Pope DVD could stir trouble

So Says News24. Banned in Britain by the BBC, the state-funded slam of Roman Catholicism heads for the DVD market this week:

A cartoon, which was banned from the BBC for its depiction of the pope as an immature brat, is set to cause new controversy after it was confirmed it would be released on DVD in Britain.

Popetown, which features the voices of comedienne Ruby Wax as the pontiff and model Jerry Hall as a fame-hungry nun, was commissioned for digital TV channel BBC Three, but deemed too offensive for broadcast last year.

The 10-part animation, commissioned in 2002 before the death of Pope John Paul II, also features corrupt cardinals, plotlines about bestiality and an elderly pope bouncing around the Vatican on a pogo stick.

Roman Catholic groups campaigned against the two million pound show, which also stars Mckenzie Crook of the cult series The Office and Matt Lucas from Little Britain.

They said attempts to belittle the spiritual leader of the worldwide Roman Catholic Church would be unacceptable to vast numbers of the viewing public in Britain, where six million people adhere to Catholicism.

Joseph Devine, the Bishop of Motherwell, southeast of Glasgow in Scotland, said: "Many Catholics view this as an irreverent, gratuitous and publicly funded attack on their faith."

"It is impossible to imagine a similar irreverent approach being taken to Islam or Judaism."

All of this is true. Unfortunately, one of the wonderful horrors of human nature remains the human will's stubborn desire for unrestricted autonomy. It usually manifests itself in controversial films in the following way: The more aggrieved parties protest the release of said work, the more Joe and Jane public want to see it. The very act of telling somebody, "don't" perversely motivates them to "do." Never mind the mindless offense the work imposes. Never mind the indecency of holding up to scorn the world's first Christian religion. They're off to see it, sunshine, so button your breaches and sod off. Bollochs if you can't handle it.

That's why my prescription remains thus: Laugh at it. Laugh at the insanity of spending $4 million on a grotesque charactature of a Catholicism. LOL at the idiots that will actually waste their money buying or renting such trash. Roll in the aisles as they stare askance at the naked display of a Reasonable director and producers ignorance. Then, when the opportunity presents itself, evangelize.

Witness to the Truth about what being a Catholic really means. Share the Faith with the misguided that can't get a clue from this waste of time and money. Let them glimpse the Real Roman Catholic Church. Then, lets see who's still laughing.

I would not waste one breath or one minute protesting the release of it. Why should I give Phil "evil" Ox the satisfaction of increased sales? Let him do his own marketing! Besides, he's just joining the international intellectual's new favorite passtime: Catholic-bashing. We can take it. We've followed the Savior for 2,000 years; one cheap animation won't stop us from following for 2,000 more!