I guess I spoke too soon. Even the creators of “South Park,” who have never found a minority group unworthy of their satire, lack the license to poke a little fun at Muslim reactions to any and all depictions of the Prophet Muhammad.
The above clip from last week’s “200” episode, with Muhammad in a giant bear costume, is what got Revolutionmuslim.com fired up. Via CNN:
he posting on Revolutionmuslim.com says: “We have to warn Matt and Trey that what they are doing is stupid and they will probably wind up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show. This is not a threat, but a warning of the reality of what will likely happen to them.”
Theo van Gogh was a Dutch filmmaker who was murdered by an Islamic extremist in 2004 after making a short documentary on violence against women in some Islamic societies. The posting on Revolutionmuslim.com features a graphic photograph of Van Gogh with his throat cut and a dagger in his chest.
The entry on Revolutionmuslim.com goes on to advise readers:
“You can contact them [the makers of South Park], or pay Comedy Central or their own company a visit at these addresses …” before listing Comedy Central’s New York address, and the Los Angeles, California, address of Parker and Sloane’s production company.
Contacted by CNN, the author of the post, Abu Talhah al Amrikee, said that providing the addresses was not intended as a threat to the creators of South Park but to give people the opportunity to protest.
Over still photographs of Parker, Stone, van Gogh and others, the Web site runs audio of a sermon by the radical U.S.-born preacher Anwar al-Awlaki, who is now in hiding in Yemen. The sermon, recorded some time ago, talks about assassinating those who have “defamed” the Prophet Mohammed – citing one religious authority as saying “Harming Allah and his messenger is a reason to encourage Muslims to kill whoever does that.” U.S. officials say al-Awlaki is on a list of al Qaeda leaders targeted for capture or assassination.
The clip ends with a warning on a graphic directed at Parker and Stone, saying “The Dust Will Never Settle Down.
Seriously scary. Reactions like this make me wonder what Muslims of this ilk of other religious folks who don’t fly off the handle when the patriarchs of their faith are ridiculed in pop culture. Are we spineless as jellyfish or is it just a Muhammad thing?
As for the cartoon image “South Park” ran of Muhammad nine years ago, here it is. Thanks to both Jay and Torch for sending this latest story along.