From the actual press release by the Catholic League, on this week's episode of "South Park":
“A ‘South Park’ character gets a DWI and is ordered to attend AA meetings. Told about the 12-step program, he concludes that he needs a miracle to cure him. The plot then focuses on a statue of the Virgin Mary who is ‘bleeding out her ass.’ The Vatican dispatches a cardinal to investigate and he is sprayed with blood when he walks behind the statue. He then declares this to be a miracle, which draws even more people. The alcoholic, now in a wheelchair, is also sprayed with blood: he then claims he is cured and jumps out of his seat.
“Pope Benedict XVI goes to investigate. He, too, is sprayed with blood when he walks behind the statue. A reporter says, ‘The pope investigated further and determined that the statue was not bleeding out its ass, but its vagina.’ To which the pope replies: ‘A chick bleeding out her vagina is no miracle. Chicks bleed out their vaginas all the time.’
I've said at other times that one of the purposes of such graphic detail coming from religious right folks is to combine titilation with "outrage."
The program in question actually was more a righteous bashing of the "powerlessness" philosophy of those in AA and the denial of the necessity of "discipline."
Stan, the kid whose father gets the DUI gets it right in the episode: if his father gave up drinking, his life would be defined by not drinking, which would be the same as excess.
That message outweighs any faux outrage coming from bleeding statues and locker-room humor. Yes, bash Buddhism if you want; it's your right, and besides, the idea of Buddhism, and its ritual pales in importance to its day-to-day everyday practice, which is all about discipline. I agree with Stan. Cultivation of discipline, and being skillful is more important than sacred cows - or statues.
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