The NBC station here in Nashville announced it will no longer air “The Book of Daniel”. I’m sure they’re like all of the other NBC stations around the country and have been swamped with phone calls from angry people.
But now they’ve gone and ticked off the other folks.
I talked with a couple of ministers today about “The Book of Daniel” and the decision by WSMV to pull it from the lineup. Both ministers are level headed, highly educated and rational men. One is a Baptist pastor, the other is an Episcopal priest. They had different views on whether the show should air.
The Baptist pastor watched the show last week, was disappointed in the way it portryed Christians and actually wrote the local station a letter asking that they take it off the air. The Episcopal pastor didn’t see the show but heard what it’s about. He stopped short of saying they should take it off the air, but focused more on how response to the show is shaping people’s opinions of Christians.
Christianity has an image problem. It’s there not so much because of what the media has done, but how Christians and those proclaiming to be Christians have been behaving.
Quick list here: Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Jim Bakker, Oral Roberts, Tammy Faye Bakker. These are some of the most recognizable folks in Christianity. Last week, a Southern Baptist pastor who’s railed against homosexuality and the slip in morality in America was arrested for propositioning a prostitute.
Now is this a good example of Christianity? Nope. In the same way that all of those pro football players who get into big trouble isn’t a good example of the entire league. Difference: Public relations departments.
I’m working on a series about the image of Christianity. What people think of Christians. What Christians think of themselves. Falls right into the discussion about Pat Robertson’s comments and “The Book of Daniel.”
I look forward to your thoughts on this. Hopefully, I’ll get the blog up next week.
As a Christian I simply can’t express how odd it is to read that Christianity has a problem. Most of us are of the opinion that its the world that has the problem.
Most of the Evangelicals I talked to were not offended by the program’s representation of the Episcopal Church. Rather they were concerned with the “anything goes” Jesus whose character strayed so far from the Jesus of the Bible.
Your post was well-written and I enjoyed reading it. I’ll be back.
Thanks for the comment Chris.
I wish I had rolled my vcr soon enough to catch the SNL Weekend Update sketch tonight. It’s exactly what I’m talking about.
They lampooned Pat Robertson for his comments about Sharon, playing a quiz show called something like “Who said it?”
They quoted and misquoted Robertson and the other person had to guess who said it, the Rev. Robertson or a crazy man who lives in the park.
Do Christians have a public relations problem? You bet. The unchurched’s perception of Christians come from comments like Robertson’s or from bad behavior from other Christians. Sad, I agree but that’s the way most of them see us.