Jon Stewart says Comedy Central censored 'South Park' for safety reasons

Comments

[Brian]

So now any show can get censored simply by making threatening protests against the creators? Something tells me Mr. Stewart wouldn't be quite so accommodating of threats coming from the angry right. I used to think that both he and Comedy Central had gutsy senses of humor. Apparently that needs to be amended to gutLESS.

[Jwoods]

I love Jon Stewart. He is a voice reason.

[John Coombs]

It seems that Comedy Central is OK with portraying and making fun of Jesus and portraying him and other religious figures in an uncharitable and often offensive way, not just on South Park, but on other shows as well, but when it is Mohammed (PBUH), they suddenly do not want to offend anyone.

Censor all or censor none, Comedy Central, or else you're operating under a shameful double standard.

Or maybe not censor, so much as show proper restraint. All good things come from God, and laughter is good when it does not come at someone else's expense. But like the schoolyard bully that tries to elicit laugher at some poor kid's expense who needs to change his behavior, Comedy Central should reevaluate its programming standards concerning all religious figures to avoid the same sort of deplorable behavior.

Perhaps what some bad apples in the Islamic community are demanding under a threat of violence is something that should be extended to all religious communities by Comedy Central as a matter of courtesy and respect.

Comedy Central ought to think about their double standard, and think about how they can still be funny without being flagrantly disrespectful to people's deeply held convictions about God. Be funny, be clever, but remember who it is that made all good things such as laughter.

[Sorrowful Jones]

You know, if you don't like what's on South Park and you're in the US - DON'T WATCH. As neither Parker nor Stone are Muslim, they are not bound by the dictates of the Koran. Under the First Amendment to the Constitution, the speech they put forward is protected, even if many find it offensive (and if they're not offending someone, it's not South Park). Threatening them, however, does not enjoy the same level of protection and, in fact, should draw the interest of the FBI. And I don't care about the backpedaling by revolutionmuslim.com that they were "warning" Parker & Stone: that was a threat. I agree with Comedy Central's decision to censor in order to protect Matt & Trey, but does this open a Pandora's box? We'll gladly trade one of our cherished civil liberties in order to avoid threats? FDR said, "We have nothing to fear but fear itself." Ben Franklin said, "“Anyone who trades liberty for security deserves neither liberty nor security”.

[geradeaus]

“your type of hatred and intolerance – that’s the enemy.” - John Stewart

It's that kind of ideology that emboldens Muslim terrorists who think we are cowards. By Stewart's logic, Muslim terrorists are not the enemy...their hatred of us is the actual enemy! WTF? Get a clue Stewart (the voice of reason - LOL), we are at war with Muslims who want us DEAD. Once you accept that elementary fact, then we can talk like grown ups.

[blah]

I love Jon Stewart, but I think the vehemence with which he lashed out at a fringe group while pretty much giving Comedy Central a pass for the decision it took, was stupid and myopic on his part. How is a random anonymous blogger's one post on an obscure website, which 99.999% of Muslims havent heard of be constituted as such a dire threat that CC decides to censor itself.
I really want to know who brought the post to CC's attention? After all, the first episode of that story arc aired, and nothing happened. So why did they censor the second one?
Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if this were a publicity stunt. It's easy to blame Muslims for everything.

[yoyo]

lets censor islam. plenty of things in there thats no good

[krampus]

South Park finally blinked. Fascinating - deserves a Time magazine cover. Remember the old days when South Park did not back down.

[Jeremiah]

I wish Comedy Central had had the cojones to broadcast the episode uncensored per usual -- it's not like this was the first time Parker and Stone have been sent death threats for their brand of humor. "South Park" has always stood apart for having the courage to be shocking and offensive in its good natured way, and censoring themselves sets an ugly precedent for the rest of the series' duration.

Furthering the cowardice, Netflix has also removed the South Park episode, "The Super Best Friends" from its Watch Instantly service. This episode features the first appearance of Muhammad as a member of the religious icon superhero squad.

[solvent]

Either ALL can be mocked or NONE. This was a short-sighted cowardly act on behalf of Comedy Central. I like John Stewart. He often says what many of us would like to. This time he is wrong.

[monkey l]

geradeaus --
HE did not say that... if you LOOK.

"He went on to denounce Revolution Muslim, the group that posted the threat on its website, saying “your type of hatred and intolerance – that’s the enemy.”"
The GROUP said that, HE didn't.

[John]

Look- who cares whether or not the Muslims are offended? Matt and Trey offend everybody. What is at issue is how CC is ducking the censorship issue by claiming that they are trying to protect their employees by censoring SP. Matt and Trey have done everything that they need to do to avoid offending the Muslims (I mean, they DID put Mohamed in a bear suit, what else do you want?) so what is the issue? The issue is, CC is run by idiots who are kowtowing to fear of extremist groups (I can hear them chanting "9/11!") and making M&T pay for their stupidity. And who loses? People like me who rely on the webcasts to see SP (I refuse to pay for cable) so now I don't get to see my favorite show because of CC's stupidity. And that sucks.

[Bruce S]

Hypocritical on the part of Comedy Central. I guess it's only o.k. to make fun of Christians.

[Paul]

I usually agree with Stewart's assessment on other media outlets, as he often calls BS on their shenanigans, but his half-hearted scolding/mocking of Comedy Central's stance was beyond disappointing. If CC was really trying to protect Matt and Trey, they should have let THEM make the decision whether to air the episode or not.

