South Park censors itself after extremist Islamic threats

South Park has skewed every possible cultural icon - religious, political, bodily function, sex, sexual orientation, race, creed, gender - ad infinitim, without censorship for some 14 years. Push the evelope, cross the line, forget good taste is the animated sitcom's motto.

Until now, the program's celebrated 200th episode.

Because of a warning to the show's creators from an Islamic group in New York, they dropped a visual reference to Muhammad - wherein the character was never actually seen but at first in a U-Haul then disguised as a bear. Check the New York Times story here.

So much for "free speech."

I am always amazed at how people who call themselves "believers" of any religion - especially the extremists - seem to have the least faith or belief of anyone when it comes to any of its institutional icons being assailed, parodied or the subject of satirical material.

I would assume that Muhammad's faith would be neither sullied nor upset by anything anyone says or does about him, his image, or his philosophy.

Take the cowards of the Vatican who have refused to apologize and make right the generations of harm done by priests and nuns who have beaten, sexually and verbally abused children in their care. Being honest and making amends instead of continuing the cover up their atrocities would not make anyone think any less of that religion or its leaders than they already do.

Still the faith of the true believers like Sinead O'Connor in their true religion has never been shaken.

When my dog Mistletoe was kidnapped, the first friends to tell me to give up and move on were people who consider themselves devout Christians. I never lost faith. I knew she was alive or I would sense she was not - so would her pet mates at home and they'd act differently.

So for half an hour every day right in the middle of my chemotherapy and radiation treatments, I would do something to find her. One day before the 8th week she went missing, I found her. Thanks to all the work (friends who at least humored me, along with volunteers, helped pass out flyers) done the previous 7.9 weeks, I got a call - a kid knew who stole my dog and gave us her name. Within 12 hours, I had my dog back.

At the time it didn't matter that people called me crazy, warned me that continuing to put all that effort into finding her would make me sicker, an thought me a sorry case for continuing to search for a dog that was "obviously" gone for good.

I had faith and nothing would shake it. I didn't even feel the names or disapproval coming my way.

The devout Christians all pronounced it a miracle and were absolutely stunned. Shocked. Thrilled, but flabbergasted.

Not me. I expected to get her home, one way or another.

I remember reading about a guy whom people called wacky and even put him to death for his beliefs. What ever happened to the stuff he talked about?

His words live on because through it all he had undeniable, unshakable faith - he believed he was telling the truth, even though those around him didn't seem to actually understand what he was saying.

I bet if someone drew a parody cartoon of him with a chisel on a rock he would have laughed at it because something so silly would never interfere with his faith. Nor would it bother anyone else who was a genuine believer in the faith and philosophy.

Oh, ye of little faith.