago and I think all Southern Baptists are bat-shit insane (see, I can generalize too!). Either way, it's important to keep in mind that there's plenty of diversity within both the Christian and atheist camps.

[nebby]

The intelligent christians in Lubbock think the crazy ones in Lubbock are fools as well.

The problem in Lubbock is much more about the Church of Christ than the Southern Baptists (the SB are mentally impaired as well though).

[zoltan]

Your anecdata is irrelevant.

[Jamie Kelly]

The people I've come across in my lifetime overall whom have the best morals are atheists

A) "whom" is not necessary in this case; only as a direct or indirect object of a verb form;
B) The atheists I know are good people, but more often than not they get psychotically seething when I mention the G word.
C) We play some kick-ass, rockin' stuff at our Presbyterian church, where I'm the pianist.

That is all.

[Pro Libertate]

Do you play "In the Garden of Eden?" My wife and I used to make out to that hymn ?

[Jamie Kelly]

The I. Ron Butterfly "rock and/or roll" version? We tried it once but it went on for 17 minutes and I passed out on the organ keys at the end.
Fucking nightmare.

[Pro Libertate]

Truly one of my single favoritist moments on The Simpsons.

[Jamie Kelly]

One of the lesser known facts about that song, "Inna Godda Divida," is that it was actually meant as "In the Garden of Eden." When they wrote the song, they were so fucked up on drugs that one of them slaughtered the pronunciation. They liked it so much, they kept it.

[Pro Libertate]

I choose to believe that story, which I've never heard refuted.

[colleen]

oh excuse me, I didnt know I was getting graded. How bout just listening to the spirit of the post instead of your ego having to make sure you're technically correct.

[Jamie Kelly]

Your "experience" with atheists is not worth noting, and certainly not a logical debate point, in any sense. The "spirit" of your post, as you say, is about as meaningful as the empty space between the words "jack shit."
🙂

[colleen]

well and that because when you bring up God it's as ridiculous to us as bringing up what the tooth fairy has to say, or Santa, or the boogyman.

[Jamie Kelly]

Yes, but I didn't bring it up as a debate point for my belief in God. It was a mere counterpoint to your experience, which again, is not a logical debate point.

[Someone Else]

Scientologists take you to court. Jews just make you feel guilty.

[Nitori Kawashiro]

Maybe I could be so whiney and project John's argument onto atheists: does anybody see anything wrong with a person who'll damn Richard Dawkins as a "militant" and yet claim Islam is a religion of peace? Is that the same kind of cowardice?

Typical anti-atheist rhetoric from the Sharia supporting left wing rag known as the Grauniad are "Secular fundamentalists are the new totalitarians", "Tobias Jones: Secular fundamentalists are the new totalitarians", "Sam Harris and Francis Collins - atheism can express intolerance and hatred quite as well as religion. Sam Harris proves it" and "Atheism is pretentious and cowardly" (the final article has to be the most hateful article I've ever read).

Would they DARE say that about Muslims too? Google those articles and you'll find they often stand up for the REAL militants.

[Michael Ejercito]

Christians turn the other cheek, Jews take you to court, Muslims cut your head off.

Yeah, it's not too hard to figure out which group makes the easy target.

Maybe it is time for Christians to stop turning the other cheek.

[Harry]

They turn the other cheek unless you wish them a "Happy Holidays," then it's on

[albo]

We've become a nation of girly-men who are not afraid to admit we are girly-men.

[Fatty Bolger]

I'm certainly not afraid to admit that you're a girly man.

[albo]

I'm gonna get my mom to beat you up.

[MikeP]

Did they censor South Park-referencing screen captures in the US so you could only get it from Canada?

[Ken Shultz]

South Park - We'd stand beside you if we weren't so scared

Who's "we"?

I don't think the American people are anywhere near as cowardly as the Bush Administration made us out to be...

Admittedly, it didn't look that way when we had a President who was trying to shove security measures down our throats, with the admonition to his opponents that if we didn't want those measures, then we weren't as frightened as we should be...

But speak for yourself, Bart. You don't speak for me.

Who's "we"?

[Jorgen]

I think the makers of the Simpsons are we.