This is truly a sad time for the free press and freedom of speech.

[Jess]

To be perfectly honest, the whole point of this episode was to poke fun of the fact that everything can be mocked except Muhammed. The additional censorship of the name and the image was not intolerable and in fact added to the absurdity of the episode (which is the whole point of South Park).

I absolutely agree that one should be able to make fun of everyone equally, but in this case it was in the best interest of everyone involved to eliminate the name. In the end, it only enhanced the story!

We all wish we lived in a world where there was no need to fret for your life for being an entertainer, but unfortunately we do. In this case it happened to provide even greater support for the message of the episode.

[Lee]

Those who claim a double-standard, with CC kowtowing to Muslims when they feel free to insult Christians, miss something HUGE here.

The reason why Christians don't (usually) riot and burn things and kill people over every slight is because their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has told them specifically NOT TO. He has told them to TURN THE OTHER CHEEK. He has told them that they are BLESSED when they are persecuted for the sake of righteousness. When Christians encounter hatred and animosity and mockery, they know that their Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, experienced mockery and hatred and worse on the cross. Christians don't always follow these commandments, but at their best, they do.

[ucl2]

Everyone need to understand liberty, though it is a good thing, is not free of responsibility. This is how wars are started. It has been this way since the foundation of the world and it will be the same until the world has seen its last sunset. We can talk about the freedom of speech and the 1st ammendment all we want. But if we take our liberty for granted and use it irresponsibly, we create a hostel environment for ourselves and those we offend or visa versa. One word can start a world war if that word is inteneded to insult another culture or country without understanding, and our emenies can careless about our 1st ammendment and our constitution. Contrary to belief, most wars are not fought for land and wealth. Young people need to understand being intelligent isn't enough. We live in a world where someone may feel their values may be worth killing or dying for. This is the delicate balance our world leaders face everyday keeping world peace. You will be leaders someday therefore it would be best for you young people to understand wisdom along with being intelligent.

[M]

Comedy Central is a private company and they're entitled to do what they want with the content they own and distribute. I tend to believe that they did make the choice for safety reasons. What other reason could there be? South Park has lampooned every other religion in the book, why censor them now if not for safety concerns. Are people worried that Comedy Central is secretly run by Islamic militants? Do you suppose Comedy Central has more Muslim advertisers than Christian advertisers? That would be the only explanation for the editing if not for safety reasons.

I do believe, however, that everyone of us has the obligation to stand up to the kind of group that would use the threat of violence to silence dissent and criticism. I wish CC had done that, but I also understand why they didn't.

[Jim Burks]

Interesting...

Comedy Central didn't broadcast the uncut episode of South Park to "protect" the creators from militant Islam.

Would you advise the doctors in Nebraska and Iowa to stop doing abortions "to protect them" from militant radical anti-abortion fanatics?

[Ed V.]

I think Jon Stewart and South Park are dead wrong on this. South Park shouldn't have touched this. This is far more than a free speech issue, unfortunately it is something uglier. Where did South Park get its inspiration for this? Europe--particularly the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, a semi-fascist rag that really never apologized for collaborating with the Nazis during WWII. It initiated this and for what purpose? Simply to incite violence in an oppressed segment of the world which has virtually functions as a killing ground for the American Empire (there are many videos on Wiki leaks to show America’s brutal exploits over the years). Did South Park simply do this to yell fire in a crowed movie theatre? Europe instead of addressing the socio-economic problems of immigrants in their countries, vilifies them; essentially aiming everything at them, labeling them the Devil. I will site Szarkozy’s attack on liberty in France against the “dangerous” burqa and Switzerland’s attack on minarets. Instead of integrating these immigrants into society they vilify them, it is fascistic side of the European states I would not like to be reproduced in this country. We honestly don't need to start reproducing European racial problems on American soil, we have enough racial problems. And why do libertarians and liberals feel that religion is pressing problem, particularly Islam? By the way, South Park does this, concluding that all Fundamentalisms are equal; however their vitriol is aimed at Muslim extremists. Funny, American and Zionist extremists simply have more firepower than terrorist bombers with their vests and Katusha rockets; they have killed more than the so-called Islamic terrorists and Islam is portrayed as more dangerous. It is a little suspect, since Americans under Christian fundamentalism have killed over 1 million Iraqis and Afghanis, also allowing the opium crop in Afghanistan to flourish and these American Christian terrorists run around free getting rich in their think tanks. All this, whether Stewart and South Park knows this or not, is leading to something ugly. This smugness of South Park and Stewart is a symptom of American Empire, which looks to be preparing the US for a war with Iran. These fundamentalist groups are also a creation of the CIA and Western intelligence organizations, how else can these people get away with cultivating heroin on Afghan soil, funding Islamic fundamentalism and ruining the Iran and the rest of Central Asia with heroin, reminds me of the heroin trade during the Vietnam War. They mouth off that is a given without any repercussions, coming out of nowhere to vilify Muslims. It is damn suspect in my opinion that these liberal and libertarian shows give liberal cover for killing Muslims by even airing this veiled propaganda. I am not even sure where this New York extremist group comes from, it could be funded and infiltrated by the FBI, who knows since all the so-called bomb plots have been done by mental deficients who provoked by FBI agents and infiltrators . This South Park episode as well as this position of Stewart is preparing the American liberals and youth for the death of thousands of more Muslims. By the way I am not a Muslim and I am fan of the Daily Show and I am an atheist.