Whose offense?

Why radical Christians do not react to blasphemy the way radical Muslims do | Janie B. Cheaney

Illustration by Krieg Barrie

We're familiar with the pattern by now: artist or performer produces work seen as insulting to Islam; threats ensue; artist or performer backs down. In the case of the infamous South Park Episode 201, it wasn't the creators who backed down but their network, Comedy Central. Trey Parker and Matt Stone usually get away with throwing mud pies at various religious figures, but this time Mama said no. Don't toss that stink bomb, boys; you could get our heads cut off. That was the actual threat, implicit or not, after Episode 200 featured the prophet Muhammad in a bear costume. A post by New York blogger Abu Talhah Al-Amrikee included a picture of the partially decapitated body of Dutch filmmaker Theo Van Gough, with whom radical Islam had its disagreements. Warning, Parker and Stone: This could happen to you.