Reasonable Nuts: The "religion" of Scientology

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Tuesday, March 14, 2006

The "religion" of Scientology

The jabs apparently hit a little too close to home for Isaac Hayes:

Show Shafted
March 15, 2006

LOS ANGELES: Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef on the satiric cartoon series South Park, says he is leaving the shown because of its "inappropriate ridicule" of religion.

"There is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs and others begins," the 63-year-old said. Hayes, a follower of the Church of Scientology, did not mention a recent South Park episode that poked fun at Scientology and some of its celebrity followers.

A spokesman said the show's creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone were disappointed but "feel that it's a bit disingenuous to cite religious intolerance as a reason" for pulling out of the show" because the series has lampooned religion since the start. (source: The Daily Telegraph)

As a long-time (though not recent) viewer of South Park, I can attest to the pretty-much across-the-board lambasting of religion and its adherents. Several epsisodes come to mind wherein the Cartman character leads a religious movement, all too reminiscent of a fundamentalist flava of Christianity.

So Hayes is dismayed that the writers have finally touched the third rail of Scientology.

Isaac, really.

The "church" of Scientology accomplished its greatest feat in having itself designated by the IRS and thought of by most as a religion. It is not. This reminds me of a great line from the film, The Usual Suspects: "The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist."

Religion, in my view, is one's duty to God (distinguished from morality, which is one's duty to man). In Scientology, there is no God, per se, unless you are he. So Scientology is then one's duty to oneself?

Does it perplex anyone that such a narcissistic enterprise would find its full vent in Hollywood?

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Editor's note: there's an interesting article in a very recent issue of Rolling Stone regarding Scientology.

Editor's add'l note: Ann Althouse has a (great) detailed account of the "controversy".

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