It wasn't bad enough that the almost willfully unfunny trailer for Mike Myers' comeback vehicle, The Love Guru (which you can watch after the jump), had Defamer HQ wailing with laments for the comic's lost Canadian soul. The metaphor has officially entered the literal realm this week, as nervous Hindu spiritual leader Rajan Zed — who coaxed a full viewing of the comedy out of Paramount — is on the PR offensive with his Christian and Jewish friends close behind:

Father Charles T. Durante, a Catholic priest well respected in northern Nevada for his various community outreach efforts, in a statement, said, "...it is important that we respect those parts of every faith tradition which are held especially sacred. I applaud Paramount Pictures for being open to the request of Hindu leaders to preview this film and listen to any concerns that may arise for them..."

Rabbi Jonathan B. Freirich, a well known Jewish leader in parts of California and Nevada, in a statement today, stressed, "While The Love Guru appears to be a funny take on New Age spirituality, it seems like it may portray many Hindu practices in a less than sensitive light...it would be appropriate for the producers of The Love Guru to make efforts to assure the religious communities of the United States that they in no way wish to make any general statements about Hinduism."

It's a little late for that, according to one of Zed's more incensed allies, who yesterday told Toronto's Eye Weekly: "Gurus don't exist to fix your love life. ... From what I could tell this movie will only help to spread ignorance." Meanwhile, America's outraged, pan-spiritual dwarf community is expected to speak out soon against the egregious mishandling of old Myers chum Verne Troyer, subject in the trailer alone to "shrimp" jokes, hockey injuries and stand-ins for an Oscar statuette. Insult, meet injury.