The Book of Daniel.
A drug addict minister, and a daughter that's a drug dealer, a wife that is an alcoholic and OF COURSE a Gay son.
Will Hollywood ever stop the assault on Christianty?
‘Book of Daniel' Called ‘Bigotry'
Dave Eberhart, NewsMax.com
Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2006
NBC's kick-off this Friday of its new sitcom "The Book of Daniel" has some Christian groups outraged with the show and what some believe is a blasphemous portrayal of Jesus Christ.
Though the show has yet to air, Christian groups are getting "Daniel's" take on traditional Christianity – and they don't like it.
For example, the star of the series, actor Aidan Quinn (the serious politician brother to Brad Pitt's wilder character in "Legends of the Fall"), recently described his latest venture to the Associated Press:
"I'm an Episcopalian priest who struggles with a little self-medication problem, and I have a 23-year-old son who's gay, and a 16-year-old daughter who's caught dealing pot, and another son who's jumping on every high school girl he sees, and a wife who's very loving but also likes her martinis."
Quinn, who plays the Episcopal Rev. Daniel Webster, defended the show, saying the series is "a pretty down-the-middle, wholesome show."
But the Rev. Donald Wildmon, head of the influential American Family Association (AFA), has been unimpressed with such disclaimers and has been asking visitors to his Web site to e-mail NBC Universal Chairman Bob Wright to complain about "Daniel."
"We are told in Hebrews that ‘Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever,'" a form letter at the site explains. "Obviously you don't believe that. It would be beneficial to all if NBC showed a little more respect for Christians who believe the Bible."
In a press release, the AFA said the show "is an example of that network's anti-Christian bigotry." The AFA has already flooded NBC with more than 500,000 complaint emails, the group says.
To better understand Wildmon's beef requires some more background on the show's plot:
Every now and then, Rev. Daniel has a man-to-man chat with a contemporary Jesus, played by Garret Dillahunt ("Deadwood"). Jesus appears only to the reverend.
David DiCerto, who is on the staff of the Office for Film and Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, doesn't condemn the device of the latter day Jesus, but in his recent review perhaps fleshes out what rubs Wildmon the wrong way:
"More sounding board than savior, the show's down-to-earth Jesus, though portrayed with reasonable reverence, is tolerant to the point of being blasé: He has a problem with Rev. Webster's pill-popping but dismissively shrugs off Rev. Webster's kids having casual sex in the back seats of cars. On a more commendable note, the writers avoid making Jesus give pat answers to life's often complex problems."
Jack Kenny, the creator and an executive producer of "Daniel," told the New York Times recently that a walking, talking Jesus simply embodies Daniel's faith.
As if the good reverend doesn't have enough on his plate, the ongoing plot is thickened with a felonious brother-in-law absconding with $3 million in church funds.
This is an innocuous enough plot twist – except for the unhappy fact that it opens the door to what some critics see as unhealthy stereotyping.
DiCerto finds troubling the depiction of Rev. Daniel's Catholic counterpart, Father Frankie (Dan Hedaya), an Italian priest with organized crime connections whom Rev. Webster asks to help find the stolen money.
Case in point - some of the dialogue between a gay mobster and Rev. Daniel: "You got a problem, you come to the Catholics."
Despite the brouhaha, the official NBC reaction – released in a statement – has been understated, emphasizing among other things that few of the show's critics have actually seen a complete pilot episode.
"‘The Book of Daniel' is a fictional drama about an Episcopalian priest's family and the contemporary issues with which they must grapple," the statement reads.
"We're confident that once audiences view this quality drama themselves, they'll appreciate this thought-provoking examination of one American family."
But the AFA remained unmoved by the NBC public relations offensive, stepping up its campaign to include a boycott of the show's sponsors. Last Friday the group sent out an e-mail alert noting that it had identified 10 potential sponsors of the show and asking its members to embargo them.
The Daniel controversy comes on the heels of Parents Television Council (PTC) president L. Brent Bozell's yuletide lambasting of Hollywood's approach to faith.
"During this holy time of year, Hollywood has once again proven how out of step they are with mainstream America by launching an all-out attack on not just religion, but some of the most fundamental tenets of the Christian faith."
PTC and Bozell highlighted three shows:
• An episode of Comedy Central's "South Park," which aired in December, in which a character claims to have been sprayed by blood from a Virgin Mary statue.
• A Comedy Central special (aired multiple times in December) in which Denis Leary talks about the origins of Christmas using obscene language.
• An ABC episode of "Boston Legal" in which a priest is shown printing and selling counterfeit papal blessings and concealing the whereabouts of a pedophile.
"These examples clearly show that Hollywood treats religious icons with utter disrespect. Religious persons of all faiths should beware. Everyone who subscribes to cable is subsidizing content such as this," blasted Bozell.
As for "The Book of Daniel," a spokesperson for Bozell, Kelly Oliver, told NewsMax: "We're waiting to reserve comment on that show until after it airs (and possibly after more than one episode) in order to make a fair judgment."
"Daniel" starts Friday with a two-hour special episode at 8 p.m. and is then scheduled to air weekly at 9 p.m. on Fridays.