[ClubMedSux]

Um, pretty sure he's referring to either the writers/producers of the Simpsons or the Fox network as a whole.

[Mike]

"We" is pretty clearly The Simpsons writing staff.

Acknowledging that you're a pussy doesn't change the fact that you're a pussy. FOX and The Simpsons should have stepped up.

[Russ R.]

At least they're honest.

That's got to be worth something.

[Ray Ray]

What's with this "should step up" BS? Yes, people, it might be a good idea in life to stand up to bullies, letting people intimidate you into submission is probably not conducive to the best quality of life possible. But if Comedy Central doesn't want Trey and Matt to die, and if the writers of The Simpsons- not really known for such In Your Face kind of offensiveness anyway- felt they would rather make a quirky Chalkboard gag instead of a whole episode insulting muslims- cool. That's their choice. I just don't see being MAD at the creators of The Simpsons for bein pussies. I don't really see being mad at Comedy Central, either- they were threatened, they made a decision, they have to live with it. It wasn't their fault a bunch of Fucktard extremists can't take a joke. If someone has a gun to your head, you sometimes don't fight. If you're on this site, you probably fold under government laws that violate your natural civil rights all the time. Shit happens, be angry at the right people.

[plutosdad]

Why should they step up when our own President is hostile to free speech that "insults religion"

Did we all forget this?

http://www.internationalfreepr.....9/10/obama's-resolution-to-stifle-free-speech-on-islam-?-by-deborah-weiss/

It's easy to say *someone else* should stand up, when you aren't a celebrity or famous or easy to find, saying "I will say whatever i want" means very little, no crazies are going to be tracking you down.

[Robert]

How do you know they won't step up? The blackboard has a very short lead time. They could be preparing to outdo the Park as we write.

[steve]

The terrorists have won.

[colleen]

I with ya on that. They dont need to attack again. They're watching us slowly bleed out economically, spiritually, all of it.

[Robert]

Terrorists practically always win. Just by their nature, they have a practically guaranteed win from any position.

[Publis Cato]

Not true, the counter-terrorists win sometimes, it depends whose playing Counter-Strike

[Episiarch]

I saw that last night, and couldn't tell if they were admitting being pussies, or trying to bring attention to the issue in a way that wouldn't have their network censoring them too.

Probably both.

[Dagny T.]

That, with a side of "see, we're still relevant! Get us making references to current events and shit!"

Simpsons is never not disappointing anymore. If there were anything better on Sunday nights, I wouldn't even bother watching.

[BakedPenguin]

They stopped bothering with plausible stories around season 14 - it became contrived bullshit made to fit the jokes already written. And the jokes were increasingly less funny.

The Simpsons correctly took the piss out of Family Guy for ripping them off, but now The Simpsons is essentially doing the same thing as Family Guy - only without the flashback jokes, and with less humor.

[John]

They should have left on top. I don't see how you can keep a show relevant and funny for 20 years. They are just an animated SNL now. People watch them because every week they hope they might something of what they once were not because of what they are.

[John]

They are just an animated SNL. I don't see how you keep any show interesting and funny for 20 years.

[Nick]

South Park is going on 13 years and still funny and relevant. New characters are introduced any time they feel their memes are getting too weak as exampled by Kenny having survived every episode for at least the last 6 years.

[John]

True. But that is one show. It is very hard to do. And even they haven't made it to 20 yet.

[ClubMedSux]

South Park also has far fewer episodes per season. The Simpsons' 200th episode came in Season 9, at which point it was probably past its golden age but was still turning out some great episodes like "Girly Edition" and "The Last Temptation of Krust" ("Canyonerooooooooooo!").

[ClubMedSux]

For me there were three things that marked the beginning of the end for the Simpsons. 1.) They started having celebrity guests for the sake of having celebrity guests (as opposed to the old days when guest voices actually voiced characters, or, at the very least celebrity cameos actually advanced the plot). 2.) They started having those episodes where they tell three related stories (like the tall tales or the Bible stories) for non-Halloween episodes. 3.) Instead of just recycling jokes, they started recycling jokes and THEN making additional jokes about how they're recycling their jokes.

