Buddhists seek “heartfelt apology from all involved” in Jim Carrey’s mockery of Hindu Lord Ganesh

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Buddhists seek “heartfelt apology from all involved” in Jim Carrey’s mockery of Hindu Lord Ganesh

Buddhists have also come out in support of upset Hindus and want “heartfelt apology from all involved” in the mocking of Hindu Lord Ganesh in NBC’s Saturday Night Live (SNL) skit featuring actor-comedian Jim Carrey.

Buddhist Minister ‘Jikai’ Phil Bryan, in a statement in Nevada (USA) today, said: “Television producers and filmmakers, in such powerful mediums, can be more understanding of the pain they may cause in handling faith related subjects if they do more research on such sacred figures as Lord Ganesh. A heartfelt apology from all involved would show respect, love and understanding for all our Hindu friends”.

“It is very sad that NBC, the admired showman Jim Carrey, and others responsible for the skit ‘The Wrath of Ganesh’ fail to ‘see’ how important Ganesh is to every Hindu family's home and to many Buddhists as well. I understand why Hindus are upset over what they see as the mocking of their revered and beloved deity Ganesh, worshipped in nearly every Hindu home. All of us in America are for free speech, but such faith is so precious and sacred that ignorant mocking and satirical display is very painful for devotees”, Bryan added.

Meanwhile, International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) has also asked a public apology from NBC, Jim Carrey and SNL.

Annabelle Younger, Director of ISKCON for Northern Nevada, in a statement addressed to “NBC, Saturday Night Live and Jim Carrey”, said: “It would be to your benefit and the honorable deed for you to publicly offer an apology to those millions of people who worship Ganesh”. She described “Tantric N'Tasty” skit on Ganesh as “extremely offensive and completely TASTELESS”. “Obviously none of you have any understanding of who Ganesh is or how he is honored and respected by all those who follow the ancient Vedic traditions of India”, Younger added.

In a skit on NBC’s SNL (January eight) titled “The Wrath of Ganesh”, Jim Carrey (as erotic shaman Lee Licious) and Kenan Thomson (as Grady Wilson) demonstrate a sexual technique, mocking elephant-headed Lord Ganesh and his trunk in the process. Grady has traveled the world to find new sexual techniques to spice up the bedroom, the tagline of the episode (1587) “Grady Wilson's Tantric N'Tasty” says.

Hindu statesman Rajan Zed, talking on this issue, has earlier said that Lord Ganesh was highly revered in Hinduism and was meant to be worshipped in temples or home shrines and not to be thrown around loosely in reimagined versions for dramatic effects in TV series for mercantile greed. Such absurd depiction of Lord Ganesh with no scriptural backing was hurtful to the devotees.

Such trivialization of Lord Ganesh was disturbing and offensive to the one billion Hindus world over, Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism, said and requested NBC to immediately remove it from all its websites and other links.

Rajan Zed also asked Golden Globe winner actor-comedian Jim Carrey (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) , actor-comedian Kenan Thomson, NBC Universal President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Zucker, and SNL Executive Producer Lorne Michaels to tender a public apology for it and urged them not to inappropriately drag Hindu deities to advance the commercial or other agenda in the future.

Meanwhile, Forum for Hindu Awakening has appealed devout Hindus worldwide to protest against it. Jewish leader Rabbi ElizaBeth W. Beyer and Unity Church leader Reverend Larry Edward Schneider have also sought public apologies from those responsible, while spiritual leader Swami Pooja Saraswati called for boycott of NBC network.