No more Chef on South Park - Isaac Hayes calls it quits

[BushOut06]

From Cinescape's website: http://cinescape.com/0/editorial.asp?aff_id=0&this_cat=Television&action=page&type_id=&cat_id=270355&obj_id=50838

Isaac Hayes has announced he has quit SOUTH PARK and will no longer voice the character of Chef. The singer/actor feels he can no longer deal with the show's take on religion.

"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins." Hayes went on to add, "Religious beliefs are sacred to people, and at all times should be respected and honored."

The shows creators feel he is taking issue with SOUTH PARKS comedic jabs at Scientology. Matt Stone stated, "He's cashed plenty of checks — with our show making fun of Christians."

So it was okay when South Park was taking potshots at Christians, Muslims, Mormons, Buddhists, and other religions - but picking on Scientology, now that's just going too damned far.

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. "Oh my God! They've killed Chef!"

They will either find a different voice or they will kill the character off (and keep him dead, unlike Kenny.)

[BushOut06]

2. I'm sure Trey Parker & Matt Stone can handle this

They'll probably bring in some new cook, and come up with some really great story to explain why Chef isn't there anymore. Knowing them, they'll come up with some crazy Scientology slant :)

[GoneOffShore]

23. They'll come up with something

and like the rest of the show it will be as tasteless and without merit as everything else they've done.

Despite these guys 'clever clever' snarkiness, they care only about the Benjamins.

Not defending Hayes here - who, because he's bought into xenu and the failed scifi author Hubbard, I regard as a duped fool - but rather the utter lack of redeeming value to the entire South Park ethos. And please don't call it humor or satire, both of those genres take talent.

[BushOut06]

31. To each their own

Where you find no talent, I find tremendous talent, biting satire, so I'll call it whatever I like. I respect your opinion, however.

[HamiltonHabs32]

20. It's funny eh

How Hayes didn't seem to have a problem the umpteen hundred times they mocked Catholisism. Or the time the mocked the Mormons, but when it comes to Scientology (his religion) he gets offended and leaves the show.

Good riddence, I hope they do kill him off.

And yes those links go to video clips of each religious example

[gilpo]

48. You Bastards!

On Edit:

Thought this looked like I was calling the poster a bastard. Just a line from the show.

[TechBear_Seattle]

51. I was waiting for someone to finish the line :hi:

And yes, that always follows the line, "Oh my God! They've killed Kenny!" Kenny is the kid with the orange parka around his face; if you listen carefully to his muffled voice, he usually is saying very, very filthy things. He gets killed every episode.

[tuvor]

3. Dude, you don't get it.

You can make fun of Jesus, you can make fun of Jewish beliefs, and you can make fun of Confucius.

But don't you DARE make fun of Tom Cruise.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

4. Is he a scientologist?

[AngryAmish]

6. Yes

He was mad at the "Tom Cruise come out of the closet!" episode.

[BushOut06]

11. Jees, he's mad at SP picking on TOM FRIGGIN CRUISE?

Let me get this straight - it's okay for Tom Cruise to go on Oprah, jump around and make a complete buffoon of himself, then confront Matt Lauer (sp?) about psychology on national television. But god forbid South Park make fun of Tom Cruise for making an ass of himself?

Did Isaac Hayes express any similiar reservations when South Park was crucifying Mel Gibson?

[zalinda]

5. I understand where he is coming from

the show on Scientology wasn't satire, because most of it was garbage attached to Scientology. If he was a Jew and they said that Jews were baby killers and that they ate their bodies, which is what some in the Muslim religion believe, I think he would have quit over that. Again there is satire and then there is making up things about a religion to make it appear bizarre.

zalinda

[Dorian Gray]

8. What did they make up

about Scientology?

[Skeet]

55. Nothing, which is what made that episode

so funny. They showed the story of Xenu and all that with a disclaimer on the bottom of the screen saying "This is what Scientologists actually believe."

[BushOut06]

But they did that to lots of people

That's what South Park did, was to poke fun at lots of groups, and often they would make up lots of garbage stuff. Does anyone really think they were trying to insinuate that Scientologists really kill & eat babies?

