# Religion as portrayed respectfully on TV **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 17, 2001, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163 "2001-06-17T23:24:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2001, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/21 "2001-06-18T23:12:45Z")
How could this thread get to 19 posts without someone having mentioned **the Waltons**? ---
**Author:** ![capacitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@capacitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capacitor)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/22 "2001-06-19T00:07:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Silvio \* > \*\*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. > > \*\* My favorite scene fron _NYPD Blue_ is when Sipowitz called out God after learning of his young son’s sickness, saying, “You prick!”, as if daring Him to take him instead. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/23 "2001-06-19T02:15:36Z")
Counting Apu and Caine, it seems just about all the religions have been covered except one…Islam. But why bother with a positive portrayal, everybody knows all Muslims are evil terrorists anyway. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/24 "2001-06-19T03:29:42Z")
Jomo Mojo, I don’t know what point your post was trying to make. But, with all due respect, I don’t think that negative sounding stereotypes such as you mentioned are appropriate to this thread. I was looking for POSITIVE portrayals, as usually portrayals of religion of any sort are minimal at best. And I did invite depictions of ANY faith. If you have examples from Islam I’d be pleased to know about them, as I have noticed myself they are lacking. Thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/25 "2001-06-19T04:11:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\*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… > \*\* Yeah, makes you wonder why the dominant religion in America is also the most dominantly portrayed on TV. :rolleyes: Don’t be so quick to snipe religion that you ignore common sense. While you may not agree with it, use your damn brain before you go spouting off. –Tim ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/26 "2001-06-19T04:37:26Z")
Baker, my point was that there are no examples of positive images of Muslims on TV. Because the viewers have been preprogrammed to accept only the negative stereotype. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/27 "2001-06-19T05:27:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Homer \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > > \*\*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… > > \*\* > > Yeah, makes you wonder why the dominant religion in America is also the most dominantly portrayed on TV.\*\* I suspect that if we mathematically doled out the division of religious portrayals prior to my post, and compared that to the ratio of faiths in America, that there would be a disproportionately huge skew towards Christianity. And I wasn’t slamming it in the least – believe me, when I slam, it’s _obvious._ I just felt odd thinking about all the followers of non-Christian faiths whose beliefs were being outnumbered by _fictional_ religions… (Geez, see if I ever defend you in a thread again… :D) ---
**Author:** ![johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnson)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/28 "2001-06-19T13:02:49Z")
As to an implication of the OP, I suspect that if we compared the ratio of faiths in America to portrayals of religion on TV, that there would be a disproportionately huge skew towards atheism/areligion/anti-religion. And I suspect that if we compared the ratio of decent or sincere (or however you want to define it) religious individuals in America to the ratio of those shown on TV, there would be a disproportionately huge skew towards child-molesting priests, hypocritical Bible-thumpers, and, yes, terroristic Muslims. (All of which is why _Nothing Sacred_ was so fantastic–it showed the struggles of religious belief and doubt, the nuances of faith, problems of theology. Those bastards at ABC…) ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/29 "2001-06-19T15:42:29Z")
_Nothing Sacred_? Never heard of it. Sounds interesting. An alternative to the usual shallowness abounding. Can you give any synopses? ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/30 "2001-06-19T16:36:35Z")
While there are many Simpsons episodes that deal with Christianity is some way (church is a part of the family’s life, after all), I can think of two episodes that specifically deal with good treatments of non-Christian beliefs. While I can’t remember the episode names or numbers, I can describe them: The first is the episode where Lisa and Bart try to reconcile Krusty with his father, Rabbi Krustofsky. Seems Krusty upset his dad when he was younger, by becoming a clown instead of a rabbi. Now, Krusty misses having his father in his life, and it’s up to Lisa and Bart to try to get them back together–Lisa even studies Jewish law and scriptures to find reasons why Rabbi Krustofsky should forgive his son. Happily, she succeeds. The other episode features Apu’s wedding. Rev. Lovejoy has to study Hinduism for this one, and apparently Homer has too–he tries to disrupt the ceremony by masquerading as the god Ganesh. Not quite as sensitive a portrayal as the OP wants, perhaps, but it is obviously Homer in disguise, and Apu’s friends and relatives are not fooled–nor are they amused. After subduing Homer, the Hindu wedding ceremony occurs without any further interruptions, and Apu and his bride are happily wed. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/31 "2001-06-19T16:58:05Z")
Babylon 5 had Jewish characters, including one of the main characters. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/32 "2001-06-19T20:57:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by johnson \* > **As to an implication of the OP, I suspect that if we compared the ratio of faiths in America to portrayals of religion on TV, that there would be a disproportionately huge skew towards atheism/areligion/anti-religion.** …at least until Christmas, when suddenly _everyone_ has a Christmas special! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/33 "2001-06-19T22:06:46Z")
