Larry David Makes Jesus Cry, Angers Catholics

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Larry David Makes Jesus Cry, Angers Catholics

Wed., Oct. 28, 2009 3:46 PM PDT by Natalie Finn

HBO / Ron Batzdorff

Should Larry David have curbed his urine stream on last week's Curb Your Enthusiasm?

The plot thread in which Larry's midriff-showing assistant thinks her mom's painting of Jesus is crying because of Larry's bathroom backsplash has a couple of Catholic groups on the offensive against what they perceive as a tasteless, persecutorial jab against their religion.

"I don't think it's funny," InsideCatholic.com publisher Deal 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."

Hudson thinks an apology is in order.

But Curb is indeed an equal-opportunity lampooner. No character is safe from being made to look like an ass, and HBO is proud of it.

"Anyone who follows Curb Your Enthusiasm knows that the show is full of parody and satire," the network said in a statement to E! News.

"Larry David makes fun of everyone, most especially himself. The humor is always playful and certainly never malicious."

From Larry's racist dog, Sheriff, to his way with lesbians to his assumption that a black man wearing a bowtie has to be Muslim (not to mention that whole "Wendy Wheelchair" thing from the week before), nobody makes it out of that half-hour sitcom unscathed.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue, however, thinks HBO has been a hotbed of Catholic jokes lately and that David, his best days behind him, should "quit while he's ahead."

Well, just so long as he doesn't quit before he gets back together with Cheryl! He's so close!

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We couldn't get a shot of Larry's untamed urine, but we did you one better! Check out these Spoiler Stills from upcoming episodes of your favorite shows.