In the 1980’s, Saturday Night Live gave us “Church Lady,” played by Dana Carvey. Church lady was a crazy and stupid character who seemed incapable of forming sentences unless they contained the word “Satan.” We were supposed to laugh, and many of us did, at her obvious case of malignant dementia.
The implication of the Church lady skits was that church was bad because it was filled with bad (and stupid) people like Church lady. It followed that God was bad because it was his churches that were full of bad people.
When I first saw the Church lady skits, I was an atheist. They were offensive to me at the time because the character was vicious. I didn’t disagree with the atheistic underpinnings of the premise, but the character was intolerable. For that reason, I changed the channel or turned off the TV when Church lady came on, if I even got that far.
There have been many TV series that subtly carried an atheistic message to their viewers. Some normalize behavior condemned in the Bible and other religious texts, like cross-dressing (M*A*S*H, Barney Miller, Bosom Buddies), outright criminality (Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy), and homosexuality (Three’s Company, Will & Grace). Others directly mock religion, and by extension, God, (Book of Daniel, AMC’s Preacher, The Consultant).
Anyone who watches TV cannot help but notice how disrespectful the programs are to all things connected to God. They mock people for believing God exists. Religious codes of conduct are portrayed as outdated and unnatural (except Islam, which they won’t touch with a ten foot pole). They find examples of religious people who have done bad things and make them the subjects of features. The message is that everyone who goes to church is as guilty as the worst examples that can be found.
The Catholic Church provided a bounty for American entertainment with the pedophile cover-up discovered in the early 1990’s. Full disclosure, my grandparents and many friends are Catholic, and they were extremely displeased with the church cover-up. Translation for atheists: Most Catholics were just as outraged as everyone else when the discoveries were made.
It was like a fantasy come true for Hollywood screenwriters, because it allowed them to write about real church-affiliated bad people instead of inventing offensive caricatures, like Church Lady. The movie Spotlight was one of the first released on the subject of church-sanctioned sexual abuse, but there were many more.
My reaction to most of this is that media criticism of God is actually criticism of religion in general, or certain doctrines, sects, or individuals known to be errant or foolish. This distinction is important because God, if you accept the traditional understanding of what and who God is, is separate from religion. He exists regardless of churches, priests, and congregants. However, the criticism is often unfair against the institutions also. Not always, as in the Spotlight example, but often.
I am thinking about this today because I have just discovered a new TV series available on Amazon. Titled “Hazbin Hotel,” the series portrays Satan and his minions in a positive light, and makes God and his angels into the bad guys. I can imagine the producers listening to the pitch and thinking it was a clever idea. For me, it was the last straw. You would think I would have done it sooner, but no, I had to see a series that openly glorified Satan first. I cancelled my Amazon Prime subscription today, and am glad I did.
I’ve got Little House on the Prairie on DVD. Maybe I’ll watch that tonight.
Yea, I’m finding it harder and harder to watch anything now. I’ll get two episodes into a show and have to bail out because it’s just way over the line. But yes, sometimes the biggest turn off to Christianity is the hypocritical behavior of Christians themselves. I’m sure that I have been guilty of that myself. Fortunately, God is perfect even when we are not.
Thanks for leading by example with your cancellation of amazon "prime". It's the only language they understand. They have done much harm to our society, and do not deserve one plug nickle. Thank you, also, for all of your efforts with NYCA. We will get our country back, one fine day!