Okay, clearly I'm a nerd and I've put too much thought into this.

[Dagny T.]

This, plus increased reliance on the random factor. That gets old and unfunny fast.

[dennis]

Death of Phil Hartman. There were funny moments but few great episodes after that.

[Slim Charles]

South Park ass-raped Family Guy. It was a beautiful thing.

[BakedPenguin]

I heard about that - it was well deserved.

[MJ]

Family Guy contains enough humor for The Simpsons to have measurably less?

[ClubMedSux]

In the DVD commentary to one of the earlier seasons, the writers talk about how they regret ever coming up with the chalkboard concept because they started running out of ideas after about ten shows. The gag quickly became more of an afterthought than an opportunity for creative expression. Based on those comments, I'm guessing we're all giving way more thought to this chalkboard gag than the writers themselves did.

[Fatty Bolger]

I don't know. There are throwaways, but there have been great ones, too. Homer evolving is one of my favorites.

[Fatty Bolger]

Oops, got my gags mixed. Heh.

[Ted S.]

"The truth is not out there" for the episode with Mulder and Scully.

[Tulpa]

They probably didn't expect for the show to last this long. I mean, 20+ seasons is unheard of.

Hell, they probably didn't expect it to last more than one season with the outrage that the show drew immediately upon its appearance. My elementary school banned Bart Simpson T-shirts in 1990, for instance.

[Citizen Nothing]

You were in elementary school in 1990?
Jesus. That explains a lot.

[Jesse Walker]

I miss when the Simpsons was still funny and relevant.

I think this gag qualifies as both.

[ClubMedSux]

That's exactly why it made me miss when the actual show (as opposed to one gag in the opening credits) was funny and relevant. And I'll admit it still has its moments; I just don't think that any TV concept--even one as brilliant as the Simpsons--has enough depth to be successfully mined for 20+ seasons.

[x,y]

It's still a lie. These cowards have no problem standing behind Trey and Matt. Standing in front of them, well that's another matter.

[x,y]

Looks like I'm still an idiot. Behind /= beside.

[Yonemoto]

divide equals?

I think you mean !=

[Artifex]

Accept a little diversity. He obviously speaks VHDL instead of C. Trust this site to oppress minorities of all forms. Racist !

[Tulpa]

That's Fortran, actually. If anyone starts with the Pascal-style <> or, God help us, the Perl ~=, they need to be stomped, however.

[pmains]

"~=" is only "not equals" in Perl when you're using regular expressions. For numeric comparisons, it's "!=" and for string comparisons, it's "ne".

[Barney Frank]

I'll stand behind Trey and Matt!

[Dan Tee]

Let's keep in mind that the muslims in question who warned Stone and Parker were merely exercising their right to free speech.

[What's your point?]

And?

[Big B]

Yes, but - according to some - as an organized group, they have no free speech rights. Come to think of it, the Simpsons wouldn't have free speech rights either as a corporate-funded entity under a "properly" decided Citizens United.

[Dan Tee]

Thank goodness that the SCOTUS ruled that corporate entities can bribe politicans. Then you guys can complain when the polticians return the favor.

[Fatty Bolger]

...Chad?

[BakedPenguin]

Gosh, good thing this wasn't even happening before. Good thing Obama's campaign didn't get millions from unions, otherwise he might be giving them billions in payback.

Cuntsore troll is a cuntsore. And a fucking dumb one, too.

[Fatty Bolger]

So?

[Warty]

Smith ran over to take a look for himself. Sure enough, readouts indicated an Irru class Tarmo fighter, carrying the markings of the Booklumghum Federation of Mo-Yu-Tyheng. The very same warship that was responsible for multiple harynings at the battle of Darnsforz. Only the Yeeefu's anti-xos cannons could possibly stop them.

[Jordan]

This is like barfman 2.0. Bravo.

[SugarFree]

This makes me happy.

[Scotticus Finch]

Is that a cloud of sin or a cloud of sadness? I get them mixed up.

[Russ R.]

And we're criticizing them for the idiocy they demonstrated.

Nobody here has called for the government to do anything about them.

