Never mind the commandment against idolatry, it seems that conservative Catholics finally done and got a South Park episode yanked from Comedy Central for blaspheming a Catholic, um, idol.

In this season finale episode, which first aired on December 7, a local statue of the Virgin Mary bleeds from its ass. Townsfolk think it's a miracle. Emperor Palpatine Pope Benedict XVI visits to inspect the statue in person, determines that it is instead bleeding from its vagina, and declares: "A chick bleeding out her vagina is no miracle. Chicks bleed out their vaginas all the time."

Okay, it's rude and grotesque. But that's South Park.

And here I just saw a report on some television show about how the South Park guys love what they're doing because nobody can mess with them.

But oh no, they're being controlled by JEWS!

The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights predictably expressed outrage and called on Comedy Central to ban further showings of the episode. (The president of this alleged civil rights organization recently claimed, "Hollywood is controlled by secular Jews who hate Christianity in general and Catholicism in particular.")

Nothing like pulling out a little anti-Semitism to support your case for religious oppression.

Xeni at BoingBoing got it from dazereader, whose site showcases porn and sex hook-up ads -- a detail that makes this story all the more unappealing. Maybe the South Park boys could do an episode featuring a gang war between pornographers and Catholics ... or between Christians and Jews. Call it "The South Park Pogrom Program Special."

Comedy Central has seven episodes of South Park scheduled tonight from 9:30 to 1:00 (EST). Ads have touted this block as a mini-marathon of the show's most recent seven new episodes, from "Two Days Before the Day After Tomorrow" (season 9, episode 8) through "Bloody Mary" (season 9, episode 14). My local TV listings follow this plan. However, the schedule at comedycentral.com shows a 1998 episode airing at 9:30, followed by episodes 8 through 13 of season 9 — with no "Bloody Mary".

We'll see, we'll see.

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