You gotta give'em credit!

It seems that the folks over at NBC must stay up nights trying to dream up new ways to portray Christianity in the worst possible light. Their new series "Book of Daniel" has been cancelled after only SIX episodes due to the controversy (which means loss of advertising dollars) over its portrayal of a mixed-up minister and a horrible representation of Jesus Christ. There was little fanfare at NBC about the cancellation, only the following written on the blog of the show's creator:

"Unfortunately, due to many reasons, 'The Book of Daniel' will no longer be aired on NBC on Friday nights," he wrote to fans. "I just wanted to say 'thank you' to all of you who supported the show. There were many wonderful, talented people who contributed to its success – and I do mean success. Whatever the outcome, I feel that I accomplished what I set out to do: A solid family drama, with lots of humor, that honestly explored the lives of the Webster family. Good, flawed people, who loved each other no matter what ... and there was always a lot of 'what'! I remain proud of our product, proud of my association with Sony, NBC Universal, and NBC, who all took a chance on a project that spoke to them, and proud to have made an impact on so many of your lives."

"The Book of Daniel" was only show on television in which Jesus appeared as a recurring character and the only network prime-time drama series with a regular male "gay" character, a 23-year-old Republican son. The main character, Daniel Webster, was a troubled, pill-popping Episcopal priest. The show also included a wife who relied on midday martinis, a 16-year-old daughter who was a drug dealer and a 16-year-old adopted son who was having sex with the bishop's daughter. At the office, the priest's lesbian secretary was sleeping with his sister-in-law.

WOW! Hard to believe the common American didn't go crazy over that show. Does NBC think that really represents the common man in Statesville, North Carolina? Or even Los Angeles?

Here's where Jack Kenny messed up. In his blog, he wrote

And here's the kicker: I (apparently naively) thought that this show would be embraced by most Christians. It's ironic to me that the accusation has been that the show "demeans" and "mocks" Christianity when the intention was always the opposite: to treat the Christian beliefs of the Webster family as second nature. As a gay man (or "practicing homosexual," according to the AFA website — though I'm absolutely not practicing anymore, but have actually gotten quite good at it, thank you very much), I've always longed for gay characters for whom sexual orientation was not the defining feature but was simply... there. A policeman who happened also to be gay. A truck driver. A lawyer. Not the characteristic that informs their every line and movement, but second nature. Like their hair color or height or the fact that they don't like pastrami. And that's what I've tried to do with the Websters. Yes, they're Christian. But they are not defined by their Christianity.

I truly question a Christian who is not defined by his or her Christianity. That is exactly WHO I am. I am not a man who happens to be a Christian. I am not a husband or father who happens to be a Christian. I am a distinctly Christian man. I am a distinctly Christian husband, father, minister, employee, etc. You simply cannot separate the two.

As for homosexuality, you can separate that from a person's identity. Homosexuality is NOT WHAT YOU ARE, it is WHAT YOU DO! It is a behavior.

Anyway, let's get back to the purpose of this post: You'd think the higher-ups at NBC would learn from their mistakes. But, the noggins must grow pretty thick over there. Now, in the continually horrible "Will and Grace," we read that that Britney Spears will guest-star as a conservative host of a Christian TV show on a Christian network. Her show is a cooking show called . . . "cruci-fixin's."

Let's see: A Christian TV network that has outlandish (and allegedly) Christian shows on it? Could TBN be a factor in where NBC dreams up these horrible ideas for entertainment?