What if Shawn Michaels Was a Muslim?

I’m going to start this particular column by making an admission - I’m not a religious man. I never have been, and probably never will be. I’ve only been inside a church once over the past five years, and the next time you’ll see me in one will probably be at my funeral. But this doesn’t mean that I haven’t felt uncomfortable watching WWE lately.

I felt uncomfortable watching Vince McMahon mock Shawn Michaels’ religious beliefs. I felt uncomfortable watching Vince McMahon standing in a church mocking God. I felt uncomfortable watching Vince McMahon standing in the middle of the ring saying that he was going to start his own religion. And I really felt uncomfortable watching Vince McMahon in his office with tons of bread and fish flying around the place, and turning Shane’s water into wine.

So you can imagine how I felt at the beginning of the McMahon’s match with Michaels this past Sunday at Backlash. But while I was watching this, one thing kept going through my mind.

Think about this - what if Shawn Michaels wasn’t a born again Christian? What if Shawn Michaels was a Muslim?

How would the world, and in particular the mainstream media, have reacted if Vince McMahon had “booked” Allah as Michaels’ tag-team partner at Backlash? What if Vince hadn’t stood in a church, but in a mosque, insulting Allah and the prophet Muhammad during that segment on Raw?

There would have been outrage around the world. McMahon and WWE would have taken a hell of a pasting in the mainstream media. Television stations that carry WWE programming around the world would have considered pulling the offending shows from their schedules. And given the fact that there were countless protests after offensive cartoons were published in a Danish newspaper, there would probably have been numerous protests, with quite a few outside arenas and the lavish WWE offices.

Yet because Shawn Michaels is a Christian, it seems that the mainstream media aren’t that offended by this. We haven’t heard anything from any Christian groups about the offensive nature of these segments. Will they wait until Shane, portrayed as the son of the god of McMahonism, is crucified on a live edition of Raw? On second thoughts, Vince would probably save a crucifixion for pay-per-view. Who knows, if it’s promoted properly, the buy-rates would go through the roof!

But because Vince is mocking Christian beliefs, that’s okay I suppose. And it doesn’t really matter if a non-religious person such as myself is offended by these segments, does it Vince?