[Vinnie From Indy]

9. Scientology is bizarre enough without having to add anything

Are you familiar with the Scientology explanation of the origin of life on Earth?

[WoodrowFan]

19. XENU!

This is from http://www.xenu.net/, a site that exposes this very dangerious CULT.

(note to mods, this is from a pamphlet that XENU has on its site for free distribution. It's meant to be copied and distributed in full)


I'm going to tell you a story. Are you sitting comfortably? Right, then I'll begin.
Once upon a time (75 million years ago to be more precise) there was an alien galactic ruler named Xenu. Xenu was in charge of all the planets in this part of the galaxy including our own planet Earth, except in those days it was called Teegeeack.

Now Xenu had a problem. All of the 76 planets he controlled were overpopulated. Each planet had on average 178 billion people. He wanted to get rid of all the overpopulation so he had a plan.

Xenu took over complete control with the help of renegades to defeat the good people and the Loyal Officers. Then with the help of psychiatrists he called in billions of people for income tax inspections where they were instead given injections of alcohol and glycol mixed to paralyse them. Then they were put into space planes that looked exactly like DC8s (except they had rocket motors instead of propellers).


These DC8 space planes then flew to planet Earth where the paralysed people were stacked around the bases of volcanoes in their hundreds of billions. When they had finished stacking them around then H-bombs were lowered into the volcanoes. Xenu then detonated all the H-bombs at the same time and everyone was killed.

The story doesn't end there though. Since everyone has a soul (called a "thetan" in this story) then you have to trick souls into not coming back again. So while the hundreds of billions of souls were being blown around by the nuclear winds he had special electronic traps that caught all the souls in electronic beams (the electronic beams were sticky like fly-paper).

After he had captured all these souls he had them packed into boxes and taken to a few huge cinemas. There all the souls had to spend days watching special 3D motion pictures that told them what life should be like and many confusing things. In this film they were shown false pictures and told they were God, The Devil and Christ. In the story this process is called "implanting".

When the films ended and the souls left the cinema these souls started to stick together because since they had all seen the same film they thought they were the same people. They clustered in groups of a few thousand. Now because there were only a few living bodies left they stayed as clusters and inhabited these bodies.

As for Xenu, the Loyal Officers finally overthrew him and they locked him away in a mountain on one of the planets. He is kept in by a force-field powered by an eternal battery and Xenu is still alive today.

That is the end of the story. And so today everyone is full of these clusters of souls called "body thetans". And if we are to be a free soul then we have to remove all these "body thetans" and pay lots of money to do so. And the only reason people believe in God and Christ was because it was in the film their body thetans saw 75 million years ago.

Well what did you think of that story?

What? You thought it was a stupid story?

Well so do we. However, this story is the core belief in the religion known as Scientology.* If people knew about this story then most people would never get involved in it. This story is told to you when you reach one of their secret levels called OT III. After that you are supposed to telepathically communicate with these body thetans to make them go away. You have to pay a lot of money to get to this level and do this (or you have to work very hard for the organisation on extremely low pay for many years).

We are telling you this story as a warning. If you become involved with Scientology then we would like you to do so with your eyes open and fully aware of the sort of material it contains.

Most of the Scientologists who work in their Dianetics* centres and so called "Churches" of Scientology do not know this story since they are not allowed to hear it until they reach the secret "upper" levels of Scientology. It may take them many years before they reach this level if they ever do. The ones who do know it are forced to keep it a secret and not tell it to those people who are joining Scientology.
Part of the first page of the secret OT III document in L. Ron Hubbard's own handwriting


Now you have read this you know their big secret. Don't let us put you off joining though.

* Dianetics and Scientology are trademarks of the Religious Technology Centre. This document is not connected with that organisation in any way.

[zalinda]

26. Are you familiar with something made up?

Apparently someone made up something about what Scientologists believe as the origin of life on Earth, and now everyone thinks that is what is taught.