[John]

Threatening to kill someone is a crime and not covered by the 1st Amendment. So, no they were not.

[Seer]

Also there's no prior restraint involved. They were allowed to make the threat, and they could be arrested for it as well.

[John]

Why didn't they just make it "I will not draw any more pictures of Muhammad"? That would have been much more subtle and would have taken a jab at the Islamists.

[Big B]

The picture of Homer in the space suit totally should have been of Mohammad.

[ClubMedSux]

Maybe it is...

[Pro Libertate]

I think you just entered the high-paying world of television writing. Please see your WGA invitation in the mail.

[Tulpa]

They were probably afraid of that being censored by FOX. Much safer not to mention The Prophet at all.

[Scotticus Finch]

You're all missing the point. Bart isn't even referencing the recent hullabaloo. He's referring to the competing DVD release dates of The Simpsons season 19 and South Park season 13.

[?]

Why didn't they just make it "I will not draw any more pictures of Muhammad"?

Because that's a joke. This is The Simpsons we're talking about. That show hasn't been funny since the episode where Fred was a Beatnik.

[Warren]

Who is Fred?

[Pro Libertate]

Fred Garvin, Male Prostitute?

[SugarFree]

No, no. Fred was the long-lost half-brother of Marge that was in only one episode and that they never brought up again.

[ClubMedSux]

So wait, was he Roy's dad?

[SugarFree]

Yes, but they might have retconned that out.

[Warren]

I think it was long before that that the show stopped being funny.

[SIV]

Flintstone

[Pro Libertate]

It could be Dr. Frederick Frankenstein.

[Fluffy]

Everyone knows that Muhammad was either insane or a con man.

I would draw a cartoon of that, but I don't know how to draw.

[SugarFree]

Never stopped any of the perpetrators of the Friday Funnies.

Although a similar lack of talent has keep Steve Smith Comix from getting off the ground.

[BakedPenguin]

I have no talent, but I never let that stop me from creating comics.

[ClubMedSux]

Aha! BakedPenguin has revealed his true identity: Chip Bok!

[Full disclosure: I actually don't understand why people around here seem to hate Mr. Bok, but I'm running with the meme anyway.]

[Slim Charles]

I'm with you. Bok's pretty good!

[SugarFree]

And we all miss your comics, but for Fluffy classical The Rape of Aisha and the terrifying and hulking figure of Steve Smith about his repulsive business, our standards are way, way too high.

[Pro Libertate]

In the old days, someone would suggest a book called The Planet of the Rapes. But this bevvy of commenters is not as Planet of the Apes-obsessed as its predecessors were. I blame people named "Tim" for that.

[Ragin Cajun]

Is "Everybody Draw Muhammad Day" canceled?

[Warty]

What a pussy cunt. Fuck her.

[Dagny T.]

The dude who created the Facebook page is even pussy-er:

"I am aghast that so many people are posting deeply offensive pictures of the Prophet," he writes. "Y'all go ahead if that's your bag, but count me out."

... "I guess I had more faith in human nature than was warranted."

lulz

[zoltan]

It's like he doesn't know that the internet is 95% obscenity.

[Tulpa]

Good for him, though he should have known that was what was going to happen beforehand. The point of the thing was to just draw pictures of Mohammed, not draw insulting pictures of Mohammed, but people's inner children take over damn quick.

[Warty]

Jesus, you are one boring motherfucker.

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

What a total cop-out cunt! Well, we'll see. No one needs the creator of the poster to proceed, do they?

Muhammed sad face: 0:^(>

[Urkobold?]

THE URKOBOLD HAS A QUESTION: DO WOMEN CALL EACH OTHER "CUNTS" WITHOUT OFFENSE IN THE WAY THAT BLACKS CALL EACH OTHER "NIGGERS?"

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

Only in "pegging" videos...

[Kant feel Pietzsche]

Or this:

(|):^{>

[heller]

Why does he have a burger in his head?

[SIV]

Dumb cunt probably thought it was just like mocking Christians.

[kevin]

I think The Simpsons is made months in advance, so they really couldn't change the whole episode in time to note the whole RevolutionMuslim thing.

