Hypocrisy Central?

By now most everyone knows that Comedy Central banished South Park's Mohammed character to the cutting room floor in a recent episode. I think Blogger terms of service requires me to weigh in as well.

A quick bit of perspective. Back when the Mohammed cartoon flap was in high gear my opinion was they shouldn't be published, not because of the riots that might ensue but because they just seemed in poor taste. Using the 'do unto others' clause in the Good Book I tried to imagine someone from Islam creating images of Christ hopping around on a pogo stick or wearing a clown suit, and therefore figured the Muslims probably didn't care seeing their revered Prophet with a bomb on his head.

Yep I know the Muslim press has done worse to the Jews in print, but the Jews really don't have an icon or Godhead per se. Remember, Catholics are pretty sensitive about the Pope, too. And yes, the subsequent rioting was riduculous and uncalled for, but in the end we're all responsible for our own actions.

Does saying that force me into siding with Comedy Central on this? Yes and no. They have the right to refuse publication of anything they consider offensive--it's their network. Stopping the broadcast of material considered to be in poor taste doesn't equate to censorship. Moral lines do exist in broadcast television.

But here's the 'no' part. Comedy Central already allows negative depictions of Jesus on their network (check Malkin's post). South Park itself has a Jesus character. That certainly leaves the impression their veiling of Mohammed was really a weak kneed wilt in the face of more Islamic cartoon hooligans.

Fine, they'll be spared the protesters now, but if Comedy Central really wants to avoid the hypocrisy label they'll either show the Mohammed character or ban airing of ALL religious icons. Surely they care about everyone's feelings.