One Jerk Might Ruin Our Fun

The recent car bombing scare in New York City has proven devastating for the nation. It is alleged that the act was done by one man and that there is no conspiracy. Representative Peter King has suggested that the bombing was caused by South Park and its recent episode in which it originally slandered the prophet Mohamed. After several threats, any reference to him in the episode was censored. Scenes where he was supposed to be on screen had a large black rectangle labeled 'censored'. The South Park creators still virtually got the image across, censorship or not.

If this in truth why the bombing occurred, then everyone needs to understand that South Park attacks everything. Every major religion had some under their ridicule at some point, among other things. One of their most notable almost-lawsuits was their episode criticizing the Whale Wars cast, specifically the leader of the project Paul Watson.


This picture was shown on TV as he was being personally slandered. South Park does not discriminate with what to attack; they go after anything, and this is why everyone loves the show.

Besides this, if the bombing is concluded to have been caused of South Park's depiction of Mohamed, we can only expect one thing, more censorship. South Park is free to poke fun at whomever they desire because no one can get insulted by their humor. If they did, they would find their careers being troubled. This is true among politicians and any public figures, the only way to avoid injury of words is to not react to them. FDR understood this in his early years campaigning for the presidency. His opponents would create absurd lies to slander him, and he would ignore them completely. Nothing much came of it. Now, because there may have been a violent recoil, the situation is different.

Censorship is counter-productive in a free society, which should encourage different opinions not the same. Censorship will only dull the message artists attempt to present. For South Park and like shows, this means they will have to be more careful about what they slander. We love these shows because of the over-the-top absurdity and their brave attacks on almost anyone. Their quality will only decrease if they are subject to greater censorship. Finally, the concept of American liberty becomes restrained as well. America is supposed to be the one country where one can speak their mind without fear of repercussions.

South Park had already faced some degree of censorship in the show. If the investigators of the bombing conclude that it was in fact the depiction of Mohamed that instigated the bomber, there will no doubt be tighter restrictions on what comedians can show to the public. For the South Park creators this means either more lawsuits or much worse content, ruining the fun for all of us. However, Representative King closed claiming the South Park theory is "one in a hundred". Hopefully, for the sake of artists, comedy, and liberty it is false.