Most of the time, when one sees elements of religion on television it is minimal. There’s a clergyperson at a wedding or funeral. Christmas is the tree and presents, not why there IS Christmas(same goes for Easter) Or the religious person, of whatever sect, is a nerdy fundamentalist, or evil, or fallen(Murder Ordained) from grace or the rules. But what about respectful portrayals, ones where the person of faith is honest/good/heroic/sincere/etc., (even if they aren’t of your particular type?) I have my list, what about yours?
1.Babylon 5-the Minbari(esp. Delenn and Lennier), Brother Theo’s monks(esp. Brother Edward), the revelations of G’kar)
2.Designing Women-There was an episode where one of the characters was all torn up because she found her minister didn’t believe women should have equal standing in the church. She was heartbroken. But the writers didn’t make the minister out to be bad. He was portrayed as a nice guy, and honest in his own interpretation of Scripture.
A Charlie Brown Christmas- Not exactly a religious show, but all the other Xmas specials are about Santa, reindeer, snowmen, etc. Even the Grinch didn’t say what Christmas is really about, just what it isn’t about(“packages, boxes, and bags”)I still get a tear in my eye when Linus recites the passage from Luke, about the REAL meaning of Christmas.
The Dick Van Dyke Show- I’m dating myself on this one! But remember the episode where Buddy kept sneaking off to “meetings” he didn’t want to tell anyone about? Rob and the others got the idea he was, possibly, having an affair. But he was taking Hebrew lessons from a rabbi, to prepare for the Bar Mitzvah he had never had. He wanted to please his elderly mother. Handled in a comedic fashion, but back then you saw almost No religion on TV(musn’t be controversial)
Last night I saw a Christmas special, apparently, of “Walker, Texas Ranger.” (Yes, this is June, but I live in Korea, and the local Armed Forces station plays whatever it can get, I suppose. Not much English media to choose from.)
Of course, you shouldn’t look to this show if you want subtlety. It’s so heavy-handed that a fence post could understand the moral; no interpretation required. In most episodes I’ve seen, a lot of respect is shown for “Christian values,” but in this Chrismas special it was overt. Characters praying out loud, eyes rolled skyward; Walker quoting from the Bible in order to persuade a guy to lower his gun. And sure, there was still plenty of bare-knuckle fighting too, but it’s done compassionately. (I make fun of the simplistic stories sometimes, but I’ve heard that in real life Chuck Norris is a heck of a nice guy. Still, I’m not sure I want to see him do “King Lear.”)
One of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen was from NYPD Blue, after Sipowitz’s son was murdered and he is at the Eastern Orthodox church for the baptism of his new son, where he has a prayer and a little conversion experience.
How about the B5 episode which I believe was called “Passing through Gethsemene”, with the monk who was a mind wiped serial killer?
Picket Fences did a very good job with religion on a week to week basis.
My own favorite current show dealing with religious themes in an interesting way, and this will come as a suprise to some…OZ. That’s right. In the midst of the extreme brutality of life in OZ, there are wonderful and realistic stories of faith and struggle, and sometimes even redemption.
Marge also has some religious tendencies-remember when she prayed a tornado wouldn’t hit their house? One of the essays in the THe Simpsons and Philosophy: The D’oh of Homer points out that the Simpsons are the only TV family regularly seen in church.
Silvio, that B5 episode, “Passing Through Gethsemane” is the one I was referring to in the OP when I mentioned Brother Edward. Got to be one of my favorite episodes of the series.
As an atheist, I find it amusing and disturbing that all of the references mentioned so far are either (a) Christian or (b) fictional. Makes me wonder how the Jews, Hindus, Muslems, and everyone else watching TV feels…
X-Files has been all over the place, religion wise. Certainly they have treated religion as something important, even if it is vunrable to being misused.
No one has brought up “Touched by an Anvil” yet—that’s pretty darned Christian, isn’t it?
And, turning the tables, can anyone think of a TV character who’s admitted to atheism? The only one who comes to mind is Maddie Hayes on “Moonlighting.” And they even put HER in a confessional booth once!
rjung, I’m glad someone else has already pointed out that a Jewish person has already been mentioned. And if you read my OP again you will see that non-human religions have been mentioned as well, AND with respect. Maybe those are the ones you said were fictional? I wish you well, it sounds as if you have been hurt by religion somewhere along the line. Try one of them out again. And if any Hindu or Muslim posters here on the SDMB have examples of their faiths from TV, I’d love to hear about them. They would have been included but I couldn’t remember seeing any right off hand.
To answer Eve’s question: Rob Reiner’s “Meathead” character on “All in the Family” was not only an atheist, but his atheism was a significant plot point in several episodes.
Re the OP…one of my favorite shows, St. Elsewhere , had several shows that explored religion and spirituality in more than the typical one dimensional treatment of most tv shows.
Little House on the Prairie Not my cup of tea…I prefer the books.
Northern Exposure Joel asserts his Jewish identity on a number of episodes.
Star Trek: The Original Series The crew of the Enterprise finds a planet with a culture remarkably similar to that of ancient Rome, complete with an embryonic Christianity. That’s right, Christianity. If you only know Star Trek from Next Generation and later, you will find this shocking
While visiting the Simpson’s, be sure and pick up one of the meat-free hot dogs at the Kwik-E-Mart, where Apu has been selling them for years in accordance with his Hindu practice of vegetarianism.
Would I be too out-there if I suggested Willow and Tara’s Wicca on Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Their beliefs are treated with respect and a minimum of clownish buffoonery, although I for one have never actually met witches with that much power. Mind you, I don’t get out much.