I was in Scientology for 5 or 6 years, and on staff for 2 of those years. I never heard of weepy mollusks or whatever they are supposed to be. Scientology has, and always will be how to make a person better, to help him take away those things that bother him. You will find in EVERY book, a note in the front, that says if you don't understand a word, don't just ignore it, look it up and understand it before you read on. You will see that those in training classes carry their class materials and a dictionary.

Scientology also never asks you to believe anything you can't prove to yourself to be true. Hubbard is not considered a god, he is not worshiped. He was fallible and would often correct himself later if he felt he made a mistake.

So much of what I hear from anti-Scientologists is garbage. I never heard of the vast majority of what they say went on, and I was there. I was on staff in Detroit and Los Angeles.

zalinda

[Dorian Gray]

29. Zalinda...

Is the Xenu story correct? Do Scientologists believe that is the origen of life on Earth? I'm seriously curious about that.

[zalinda]

36. I never heard anything about Xenu, until I joined DU

A lot of what I hear from those on DU who trash Scientology, is just plain foreign to me. Like I've said, I was in it for over 5 years and I never heard of such a thing, nothing even close to that was even speculated. What is in the upper levels, I have no idea, but I can tell you that the lower levels only deal with how you, as a person, conducts your life. We read, took classes and discussed what we learned. All was designed for us to be better, ethical and more productive people. It was more logical, practical things than sci-fi. I can't see the lower levels preparing the upper levels to believe in some of the weird things that Scientologists are supposed to believe in. It would seem to me that it would make them want to leave the church after all the logical things they learned.

zalinda

[Dorian Gray]

37. Thanks for answering.

I do appreciate that.

One more question. (Of course, if it's too personal, don't feel like you have to answer!) :)

You say that you WERE in it for five years. That sounds like you left Scientology. Why did you choose to leave? Or didn't you? (I may be reading things into your post.)

I'm very curious about Scientology, and I have to admit that I do distrust the religion a lot. If that's a result of disinformation, I would like to know. And you are the first person that I've come across that has actually been a member. :) So, your answers will help me get a better picture of Scientology.

[zalinda]

39. I left the church because I moved, it's that simple

I wasn't harassed like some have said they were. They had my address and on occasion would send literature. I still use Scientology every single day. Like I said, I have no idea what is on the upper levels, but the lower levels help you with every day life.

My life has been a roller coaster ride. I've been betrayed, by many people who were supposed to love me. Because of Scientology, I didn't cave in, I don't carry around that baggage, and am willing to find love again. Each situation has taught me something, and I have been able to put that in my knowledge base and move on. Scientology doesn't teach faith in Scientology, they teach faith in yourself, that's the best way I can describe it.

zalinda

[Dorian Gray]

47. Well, I'm glad that it has worked for you.

It must be difficult posting with so many people who are predisposed to not trusting Scientology. Thank you for sharing your experience with us, though. It's definitely good to speak to someone who practices it to get another view. Even if I don't agree with it, it's good hearing first-hand accounts. :)

[snooper2]

40. I guess you didn't make it to the more "advanced" "clear" level

I could have posted this from a thousand different websites, but here's wilkpedia for ya ...
(By the way, I think all religions are nuts, but the fact that you can create a brand new one in the 20th century is a pretty impressive task :) )


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology

Operating Thetan levels and the Xenu incident
The "Hidden Truth" about the nature of the universe is taught to only the most advanced Scientologists, those who have achieved the level "clear", in a series of courses known as the Advanced Levels. The contents of these courses are held in strict confidence within Scientology. They have never been published by the Church, except for use in highly secure areas. The most advanced of all are the eight Operating Thetan levels, which require the initiate to be thoroughly prepared. The highest level, OT VIII, is only disclosed at sea, on the Scientology cruise ship Freewinds. Because Scientology is a mystery religion, the more closely guarded and esoteric teachings imparted at these higher levels may not always be entirely consistent with its entry-level teachings.

