A comedy troupe at Baylor University, a Baptist school in Waco, Texas, has caused some controversy by depicting a Muslim imam stumbling around drunk and eating a ham sandwich. The university administration said the comedy troupe was prone to taking things too far, but the best way to handle it was to laugh at them.
Oh wait, did I say a drunken, ham-eating Muslim imam? No, what I meant to say was that they depicted a pregnant Catholic nun. Because, after all, offended Catholics aren’t going to burn down your school in retaliation.
I would have thought that the days of such blatant anti-Catholicism were behind us, especially at a large and respected institution like Baylor, and that the university president would at least express official disapproval, not counsel laughter.
On the other hand, I think Bishop Greg Aymond of Austin was a bit off in his response. He claimed, “While we have freedom of speech, this does not mean freedom to offend or to ridicule another person or his religious tradition.” Actually, it does mean that. Just because something ought not to be done morally, doesn’t mean it’s not allowed by law. So, while he’s right to criticize the university, the comedy troupe, and the newspaper that put the photo on the front page, I think he undermines his argument.
Technorati Tags: anti-Catholic, Baptist, speech
