Give me that old-time religion
Dec. 7th, 2004 12:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
vovatSo, ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
bethje and I have now seen two episodes each of some wacky Christian children's programs that they show really early on Saturday mornings: Kids Like You and Circle Square. They both have kids interacting with puppets (which generally look like Sesame Street rejects), and teaching Christian values, like how Jesus should be your hero, because, unlike professional athletes who do drugs, he won't let you down. In both episodes of Circle Square, they used the black girl as the negative example (she talked just to hear herself, and was constantly in a bad mood). I'm assuming this was because she was a slightly better actor than the others, and not because of any covert racism, but it was still kind of suspicious.
Speaking of religion and television, we also caught Bill "Falafel" O'Reilly doing a piece on how the erosion of religion coincides with the rise of progressive values (because progress is apparently a bad thing). For his example, he cited how, as Canada grew collectively less religious, they started allowing gay marriage, legalizing drugs, and lowering the age of consent for sex to fourteen. (Is that last one even true? A quick web search revealed some pages confirming it, but it might not be as cut-and-dry as that. Does anyone know the facts of the matter?) Then he had Newt Gingrich (yes, that guy's still around) on to talk about it, and Newt said that he would use the word "radical," rather than "progressive." I guess he realized that progress is generally viewed in a positive light. I guess he's a little smarter than O'Reilly, but that's not saying much. Newt said something about how the United States was founded on religious values, and that's why it mentions a Creator in the Declaration of Independence. Never mind that the Constitution, which is obviously much more important in this day and age, has that pesky First Amendment. Aside from the obvious point that these radical ideas aren't necessarily bad, the obvious pandering to the Religious Right is annoying. I mean, do you REALLY think O'Reilly and Gingrich are good Christians? I tend to doubt most branches of Christianity would look favorably upon telling a woman that you want to rub falafel on her breasts, or divorcing your wife while she's in the hospital. People like that pretend to be down with the Jesus because they know it will get them support from actual conservative Christians. Not only that, but I think it was O'Reilly who also played the terrorism card, saying that Judeo-Christian values were important to defend the country, or some garbage like that. I'm reminded of how someone from my state (possibly Rick Santorum) said that "defending marriage" (i.e., letting the government tell people who they can and can't marry) should be part of Homeland Security. Are some people REALLY so stupid that they'll buy a connection between terrorism and ANYTHING? It might also be significant to remember that the terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center were probably very religious.
bethje and I have now seen two episodes each of some wacky Christian children's programs that they show really early on Saturday mornings: Kids Like You and Circle Square. They both have kids interacting with puppets (which generally look like Sesame Street rejects), and teaching Christian values, like how Jesus should be your hero, because, unlike professional athletes who do drugs, he won't let you down. In both episodes of Circle Square, they used the black girl as the negative example (she talked just to hear herself, and was constantly in a bad mood). I'm assuming this was because she was a slightly better actor than the others, and not because of any covert racism, but it was still kind of suspicious.Speaking of religion and television, we also caught Bill "Falafel" O'Reilly doing a piece on how the erosion of religion coincides with the rise of progressive values (because progress is apparently a bad thing). For his example, he cited how, as Canada grew collectively less religious, they started allowing gay marriage, legalizing drugs, and lowering the age of consent for sex to fourteen. (Is that last one even true? A quick web search revealed some pages confirming it, but it might not be as cut-and-dry as that. Does anyone know the facts of the matter?) Then he had Newt Gingrich (yes, that guy's still around) on to talk about it, and Newt said that he would use the word "radical," rather than "progressive." I guess he realized that progress is generally viewed in a positive light. I guess he's a little smarter than O'Reilly, but that's not saying much. Newt said something about how the United States was founded on religious values, and that's why it mentions a Creator in the Declaration of Independence. Never mind that the Constitution, which is obviously much more important in this day and age, has that pesky First Amendment. Aside from the obvious point that these radical ideas aren't necessarily bad, the obvious pandering to the Religious Right is annoying. I mean, do you REALLY think O'Reilly and Gingrich are good Christians? I tend to doubt most branches of Christianity would look favorably upon telling a woman that you want to rub falafel on her breasts, or divorcing your wife while she's in the hospital. People like that pretend to be down with the Jesus because they know it will get them support from actual conservative Christians. Not only that, but I think it was O'Reilly who also played the terrorism card, saying that Judeo-Christian values were important to defend the country, or some garbage like that. I'm reminded of how someone from my state (possibly Rick Santorum) said that "defending marriage" (i.e., letting the government tell people who they can and can't marry) should be part of Homeland Security. Are some people REALLY so stupid that they'll buy a connection between terrorism and ANYTHING? It might also be significant to remember that the terrorists who attacked the World Trade Center were probably very religious.