In the confidential OT levels, Hubbard describes a variety of traumas commonly experienced in past lives. He also explained how to reverse the effects of such traumas. Among these advanced teachings, one episode that is revealed to those who reach OT level III has been widely remarked upon in the press: the story of Xenu, the galactic tyrant who first kidnapped certain individuals who were deemed "excess population" and loaded these individuals into space planes for transport to the site of extermination, the planet of Teegeeack (Earth). These space planes were said to have been copies of Douglas DC-8s, except with rocket engines. He then stacked hundreds of billions of these frozen victims around Earth's volcanoes 75 million years ago before blowing them up with hydrogen bombs and brainwashing them with a "three-D, super colossal motion picture" for 36 days, telling them lies of what they are and what the universe should be like and telling them that they are 3 different things: 'Jesus, God, and The Devil.' The traumatized thetans subsequently clustered around human bodies because they watched the motion picture together, making them think they are all the same thing, in effect acting as invisible spiritual parasites known as "body thetans" that can only be removed using advanced Scientology techniques. Xenu is allegedly imprisoned in a mountain by a force field powered by an eternal battery. He is said to be still alive today.

Scientologists argue that published accounts of the Xenu story and other colorful teachings are presented out of context for the purpose of ridiculing their religion. Journalists and critics of Scientology counter that Xenu is part of a much wider Scientology belief in past lives on other planets, some of which has been public knowledge for decades. For instance, Hubbard's 1958 book Have You Lived Before This Life documents past lives described by individual Scientologists during auditing sessions. These included memories of being "deceived into a love affair with a robot decked out as a beautiful blond-haired girl", being run over by a Martian bishop driving a steamroller which transformed him into an intergalactic walrus that perished after falling out of a flying saucer, after which he was "a very happy being who strayed to the planet Nostra 23,064,000,000 years ago".

Scientologists argue that most members of the organization have not attained a sufficiently high level to learn about Xenu. Therefore, while knowledge of Xenu and Body Thetans is said to be crucial to the highest level church teachings, it cannot be regarded as a core belief of rank and file Scientologists. Thus accusations and criticisms by critics of ordinary Scientologists based on the above should be disregarded, since it is not published in commonly available materials, and is not part of what the vast majority of ordinary Scientologists believe.

[zalinda]

41. Here is another view from an ex-Scientologist

http://bernie.cncfamily.com/ars.htm

I just came upon it and you might find it interesting.

zalinda

[snooper2]

43. pretty intersting, he was for, then against, now in the middle...

This is why I think all religions are nuts by the way (from his posting about Xenu)

Why would the Xenu story be more ridiculous than Moïse splitting the red sea in two, Jesus being born from a virgin, Mohammed raising to the sky on a ball of fire, or Christians eating wafers and drinking red wine while the minister mumbles about the body of Christ?

:rofl:

[BushOut06]

56. That's why I believe in to each their own

If Scientology makes someone happy and gives them a sense of purpose, who am I to argue with that? I might find their beliefs strange and wierd, but no more so than some might find stories in the Bible.

[smirkymonkey]

53. Don't forget Operation Clambake

http://www.xenu.net/

[K-W]

54. Yes, L.Ron Hubbard made it up, one can only imagine in what state of mind.

regardless, they dont tell you the wacky alien stories until you are well indoctrinated and have your life and finances well entertwined with the church. The stories themselves are unimportant since most of the time they are not revealed, that they exist is enough.

Scientology isnt a real religion with real ideas that can be examined by anyone, its a cult. The structure of the cult requires the trappings of a religion, but the way they get people is not through those trappings, but through the offer of helping you solve your problems and improve your life.

For the most part scientology consists of reckless psychotherapy that may in fact give you some temporary comfort but will, in the end, not solve a single one of your problems and will brainwash you.

Hubbard is inddeed not a god. He was an author of science fiction, self-help, and new-age mysticism who discovered that not only can a religion/cult act as a tax shelter it can also produce profits.

Scientology asks you to believe a great deal that you cant prove to be true. They ask you to believe that thier methods and equipment work, which they dont.

[Mike Daniels]

10. Personally, any "religion" that requires you to dump tons of cash

in order to learn their philosophy is a crock and deserves to be lampooned repeatedly and mercilessly.

