Religious groups target proposed ‘JC’ cartoon

NEW YORK — A coalition of religious and conservative leaders is trying to stop a proposed Comedy Central cartoon that puts Jesus Christ in a modern-day context — before it gets started.

The newly formed Citizens Against Religious Bigotry said Thursday that it believes the “JC” series would be offensive. They accuse Comedy Central of a double standard in mocking Christian figures and beliefs while recently refusing to let “South Park” depict the Prophet Muhammad for fear of offending Muslims.

“You don’t have to be a Christian to be offended by this,” said the head of the Media Research Center.

Comedy Central said last month that “JC” is one of two dozen series it has in development. The concept is to depict Christ as a “regular guy” who moves to New York to “escape his father’s enormous shadow.”

A network spokesman said “JC” is nothing more than an idea now, without even a completed script. Only a minority of projects in development ever make it on the air, he said.