The sacred and the profane ...

Isaac Hayes says he is leaving his role as the voice of the 'Chef' on the satirical cartoon "South Park," citing its "inappropriate ridicule of religion."

"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs ... begins," Hayes said in a statement.

It was okay as long as they were making fun of the Baptist or fundamentalists beliefs.

That is what kills me about all these folks that get filled with righteous indignation, but only as soon as it hits close to home.

Ethnic jokes are ok as long as they don't hit my ethnicity. Gay bashing is fine as long as I am not gay.

I don't watch South Park as a rule. I have caught a few episodes and found it to be rather humorless. It was more malicious satire than it was a comedy. It bashed any and every belief and or race/gender issue. No one was exempt. It was just a matter of time until Isaacs particular beliefs were cast into the limelight. Then, suddenly, their intolerant ridicule was over the line.

I have a Ron-ism about truth. Truth is truth. It doesn't rely on circumstances or situations. Truth is truth. It is the truth if it hits me. It is the truth if it hits you. It is the truth if it hits my mother.

There are conditional truths. These are truths that rely on the situation.

The fact that intolerance of racial or religious differences is wrong is a truth. It is not conditional. It is not ok to make light humor of the Baptists unless it is also ok to make light humor of the Methodists. You can't have it both ways.

It was wrong to to be irreverent of any of the beliefs, just as it was wrong to be irreverent of Scientology. I am not a scientologist, but I don't cotton to being irreverent to them. Light humor is one thing. South Park has never been accused of being lightly humorous. I don't like the show for that reason. It is an open game show. Nothing is sacred, and I believe that there are sacred things.

In the temple plan that God set down for his house, there were broom closets (of sorts.) There were places that the sacred items used in worship and sacrifice were kept. There were places in the temple that other items were stored. There was a command that the profane things were not to be kept in the place of the sacred things. There are sacred things today.

I am glad that Isaac has 'seen' the light, but saddened that it took an 'attack' on his beliefs for him to see it.