You may have heard about the South Park controversy in which Comedy Central removed a portion of an episode satirizing the Prophet Mohammed, while letting through a portion of the program that featured Jesus Christ defecating on the American flag..

Setting aside the prurient characteristics of South Park in general, it is an equal opportunity satirical vehicle, mocking religions in general. So why is it OK to diss Jesus but not Mohammed (or the Scientologists)?

Michele Malkin has Comedy Central's explanation:

To reiterate, as satirists, we believe that it is our First Amendment right to poke fun at any and all people, groups, organizations and religions and we will continue to defend that right. Our goal is to make people laugh and perhaps, if we're lucky, even make them think in the process.

Comedy Central's belief in the First Amendment has not wavered, despite our decision not to air an image of Muhammad. Our decision was made not to mute the voices of Trey and Matt or because we value one religion over any other. This decision was based solely on concern for public safety in light of recent world events.

In other words, "We're chicken-shit."

I'm listening to a lot of complaints this weekend about media treatment of Christians, particularly with regards to the spate of programs and articles critical of Christian faith scheduled particularly for Holy Week. It seems to me that the media has shown Christians the way to stop this behavior--get violent.

Apparently, a civil request for fair treatment and a car bomb, will get you a lot farther than just a civil request for fair treatment.

I'm not suggesting Christains resort to violence, which rather defeats the point of being Christian, but along with the call to be as "gentle as doves" comes the collorary to be "wise as serpents".