In the last issue of Catalyst, we mentioned that Comedy Central was contemplating running a show this fall, “JC,” that promised to be trouble for Christians. The question remains whether a cartoon that mocks Jesus Christ will air. Here are some developments.
Brent Bozell, president of the Media Research Center and a member of the Catholic League’s board of advisors, put together a group, Coalition Against Religious Bigotry, that was organized explicitly to protest “JC.” On June 3, members of the group held a teleconference with many members from the media.
Joining Bozell were Bill Donohue, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council, nationally syndicated talk radio host Michael Medved, Parents Television Council president Tim Winter and Rabbi Daniel Lapin of the American Alliance of Jews and Christians.
The teleconference received a great deal of media coverage. While a formal boycott was not announced, the case was made very clearly that it was not in the best interest of Comedy Central, which is owned by Viacom, to push this show. The purpose of the conference call was stated by Bozell as follows:
· Denounce “JC” and the concept of glorifying religious bigotry as Comedy Central openly mocks and disparages God and Christianity yet takes every precaution to not attack Islam
· Release the joint coalition letter to companies that have advertised on Comedy Central in the past, urging them to refrain from spending ad dollars on “JC” as it is “an abomination purported to be entertainment”
· Unveil an exclusive, four-minute video mash of some of Comedy Central’s most offensive portrayals of Jesus Christ and God to date as evidence of the kind of mockery we can expect from “JC”
· Announce when and how the coalition will release the names of those companies that have taken a position on “JC” advertising, and those who have not
We will keep you posted of how things unfold. The coalition has since been joined by many other groups. The fact that Catholics, Protestants and Jews are coming together to fight this show is encouraging, and the Catholic League is proud to be a part of it.