Say what you well about Islam, Christianity, etc... You technically don't need to fork out any cash to gain salvation through any other religion. Yeah, there are hucksters in all religions looking to fleece the sheep, but any shmoe who's so inclined can get a Bible or Koran, sit in a grassy field and discover the key to those respective faiths for no cost.

[zalinda]

13. And so can you with Scientology

All the books are available, and many in libraries. No one says you have to take classes to be a Scientologist. The training classes are mainly to become auditors, but will help you in every day life. Being audited is a therapy, sort of like going to a psychologists. You are not made to take classes or be audited.

And, most religions as that you tithe. So 10% of $100,000 every year? You do the math. How do you think they get those big mega churches?

zalinda

[derby378]

25. The difference with Scientology, however, is...

With the Church of Scientology, it's a matter of control. There have been several spin-offs of Scientology, including Amprinistics, Dianology, and Freezone Scientology, which have all been hit by the CoS for reputedly violating the trademarks and copyrights of the CoS, which are administered by Religious Technology Corporation and handled in court by Author Services, Inc.

Within any religion, there's always a struggle over who is "boss." Same thing happened in Christianity when Constantine the Great had his In Hoc Signo Vinces moment and found himself dictating terms at the Council of Nicea after converting. All of a sudden, Gnostic and Monophysite Christians were told to make tracks, the Nag Hammadi monks buried their texts rathen than burning them, and Christian power was consolidated in Rome. But now the Roman Catholic Church has had to admit that the Orthodox, the Protestants, the new evangelical/charismatic movement, and what's left of the Gnostics and Monophysites aren't necessarily going to Hell after all.

If Scientology is to endure, it must be willing to diversify and share. Right now, however, that's a slim chance. David Miscavige, L. Ron Hubbard's successor, is a Sea Org veteran who's been involved in the CoS since at least the 70's, and he is fiercely protective of Scientology and its monopoly over the tech - which the Freezone gang is all too willing to challenge. I think the Freezoners' take is that it's Hubbard's tech, sure, but it's their MEST, their minds, their engrams, their universe, and their destiny.

[zalinda]

28. Wow, an intelligent comment !

Thank you. I have never thought protectionism was a good thing. I'll have to look up the Freezoners. I do know a little about Dianology though, since I was around when the whole court case. The only problem I had with them, was that they decided that they didn't want to adhere to the strong ethics that Hubbard had in place. To me, ethics is and was the corner stone of what Scientology is.

zalinda

[Dorian Gray]

32. Tithing is suggested, not required.

I can attend Church every week and not be admonished for not giving money. I can also attend seminars at my church discussing religion and theology for free. I can attend prayer sessions for free. I can go to the Stations of the Cross on Fridays for free.

I can not attend Scientology training sessions without giving money.

That is the difference.

[lectrobyte]

21. garbage? The story they told is straight from Scientology

literature, I can dig up a web site on it if you'd like. Or just ask a Scientologist about "body thetans" and "clear", and how much a "meter reading" costs... There are lots of things that may be said about South Park, but "making up garbage about Scientology" is not one of them.

[KurtNYC]

24. Xenu and body thetans, ancient nuclear apocalpyse, expensive audits?

is that "the garbage attached to Scientology" or is that part of the religion?

Scientologists are camped out in the subways here nearly every night recruiting people to their religion but they don't say that is what they are doing. They conduct "stress tests" to ask people a lot of personal questions and then sell them a book.

[zalinda]

30. And Mormons and other religions go house to house

preaching "their" gospel. What is the difference? The difference is the Scientologists aren't knocking on my door, waking me up on a Saturday morning to tell me their beliefs.

And as far as Xenu, is concerned never heard of him/them/it or whatever it is, and I was in Scientology for over 5 years.

zalinda

[mondo joe]

34. And South Park satires Mormonism too. And Judaism.

And Christianity.

[KurtNYC]

42. The difference is most other religions say upfront

"Hi, we are from the Church of Latter Day Saints" etc. So I would say that honesty is the first difference. In my experience, any relationship that starts with one party lying to the other is a bad and potentially exploitative relationship.

