It's not just Muslims who are upset about the depiction of deities in the media.
Catholics in New Zealand were threatening last week to boycott broadcaster CanWest MediaWorks if it screens a particular episode of "South Park" on May 10.
Titled "Bloody Mary," it features a statue of the Virgin Mary spurting blood after she is said to be menstruating.
Seven Catholic bishops complain it's demeaning to the Virgin Mary and to women, while a group of other religious leaders including Jews and Muslims deem it "scurrilous."
The episode screened on Comedy Central in the U.S. last year, but the channel nixed a repeat screening after complaints by Catholics.
"South Park" screens on CanWest's edgy free-to-air channel C4, but protesters threatened to boycott C4 and bigger mainstream sibling TV3.
Still, CanWest insisted it would screen the episode.
"It is a press freedom issue," says chief operating officer
Rick Friesen. "We want to respond to viewers but don't want to be overly responsive to pressure groups."
CanWest previously received three complaints against C4's animated "Popetown," which lampoons life in the Vatican. But the country's Broadcasting Standards Authority rejected all three.
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