{"id":3582,"date":"2009-10-28T16:33:42","date_gmt":"2009-10-28T16:33:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2009\/10\/larry-laughed-jesus-wept.html"},"modified":"2009-10-28T16:33:42","modified_gmt":"2009-10-28T16:33:42","slug":"larry-laughed-jesus-wept","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/10\/larry-laughed-jesus-wept.html","title":{"rendered":"Larry laughed, Jesus wept"},"content":{"rendered":"

Larry David has had his moments of brilliance.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
But this<\/a> wasn’t one of them: <\/p>\n

\n\"curb4_500.jpg\"<\/a><\/span>Comedian Larry David is under attack from critics who say he pushed the mocking of religion and Christian belief in miracles over the edge in the latest episode of his HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which the cable network defended as “playful.” <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On the show’s most recent installment, which aired Sunday, David urinates on a painting of Jesus Christ, causing a woman to believe the painting depicts Jesus crying. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Deal Hudson, author and publisher of InsideCatholic.com, said he doesn’t find any humor in the episode. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n“I don’t think it’s funny,” Hudson told Foxnews.com. “Why is it that people are allowed to publicly show that level of disrespect for Christian symbols? If the same thing was done to a symbol of any other religions — Jewish or Muslim — there’d be a huge outcry. It’s simply not a level playing field.” <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Hudson said an apology from the show’s producers and writing team should be issued. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n“Somebody should [apologize],” Hudson said. “When is it going to stop? When is common sense going to dictate that people realize this willingness of artists to do to Christianity what they would never do to Judaism or Islam?” <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In a statement to Foxnews.com, HBO downplayed the controversy. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n“Anyone who follows Curb Your Enthusiasm knows that the show is full of parody and satire,” the statement read. “Larry David makes fun of everyone, most especially himself. The humor is always playful and certainly never malicious.” <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Meantime, The Anchoress<\/a> puts all this in context: <\/p>\n

It takes no courage for an rich, unbelieving “artist” to piss on Christ. After all, that’s been done before. And Jesus voluntarily submitted himself to much worse, which means nothing an “artist” does to any image of Christ can do anything but reflect on the spiritual poverty of the “artist,” himself.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Larry David has had his moments of brilliance. But this wasn’t one of them: Comedian Larry David is under attack from critics who say he pushed the mocking of religion and Christian belief in miracles over the edge in the latest episode of his HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” which the cable network defended as…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-media"],"yoast_head":"\nLarry laughed, Jesus wept - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2009\/10\/larry-laughed-jesus-wept.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Larry laughed, Jesus wept - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Larry David has had his moments of brilliance. 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