An episode of South Park, named "Trapped in the Closet," re-aired tonight. A stroke of justified comic genius put a caricature Tom Cruise in the closet while R. Kelly sang endlessly about it and Stan learned that this "religion" is based on the musings of a sci-fi writer. This is the episode that caused Chef, actor Isaac Hayes, to leave the show. Hayes is a scientologist and found the incident insulting. The show's creators wondered why Hayes had never found their sarcastic musings on other religions insulting. Hayes seemed to find them profitable.

It makes me wonder when the hell we're going to learn to laugh at our beliefs? Isn't the whole reason we have religious beliefs to feel a part of something larger, something more moral than our measly lives? Isn't comedy, laughing with strangers, one of the few bonds we can feel in our bellies as they jiggle with chuckles?

Anyway, back to South Park, they actually had to pull the show for a while because the very holy and understanding Scientologists flipped their lids. The episode is on the air again, now we only have to get a good Mohamed joke and maybe the world will laugh its way to peace. Unlikely, but maybe.
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It would be nice if people could laugh at themselves. However, some people will always take their religion too seriously. Scientologists, for example, have joined that cult because they want to use it to become successful. Scientology is far more of a way of life than some religions. Catholocism can be a way of life, but usally only for the clergy. And the clergy would take offense to such jokes as well. Scientologists basically just have a much wider base of fanatics than any other popular religion, relative to the size of the group.