[gilpo]

49. How could you possibly make Scientology appear more bizarre?

[Vinnie From Indy]

7. Did Hayes even watch the show?

Southpark has savagely made fun of all religions, races and sexual preferences since it first aired.

Scientology is ruthless in it's attacks on anything critical of the cult. Their stated response to criticism is to use any means necessary to attack the critic.

[msongs]

12. hayes will trash anything for $$$...until it is his turn to be trashed

then suddenly what he is doing gives him a conscience attack. shaft indeed.

Msongs
www.msongs.com/democratsmugs.htm

[Hamlette]

38. actually, all religions are ruthless in their attacks on anything critical

think: inquisition or 9-11.

I think religion is fair game. Until we all do, we'll remain trapped.

[demosincebirth]

14. Here is another thread.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=649963&mesg_id=649963

[400Years]

15. He can quit for whatever reason he wants, he doesn't owe anybody anything

It doesn't really matter why he quit.

[BushOut06]

22. Obviously, we're just pointing out his hypocrisy

As so many people have pointed out, he didn't have any problems whatsoever picking on other religions. We will damned right call people out on their hypocrisy.

[400Years]

45. can you teach me how to read minds the way you do?

[BushOut06]

46. What is there to read?

He got upset because they did a show poking fun of Scientology, which happens to be HIS religion. He was a regular on the show for nine friggin years, during which time they poked fun at all sorts of religious beliefs.

I don't understand why you have such a problem with people pointing out his hypocrisy when it's plain as day for anyone to see.

[400Years]

50. Well I haven't personally talked to him so I don't know if

he had a problem with it all and the latest stuff was just the last straw or what.
I don't know so I just can't get into attack mode over it all.

[BushOut06]

52. I'll take Matt Stone at his word on this

He said that Isaac Hayes never expressed any reservations about making fun of other religions. In fact, if you watch many of the episodes, Chef is dishing out a lot of stuff himself.

Besides, even if he DID have a problem with it the whole time, why did he wait until they went after HIS religion? And if he did have a problem this whole time, yet still went along with it, wouldn't that be hypocritical also?

[Memory Container]

16. Isaac Hates leaving South Park... cites "religious intolerance"

Isaac Hayes Quits 'South Park'
Mar 13, 4:33 PM EST


The Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Isaac Hayes has quit "South Park," where he voices Chef, saying he can no longer stomach its take on religion.

Hayes, who has played the ladies' man/school cook in the animated Comedy Central satire since 1997, said in a statement Monday that he feels a line has been crossed.

"There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry towards religious beliefs of others begins," the 63-year-old soul singer and outspoken Scientologist said.
<snip>
""South Park" co-creator Matt Stone responded sharply in an interview with The Associated Press Monday, saying, "This is 100 percent having to do with his faith of Scientology... He has no problem — and he's cashed plenty of checks — with our show making fun of Christians."

http://entertainment.msn.com/tv/article.aspx?news=218421>1=7703


Isaac Hayes a Scientologist?
No more Chef? think They'll kill him off?

[Strong Atheist]

17. Scientologists are

[Brewman_Jax]

18. Cry me a river

:nopity:

[TlalocW]

27. They should replace him with

Tom Cruise as the new school's chef.

Chef Tom: Hello, children!
All: Hi, Chef Tom.
Chef Tom: How's it going?
Stan: Bad.
Chef Tom: Why bad? Is your Thetan count up? Maybe you should do a meter reading. Maybe you should find a girl like Katie Holmes (jumps on serving counter, puts foot in salsbury steak bin). A girl you can be CRAZY about! Cuz I'm CRAZY about her! etc.

Kids just stare aghast.

TlalocW

[BushOut06]

33. That would be awesome - or perhaps John Travolta

Maybe even Ben Affleck, even though he's not a Scientologist that I'm aware of, they do love to rip on him.

[Beelzebud]

35. Cult Member angry because his cult was insulted. Color me shocked.

[Javaman]

44. Do you think mr Hayes will jump up and down on a couch now?

what's with these scientologists, anyway?