TV station decides to not air Book of Daniel because it has Jesus in it

[Ben Kenobi]

No, it's from a very cool icon of the blessed virgin in Sinai.

[Imran Siddiqui]

THAT was offensive to Christians?! I mean really, if anything it portrayed the priest very well and Jesus was by far portrayed as the "King of Kindness". Maybe they'd be offended by the Bishops having affairs and the Catholic priest having attachments to the mafia, but Jesus was just as any fundy would want him to be! Hell, he even says that he talks to everyone... just some people chose not to listen. I think I've heard fundies say that before.

[Dr Strangelove]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Well, even Episcopals and Catholics have their conservatives. Look at the split in the Episcopal Church (though I don't think a practicing, unmarried homosexual should have been made a Bishop).

Split? What split? We have survived. That issue is sooo last year.

[Barnabas]

Originally posted by Ben Kenobi


No, it's from a very cool icon of the blessed virgin in Sinai.

sorry

and

forgive me Mary

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
THAT was offensive to Christians?!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/05/AR2006010502423.html

It sounds as if that it should be offensive to more than just Christians (anyone with taste) if this review is any close to fair.

[Imran Siddiqui]

I enjoyed the show. I'll be watching next week. I don't care what the Washington Post considers 'good', especially as they badmouth the incredible "Arrested Development".

[Apocalypse]

Washington Post lies

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Apocalypse
Washington Post lies

Lies in what way?

[Apocalypse]

Just in general....every few months they lie about my college, for example.

[mrmitchell]

I saw the show!

In addition, the station in our area that did air it (the great KTVE-10 El Dorado/Monroe, whose news does not suck) hosted a panel of five clergy from various churches in the region for a discussion about the program.

The religious aspect isn't emphasized like was hyped. As a panelist said, Jesus was as much a manifestation of Daniel's conscience instead of the Lord, for much of his appearances. A lot of his lines were just silly. I don't feel that he was accurately portrayed.

The story wasn't that great. A lot of the events had no background behind them that related to the rest of the show, like the mafia connections or the secretary pulling up during the funeral scene. Happily, the show was by far more intelligent than what I usually see when I turn the TV on. Unhappily, that still didn't make it enjoyable to watch. If there were no religious element and Daniel was, say, a banker instead of a priest, the whole thing would be dead in the water.

I didn't feel any emotions for any of the characters. None of them are likeable. A lot of the show was just the flaws of characters being emphasized, and I left it not liking any of them.

The whole plot progressed too quickly, and the show's writers are trying to juggle too many lines. The one overarching theme (the loss of the $3M) was not interesting and didn't make any sense at lots of points.

The panel that followed the show was better than the show itself. It had two or three Baptists, a Catholic, and an Episcopalian. They were all very well thought out and correct (at least agreed with me) about the actual show...for the religious issues, the basic agreements were:
* it's good that a thought provoking show is being made
* Jesus is much deeper than his presentation
* everyone, even priests, have problems
I think it's understood that since this is a TV show, the problems are exaggerated. No one wants to see real life on TV, or else they would just walk out the door and be in the action.

One question asked the panel was whether the gay son should have been there, and I would say they were actually evenly split on that. Not everyone answered the question, but one (I can't remember) brought out a very sensitive version of the standard "The bible is clear! Gays are bad!" speech, then a Baptist preacher said homosexuality as we see it was not even mentioned in the Bible ( ) and pretty much said it was great, then the rest of them that spoke on it got in short lines about how Jesus loved everyone, and either couldn't or wouldn't expand their position.

The Catholic and a Baptist had the best points, although all of them were articulate and tolerant.

At one point the Catholic said it may be insensitive to Episcopalians to cast an Episcopal priest as the main character, during this...turbulent time for our church, in light of the situation about the gay Bishop. Don't worry, NBC. No offense taken (nor really no turbulence about having a gay Bishop either. That has been overblown IMO.)

Summary: I didn't like the show on its own merits, the religious parts regardless. The religious presentations could have been better, but at least something thought provoking is being shown on TV, and we should definitely have more intelligent programming (but not more of "Book of Daniel"). Southern Baptists are a lot more tolerant than you guys give them credit for, as three plus a Catholic and Episcopalian got on TV for almost an hour without saying anything hateful.

[Imran Siddiqui]

A lot of the events had no background behind them that related to the rest of the show, like the mafia connections or the secretary pulling up during the funeral scene.

You don't think the mafia connection won't be important in the next show? And the secretary was important, of course. Why did you think it didn't relate to the rest of the story, when she was an integral part to discovering what Charlie had been doing... and perhaps she left with the cash (as we may speculate at the end).

[Berzerker]

Jesus was just as any fundy would want him to be!

Many fundies want a Jesus casting the sinners into the lake of fire, etc... I view these people as Old Testament Christians, they like all the smiting and stuff and a loving, compassionate Jesus - the Jesus who defended the adulteress - is offensive to their beliefs.

[StarLightDeath]

I find it amusing that Imran the muslim is arguing about what offends Christians...especially since his people are the most overly sensitive bunch of zealots that exist. I point to the Burger King Ice cream cup that had a swirl that muslims believed spelled allah. Muslims suck.

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Wait'll they find out that there's fornication, adultery, masturbation, etc. in the Bible.

We need more porn movies based on the Bible

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by StarLightDeath
I find it amusing that Imran the muslim is arguing about what offends Christians...

As amusing as an atheist talking about it