Proving once again that Scientologists are not only mind-bogglingly gullible, but also completely humourless, we have heard today that Isaac Hayes, the 70's soul sensation and singer of Shaft, has decided to leave the cast of "South Park" due to religious sensitivities.
According to the BBC, the soulful voice of Chef has objected to the "innapropriate ridicule" of his religion of choice, Scientology. In an episode recently shown in the US, and unfortunately never to be seen in the UK (sniff sniff, poor us!), Matt Stone and Trey Parker mocked the extremely mockable, alien-loving, "religion". In the episode in question, Stan performs so well in a Scientology personality test, that he is believed to be the next L. Ron Hubbard. We suspect that this episode is very funny, but as we said, we are not going to get to see it because Paramount are pussys' (although we forgive Matt and Trey for attributing the episode to the fictional John and Jane Smith, even we, the fearless Celebrity Religion team are afraid of being sued by Tom and Co.) Hayes himself is quoted as saying
"There is a place in this world for satire but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs begin." (Thank god they didn't do a cartoon version of Muhammad!)
Of course, many people have been quick to point out that in over 150 episodes of South Park, Hayes has had no problem making fun of Christians, Mormons, Jews or Muslims, and have accused the singer of hypocrisy. It seems like Hayes is quite happy to dish it out (note the fabulous chef reference), but not so happy to take it! So long Chef, we will miss your sweet lovin'.
P.S. Lets hope Matt Groening doesn't decide to mock Scientology, or Bart Simpson may become another victim of Scientology related catoon character disappearance.