[Nick]

Nope. Per wikipedia:

Parker and Stone state that subjecting themselves to a one-week deadline creates more spontaneity amongst themselves in the creative process, which they feel results a funnier show.[23] The schedule also allows South Park to both stay more topical and respond more quickly to specific current events than other satiric animated shows.[5][65] One of the earliest examples of this was in the season four (2000) episode "Quintuplets 2000", which references the United States Border Patrol's raid of a house during the Elian Gonzalez affair, an event which occurred only four days before the episode originally aired.[66] The season nine (2005) episode "Best Friends Forever" references the Terri Schiavo case,[21][38] and originally aired in the midst of the controversy and less than 12 hours before she died.[31][67] A scene in the season seven (2003) finale "It's Christmas in Canada" references the discovery of dictator Saddam Hussein in a "spider hole" and his subsequent capture, which happened a mere three days prior to the episode airing.[68] The season 12 (2008) episode "About Last Night..." revolves around Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election, and aired less than 24 hours after Obama was declared the winner, using segments of dialogue from Obama's real victory speech.[69]

[John-David]

No kidding. That's why the guy you just replied to said "The Simpsons", not "South Park".

[Nick]

Damnit.

[Warty]

Anti-Islamic death metal makes me happy.

[Brad]

It's black metal. Good stuff anyway 🙂

[Warty]

Yes, I should know better by now than to make that mistake. Ugh.

[L]

South Park has been trying to change the censorship of Muhammad for years, looking back to the "Cartoon Wars" episodes a few years ago. They said it right then, and their fight is still a good one. "Either everything is ok, or nothing is." If they are allowed to have a recurring Jesus character, they should also be able to have a recurring Muhammad character. Censorship in this case is based on FEAR, not on context.

[zoltan]

I agree. If you think about it, Comedy Central has nothing to lose from not censoring. They've made millions off South Park (and will continue to do so even if the series ended today). If the creators are killed in some crazy radical Islamist violent attack, that will probably give them an even greater boost in profits. They will be making money either way.

[Tulpa]

Until they get sued by the families of those killed or wounded in the attack.

I think the chances of such an attack are remote, but I can understand why they would not want to take any chances.

[Michael Ejercito]

Until they get sued by the families of those killed or wounded in the attack.

Under what law would they be liable?

[JB]

Do you get out of bed in the morning?

Please don't...ever again.

You getting out of bed offends me.

[Fluffy]

I think this thread is dead, but I just wanted to point out one thing to John:

The mere act of announcing one's atheism insults both Islam and the prophet.

If I deny the existence of the Judeo-Christian god, I am simultaneously denying the existence of Allah. The Muslims claim that the god of the Patriarchs and the god of Jesus of Nazareth is their Allah, so if I say that Yahweh doesn't exist, that takes care of Allah in the bargain.

And if Allah didn't exist, he couldn't have sent an angel to dictate the Koran to Muhammad.

Which means that Muhammad either made it all up [and was a liar and a con man like Joseph Smith or L. Ron Hubbard] or hallucinated it all [in which case he was a crazy mother fucker].

It's not my fault that Muslims are too fucking stupid to realize that my atheism is its own "insult to the prophet".

[John]

All true. But I still think it is pretty cowardly and hypocritical of people to spend so much of their time going into such detailed renunciations of Christianity and then tip toe around the issue of Islam, especially when you consider that there is not a single fundamentalist Christian state in the world and there are numerous Islamic ones who are committing human rights atrocities every day. The day there is a Christian equivalent of Saudi Arabia is the day I will worry more about Christian extremism than I do about Islamic extremism.

[zoltan]

It's not the creators of South Park who are being cowardly and hypocritical; it's Comedy Central (not surprising considering their lineup).

[John]

totally. And the rest of Hollywood and the media for that matter. It is not like we haven't been through this before. I don't blame Parker and Stone. I am not sure what they can do about Comedy Central. I wish some other network would offer to run the stuff uncensored in return for the show switching networks.