I hate to keep dipping back into the Babylon 5 well, but I’ve really never seen a better treatment of religion on TV. An episode that particularly stands out is “Parliament of Dreams”, in which various races demonstrated important elements of their religions, and Sinclair struggled through the whole show to come up with a representative example of human religion. Finally, in the coda, we see him introducing several religious leaders–Christian, Native American Spiritualist, and so forth (I don’t recall off-hand if he specifically introduced an Islamic representative; he may have). Then the camera pans around, and we see a line of people stretching off out of sight–clearly, he’s gathered representatives of every religion he could, and is treating them all with the same respect. And let’s not forget this scene from “Hour of the Wolf”: G’kar, looking at Garibaldi’s Daffy Duck print: “I was studying this image. Is it one of his household gods?” Zack: (laughs): “That’s Daffy-- Yeah, well, in a way I suppose it is. It’s sort of the Egyptian god of frustration.” ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2001, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/34 "2001-06-19T22:52:49Z")
One episode of the brilliant show _My So Called Life_ ended with a 5-or-so minute sequence of people meeting in a church, with no words being spoken, which, despite my lack of religion of any sort, I’ve always found to be one of the most beautiful and powerful things I’ve ever seen on TV. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2001, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/35 "2001-06-20T03:18:04Z")
Balance, I have to admit when I wrote the OP it was B-5 I thought about first, then the others. In “The Parliament of Dreams” do you remember the first to be introduced was an atheist? Sinclair may have been going A-Z. Later on, in “The Rock Cried Out” one of the religious leaders from Earth that came out to the station was Muslim I believe, but I didn’t include him in the examples because we saw so little of him. Maybe I should have anyway. And Susan was Jewish but wasn’t big on practising. But she did sit shiva(sp?) for her father, after his death. ---
**Author:** ![Silvio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Silvio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silvio)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2001, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/36 "2001-06-20T06:23:04Z")
Max, are you referring the the Christmas episode of MY SO-CALLED LIFE in which Julianne Hatfield appeared as an angel? Yeah, that is one of the most moving moments in TV history. ---
**Author:** ![johnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@johnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnson)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/37 "2001-06-21T01:31:15Z")
About _Nothing Sacred_… The plot summary from [IMDB](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0118411) sums it up well–“Kevin Anderson plays Father Ray, a passionate priest/teacher who questions his calling, his existence, and his faith as he deals with the problems of the poor and the troubled.” In the first episode, Father Ray hears a teenage girl’s confession in which she contemplates getting an abortion. He doesn’t come right out and condemn the choice. Little does he know the girl tapes the conversation and sends it to the bishop… In my view, the show presented a very sensitive and favorable picture of religion and religious individuals, none of whom were all good or all bad, in their faith or otherwise (sort of like in real life). Again, one of the best shows ever on network television, cancelled by ABC after about eight weeks because of low ratings (changed times three times, I believe) and complaints from a few conservative Catholics. See it if you can find it… ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/38 "2001-06-21T01:42:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by rjung \* > \*\* > I suspect that if we mathematically doled out the division of religious portrayals prior to my post, and compared that to the ratio of faiths in America, that there would be a disproportionately huge skew towards Christianity. > > And I wasn’t slamming it in the least – believe me, when I slam, it’s _obvious._ I just felt odd thinking about all the followers of non-Christian faiths whose beliefs were being outnumbered by _fictional_ religions… > > (Geez, see if I ever defend you in a thread again… :D) \*\* Oh yeah? Well… well… ::shuffles feet:: _ahem_ _cough cough_ Sorry. 🙂 –Tim ---
**Author:** ![The\_Man\_Who](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c2a13f/32.png) [@The\_Man\_Who](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Man_Who)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/39 "2001-06-21T01:51:39Z")
The episode of Survivor 2 in which Michael was burned in the fire (or possibly the episode following) featured one of the few genuine prayers I’ve seen on Television, as opposed to those of self-serving televangelists and sports stars. It was remarkable. -Myron ---
**Author:** ![ricksummon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ricksummon/32/3333_2.png) [@ricksummon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ricksummon)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2001, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163/40 "2001-06-21T05:04:33Z")
> [@](#): > > No one has brought up “Touched by an Anvil” yet—that’s pretty darned Christian, isn’t it? Touched by an **Anvil?** Is that the name of the new Wile E. Coyote / Roadrunner show where the Coyote has religious visions every time an anvil falls on his head? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/religion-as-portrayed-respectfully-on-tv/69163.md?page=1)