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South Park episode challenges the right to offend
After a recent episode of South Park depicted the Prophet Muhammad in a bear costume, last week Comedy Central censored the cartoon show's follow-up episode by bleeping out all mentions of the prophet and obscuring his body with a black box. The cable channel was responding to outcry from Muslim groups, as physical depictions of Muhammad are considered blasphemous in Islam. In the past, South Park has offended other groups including Christians, Jews, and Scientologists, but was not censored. Was the network right to censor the show in this instance?
After a recent episode of South Park depicted the Prophet Muhammad in a bear costume, last week Comedy Central censored the cartoon show's follow-up episode by bleeping out all mentions of the prophet and obscuring his body with a black box. The cable channel was responding to outcry from Muslim groups, as physical depictions of Muhammad are considered blasphemous in Islam. In the past, South Park has offended other groups including Christians, Jews, and Scientologists, but was not censored. Was the network right to censor the show in this instance?