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Date: 2004-12-07 06:14 pm (UTC)Here is how fucked up the show is -- the only one who comes off even remotely resembling normal is the VENTRILOQUIST. For reals.
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Date: 2004-12-08 12:51 am (UTC)Also, Marci is the best thing about Circle Square. I hate how that beardo guy is always squelching her ways. And that stupid puppet's ways. But that's okay.
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Date: 2004-12-08 02:41 am (UTC)I am also amused that it seems that more people are realizing the horrible joy of watching Christian Children's TV. It is hilarious and a nightmare.
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Date: 2004-12-08 06:42 am (UTC)Yes, he is!
I am also amused that it seems that more people are realizing the horrible joy of watching Christian Children's TV. It is hilarious and a nightmare.
I also enjoy coming across the occasional infomercial for collections of religious cartoons and such.
And reading the Chick tracts. Oh lordy! Except some of those scare the life out of me. But not the one where the guy in jail says, "there will be no more raping, because Jesus says it's wrong." That's fine by me. {g}
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Date: 2004-12-08 06:54 am (UTC)I miss seeing those type of ads; they don't seem to run them as much as they used to. Or at least not when I'm watching TV. Which is usually evenings/late at night, so, that probably explains it.
Chick tracts are hilarity, but I find it's hard to sit down and read a big patch of them. I do try to read the new ones when they come out, though. I like Chick's inexplicable hatred of the catholics. (Man, though, if'n I want some Death Cookies... I think that'd be a great brand opportunity.)
But I find it amusing that TBN is the only thing my mother wouldn't let me watch growing up. I did anyway, though. Even at 10, I found it _hilarious_.
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Date: 2004-12-08 02:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-08 02:14 pm (UTC)Hardcore right-wingers should really stop trying to tell jokes. They're a lot funnier when they're not trying to be.
And that puppet who hangs out with the bearded guy doesn't even speak English, so who cares about him? :P
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Date: 2004-12-08 02:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-08 02:51 pm (UTC)But yeah -- pretty much the best ones are from that era. Although it disturbs me, because that means that I first started watching Circle Square when it was relatively new. Man. The new shows, however, are pretty sucky; there's this CG nightmare thing about angel-babies. It is horrible. And I think The Reppies is relatively recent (it's about dinosaurs who are christians and also in a reperatory theater!), too, and that's awful. And so's the one with the inventor dude.
Strangely, they actually took off Davey & Goliath for the Horrible Angel Baby thing. Which is funny, since D&G is about the only show that they run that actually has Good Values and whatnot (sure, there's a lot of religious stuff, but it's mostly of the "Hey, this is neat that God made this stuff! Because this stuff is NEAT!" -- which I find it very hard to take issue with, unlike, say, Faith Healing (Gospel Bill) or Evangelical Harassment Stuff (Circle Square) or the whole More Money == More Better Person (Kids Like You)).
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Date: 2004-12-08 02:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-08 02:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-08 08:08 pm (UTC)Speaking of money, I was listening to a religious call-in show last night, and the host guy (who's really old, and is also the president of the station) said that the stuff in the Bible about helping the poor and the widows and such wasn't meant to be taken literally. (Yeah, he's another one of those types who thinks the parts of the Bible he likes are literal, and the parts he doesn't like are figurative.) I guess that's a convenient excuse for all the anti-poor fundamentalists (like, y'know, the President of the United States).
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Date: 2004-12-08 08:11 pm (UTC)