[Jamie Kelly]

Listen, if your belief in God or Jesus or Mohammed or Dirk Diggler's Ass Ghost is so weak that cartoonists can work you into a frothy ladder by merely lampooning your sacred cow, then your beliefs are about as stable as Rev. Fred Phelps watching an all-male circle jerk and gangbang.
God doesn't "demand" anything of you, but if he did, it probably would be something like, "Suck it up and get a life, you whiny bitches."

[Jamie Kelly]

"lather," not "ladder." Shit a brick.

[E.H. Munro]

And yet another battle fought in the Internet Wars of Religion?. And again confirming my long held belief that American atheists are nothing more than fundamentalists that gave up the search for god. (European atheists tend to be more polite, though the English ones are getting Americanised and therefore as tiresome as their religious fundie brethren.)

[zoltan]

Yawn. American atheists still have balls (or ovaries) while your European atheists are castrated weaklings with no gusto. Also, we don't have any laws against hate speech here, because we're grown ups who can take a little verbal beat down.

[E.H. Munro]

One need not be rude to evil. It is very possible to be completely evil and still have some decent manners. Similarly speaking, one need not be rude, strident, and shrill to be an atheist. Normally that sort of behaviour wins converts...for the other guys. So I guess, in a bizarre fashion, that these sorts of running discussions do serve a public good by preventing the young and impressionable from joining either side.

[Eh? Munrot?]

One need not be an insufferable jackass, but you are. It is very possible to be completely good and not be a boring fuck that annoys everyone. Similarly speaking, one need not be a pompous, santimounious dill weed with a undeserved superiority complex no matter your underlying creed. Normally that sort of behavior is only for jackasses who don't know how to get along with anyone. So I guess, in your effete phrasing of the matter, that these sorts diatribes just stroke your over sized ego and have no bearing one way or the other on an illusory public good.

[E.H. Munro]

Thank you for placing an exclamation point at the end of my remark. You've leaped into a frothing at the mouth rage with very little in the way of provocation. I'm sorry that your parents oppressed you by making you go to church when you were a teenager, but it isn't my fault. You should direct your fury where it belongs, at them.

[Eh? Munrot?]

I'm but a diagnostician, Munro. It is up to you to solve the problem of your shitty personality.

[E.H. Munro]

I'm but a diagnostician, Munro.

You must be dirt poor then. No one in their right mind would pay you to throw temper tantrums because you hate your mommy.

[Pol Pot]

You are boring, Poindexter. Hand those glasses over to my assistant on the way out.

[Flightmedick]

This thread is a prime example of why this party will never be a primary  candidate w/in a 2 party system.
The problem w/  libertarian party?
libertarians

[zoltan]

We can bitch at each other on this thread about theology and philosophy without disagreeing on policy (though if you review other threads, many of us disagree on policy as well). If you think there aren't major divisions within 2 parties about religion, you're a moron. And if you don't see how the voting system (first past the post) and laws protecting incumbents contribute to the 2-party system, you are doubly moronic.

[Lost_In_Translation]

have you met diehard republicans and democrats. They're just as annoying.

It all them independents that make for polite company.

[Fluffy]

Also, to expand on my earlier point, everyone who positively affirms their Christianity is ALSO insulting the prophet.

If you believed that Muhammad actually spoke to an angel and wrote while the Koran was dictated to him, you would BECOME a Muslim. You wouldn't be a Christian if you didn't think that Muhammad was either lying or crazy.

So if atheists aren't demonstrating enough courage because they fail to seek out Muslims to say, "Hey, you know what? By the terms of my worldview, you and your prophet are fuckwads", that means that Christians also are showing they lack courage by failing to do that as well.

If you think Jesus was the son of god, you should be waving your sack in the face of the nearest Muslim. Sorry, but that's just how it is. So you're just as bad as the "cowardly" atheists.

[John]

You are right. From a Christian perspective, Paul said that he was the last messenger from God and to not believe anyone else even if they claimed inspiration from an Angel. Muhammad fits that description perfectly. And he is pretty much the epitome of a false prophet who has lead millions of people astray.

And for what it is worth, I have actually told a proselytizing Muslim exactly that. Moreover, I don't generally spend my time insulting anyone's religion. I only told the Muslim that after he repeatedly bated me.

