Since the very beginning of South Park, Isaac Hayes has been a part of the show. Also since the beginning, South Park has satirized and ridiculed religion, politics, and belief systems of all kinds. Hayes was OK with this, but that changed when South Park picked on his religion, Scientology.

Yahoo News reports:

“There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins,” the 63-year-old soul singer and outspoken Scientologist said.

Unfortunately for everyone else, Isaac Hayes doesn’t choose to share with the rest of the world where that line is and how, exactly, South Park crossed it. Or maybe it’s simply that a “line” was crossed by satirizing his religion?

“Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored,” he continued. “As a civil rights activist of the past 40 years, I cannot support a show that disrespects those beliefs and practices.”

Well, it’s true that religious beliefs are sacred to people, but this doesn’t mean that they should always be “respected and honored.” Some religious beliefs are bigoted. Some are hateful. Some are wrong. Some are plain stupid. Why should bigoted, hateful, wrong, or stupid beliefs be “respected and honored at all times” simply because some people regard them as “sacred.”?

If I say that satire of religion is “sacred” to me, will Isaac Hayes respect and honor that “at all times”? Probably not — and he didn’t see a problem that so many religious beliefs were disrespected and treated without honor by South Park during these past several years. The fact of the matter is, satire by definition is an action design to take something down a couple of notches.

And what does any of this have to do with “civil rights”? There is no “civil right” to not have your religious beliefs satirized or mocked. There is no “civil right” to have your religious beliefs be respected and honored “at all times.” There is, however, a civil right to free speech which includes a right to satirize and mock religious beliefs that people hold sacred.

[“South Park” co-creator Matt] Stone told The AP he and co-creator Trey Parker “never heard a peep out of Isaac in any way until we did Scientology. He wants a different standard for religions other than his own, and to me, that is where intolerance and bigotry begin.”

Notice that Matt Stone is willing to step out to say where he thinks bigotry begins, a marked difference from how Isaac Hayes behaved. Apparently Hayes didn’t say anything about the notorious Scientology episode of South Park for quite some time and there is speculation that the Church of Scientology pressured Hayes to walk away from the show. Given how common it is for the Church of Scientology to pressure people, this is a speculation that rings very true.

 

Read More:

• What is Scientology?
• Scientology News
• Scientology: Critiques
• Scientology: Spoofs & Books
• Scientology vs. the Internet
• Scientology: Court Cases
• Scientology: L. Ron Hubbard