Chocolate. Salty. Dead.

August 13 2008 06:17 Filed in: Poop
You see this cat Isaac is a dead mother--(Shut your mouth). Can ya dig it?

Another death this week. Isaac Hayes was 65. Hayes had one of the most incredible voices of our lifetime spoken or singing. For the internet and slacker generation he is most known for his role of Chef in South Park more so than his multiple decades of musical accomplishments.

He got a lot of flack in 2006 when he departed from South Park because his departure was tied to his involvement with the Church of Scientology. A lot of speculation surrounded how much pressure the church applied to Hayes to leave after the show had been critical of its practices.

Hard to say really whether it was direct pressure or just his own personal ideals that pushed it. Scientology is even less appreciative of criticism than most other organized religious sects. If he felt that because of his beliefs he was uncomfortable with the program that’s his right.

His only mistake was to try to paint his reasons for leaving being related to general intolerance or disrespect by the show’s creators. This really was an insane proposition to make since South Park had satirized and been critical of just about every sacred belief or cultural standard from the very beginning, but it suddenly wasn’t until Scientology got some of the anti-love that he decides that it was not okay anymore.

Ultimately, Scientology is no different than any other religion. The beliefs and mythology are absolutely no more incredible or ridiculous than Judeo-Christian religions, though I take particular offense with them since they try to scientifically justify their claims. They also seem to be much more openly breaking the law in many of their public practices financially and with their followers. However, the strict control of the lives of its members is really not much philosophically different than any other fundamentalists. Mormons, Catholics, Jews, Muslims, Scientologists--all the same to me. Thousands of years of dangerous, destructive weirdness.

I can’t fault Hayes, though, for just being another addict to the Opiate of the Masses. I liked the guy.

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