Suck it, Jesus!

I'm curious how other people are reacting to this story, though it's not really in the political news. This story from Entertainment Weekly (yes... yes.. I know. I'm sorry.) is about Kathy Griffin, a comedian who happens to be one of my favorites. Kathy says a lot of really outrageous things, but hey... she's a comic. She's been running a kind of reality show on Bravo and other cable networks for some time called, "My life on the D-List." It's a scream. However I recently noted that she suddenly stopped appearing on the lineup.

I'm wondering now if her acceptance speech upon winning her first Emmy had anything to do with it.

A lot of people get up here and thank Jesus for helping them win this award, but I have to say nobody has been less helpful in getting me to this moment than Jesus. I don't know what I ever did to him, I just think he doesn't like me that much, and if he had his way, Caesar Milan would be holding this statue right now, but he's not and I am! So I guess all I can really say is, 'Suck it, Jesus! This statue is my God now!'''

So what do you think? Over the line? Personally I found it hilarious. It's just so typical of Kathy's comedy. But of course, the usual list of suspects from the Catholic League et. al. are up in arms over it and calling for her censure, excommunication and/or execution as you would expect.

Some of our colleagues from the Right side of the aisle have been spending a lot of time and calories in jaw exercise to make sure that cartoonists and authors maintain their right to criticize the Islam prophet Muhammad. Surely Americans should be equally able to criticize the assumed deity of the Christian religion?

Of course, this isn't a case of Ms. Griffin making some sort of statement about Christianity and the habits of its practitioners. She was simply using shock value to get a laugh. But back to the original question... should she be censored for this? Should she lose her show on Bravo? Is this the kind of speech that society should eschew so that it is removed from the airways, not because of some legal prohibition, but because of rejection by the consumer? Or should we be free to have a laugh at the expense of any figure, no matter how revered?

I, for one, am generally up for a good laugh.