I think Stone and Parker have a right to do what they want. I think Comedy Central and everyone else ought to stand up for that right. But, I also think Stone and Parker both are kind of assholes for the way they put down religion. But, the solution to that is to call them assholes, not threaten to kill them. When the radicals did that, they lost me.

[Cyto]

Actually, South Park may put down religion as much as it does anything else, but it also supports religion. That's one of my favorite features of South Park -- that they tend to take all sides of an issue as they insult everyone.

To your point: in the "Mormon" episode they spent the entire show absolutely trashing everything the Mormons profess to believe. Then, after you were properly puffed up in a fit of self-righteousness and intellectual superiority they added the tag line from the little Mormon kid: (paraphrasing) "Look, all I ever did was try to be a good friend to you. If you can't accept that then you can suck my balls."

This was absolute genius, and quite libertarian in spirit. They basically said "what the fuck business is it of yours what they believe, it is their behavior that matters." In the best South Park tradition they had their cake and ate it too.

[Don Reflecto]

Exactly. Just as the proper response to everything that Dawkins, Harris, or Hitchens says is to call them idiots; and refuse to pay good money for their retarded books; and use any of their books anyone freely gives you for kindling and toilet paper; and advocate that others do the same. Atheists should be shown up for the fools they are and boycotted, not killed for infidels.

(On the other hand, if Muslims want to enslave and kill the atheists for being infidels and atheists are all too cowardly and politically correct to stand up to them, couldn't we make the moral case we should sit back and let the Muslims kill them? After all, these libertarian atheists are always insisting they just want to be left alone to decide everything for themselves, so are we really obligated to stop them from marching proudly to their deaths at the hands of a less cowardly though equally evil religion full of autonomous individuals who've decided for themselves that they want to kill everyone who doesn't worship their moon god?)

[Beavis]

huh huh huh huh huh!! You said "repeatedly bated me"!

[SideshowJon]

You can disagree with another's religion without being an ass about it.

I think Mohammad was a fake. Do I think that automatically makes Muslims bad people? No. I think Islam can be a valid belief system that inspires its adherents to be better people, just like Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, etc.

Respect is not cowardly. Refusing to air criticism to those who use bullying tactics is cowardly.

[John]

Well said.

[jcrue]

They should have called out Comedy Central and not South Park.

[Cyto]

I don't think they are calling out Comedy Central or South Park. They are calling out themselves and/or their network for not standing with South Park.

[mx]

No need to whine...do something practical: go buy Danish cheese.

[Mr. Episiarch B. Fukr]

It is HIGH TIME that those of us who care about things like REASON and FAIRNESS as well as FREE SPEECH, STAND UP AGAINST ISLAM and their apologists, as we have witnessed here.

Episiarch is buttfucking leftist faggot who just wants to get buttfucked by an Arab in a nightshirt and get it all bloody. Secretly you wish you could menstruate, but a large turd-covered cock in your ass is better than nothing right???

HEY EPISI-know what the Goddamn muSLIME do to fags like you? They push walls over on your sorry ass. Maybe you should move to Iran and find out for yourself that all of the groups that you so ignorantly disrespect aren't all bad.....

I hope they GET FAGS LIKE YOU FIRST YOU BUTTFUCKER. WASH THE SEMEN OUT OF YOUR HEAD AND USE IT TO THINK FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE

[Jackrungh]

This thread makes me sad. Usually there is an element of this rabid flaming bitchfight in a Reason thread, but its usually peppered throughout. It is entertaining when blended with the playful attempts to be witty, but this entire schpiel seems to be sandy vaginas on ice. Since when did we care so much about religion? Even those among us who aren't some form of atheist have the courtesy to keep this usually private belief system off their sleeve. Huzzah for Trey and Matt continually calling out every group that deserves ridicule. Beyond that sentiment I wait for an article with a real crusade.

[Dan]

Why the hell are we letting ANY group restrict free speech.

[BlogOfReason]

One big problem is everyone has to be in a "camp" when it comes to spiritual beliefs. What "camp" do I fall in if I believe in a higher power, but don't want to waste my time speculating or believing in unprovable details? If you are offended as a Christian, Muslim, atheist, whatever, then you don't truly believe in freedom of speech.