March 27, 2000

EDITORIAL:
God, the devil & blasphemy
___You don't have to curse to take God's name in vain.
___Most Baptist adults memorized the Third Commandment in King James English: "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." Most of us grew up understanding the worst form of "cussing" involved invoking "God."
___However, the New International Version offers a more comprehensive interpretation of the commandment: "You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name."
___This passage came to mind as I watched a tape of the new animated program, "God, the Devil and Bob." NBC's prime time sitcom has created a ruckus among many Christians, Jews and Muslims. They're offended by its presentation of God, who hangs out in a bar with Satan, drinks light beer, looks a lot like Jerry Garcia and sounds exactly like James Garner.
___(By the way, if you want to punish GD&B, put the screws to its producers: Watch the show. Write its sponsors. Tell them what you think of a company that funds a show that denigrates God's holiness. In Hollywood, evaporating money is the burning bush to which producers listen.)
___To be fair, we must concede GD&B raises important issues, at least in the first episodes. God examines the brokenness of the world and considers starting over, a la Noah. Bob rails against unfairness and questions how a good God could allow evil and suffering. These issues have plagued people of faith for millennia. They are core themes of Scripture. On one hand, we can thank any medium for raising them.
___On the other hand, GD&B plays them for laughs. Cheap laughs at that. James Poniewozik, a Time magazine critic, calls the show "a lame, tame series ... an inept sitcom that lucked into some free media."
___Rather than offer thoughtful answers to profound questions--to which viewers would relate, by the way--the show drowns those questions in the yeasty foam of half-brewed comedy. GD&B's so-called answers to the problems it raises are so shallow any eighth grader who's stayed awake through Sunday School would know they're bogus.
___Not that the show's producers couldn't have done better. Shows like "Christy," "Seventh Heaven," "Touched by an Angel" and even some episodes of "MASH" and "Picket Fences" dealt fairly and responsibly with crucial faith issues. But GD&B trades it all for yucks that are more yucky than funny.
___And that brings us back to taking the Lord's name in vain. Some critics of GD&B have blasted the show for its seamy characters, its language and use of alcohol, which indeed are disappointing, to say the least. But the real sin of GD&B is that it treats God flippantly, cavalierly, as the straight man for Satan's punch lines.
___But what do we expect from television? It's more like a mirror than a tube that transmits colored ions. It reflects society's attitudes. And sadly, society is more comfortable with a God who wears cool shades and tennis shoes than a God whose name is so holy we dare not speak it.
___Lest we schlep all society's sins on this goat of a series and lead it into TV rerun wasteland, let's look at some other violations of the Third Commandment:
___ In this and all other election years, we hear candidates take God's name in vain, invoking religion for the sake of votes.
___ Church-going folks whose favored expression of surprise is "Oh, my God!" take the Lord's name in vain.
___ Leaders who bend others' will to their own by claiming their will and God's are the same desecrate God's name.
___"God, the Devil and Bob" has committed the cardinal sin of sitcoms: It's not funny. Consequently, it eventually will be consigned to a TV nether world. In the meantime let it remind us the God whose name we praise requires holiness and respect.
___ Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com

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