The Religious Right And Wrong

If Providence Road Baptist Church's Stacey Pritchard were simply a woman standing by her pastor's belief that gays should be put behind an electric fence and left there to "die out", it would be bad... but one might be able to make excuses for her.

"She's a small-minded individual whose outlook on life has been warped by Pastor Charles Worley, the most unholy man of God to come down the pike since Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church," you might say.

What pushes Pritchard beyond the pale and into our Hall Of Shame is the fact that she's not just spouting wildly unChristian beliefs... but that she's downright snippy when questioned about them despite having clearly agreed to be interviewed by Anderson Cooper, as seen in the clip below.

Cooper somehow manages to not only refrain from lauging at his guest's incredible lack of self-awareness as she all but stomps her foot in frustration and does eyerolls that define the word "epic", but tries his darndest to avoid making the woman look feeble minded... a task he fails miserably at through no fault of his own.

It would be easy to look at Pritchard as little more than a Saturday Night Live sketch come to vivid life... were it not for the fact that she speaks (if poorly) for a faction of the voting public who, given the power, would not only deny gays the right to marry but happily see them caged like animals and left to die. And while it's nice to think that the vast majority of people who will listen to her hate-filled words will walk away agreeing that she belongs in our Hall Of Shame, it's a sad fact of life that still others will nod their head in agreement and greet her heinous beliefs with a shout of "Amen!"

Stacey Pritchard, welcome to the Hall Of Shame. If only it were as well fortified as the electric fence behind which you want to throw millions of your fellow Americans.

Mother Superior

Just when I was starting to feel good — or at least better — about humanity again, they had to go and blow it.

 

There I was, surrounded by thousands upon thousands of people, all of whom had come together to raise money for a good cause. I was walking through Central Park, riding high on a wave of good cheer brought about by seeing so many different people from all walks of life come together for the 2012 AIDS walk, collectively raising millions of dollars to help their fellow man. It was enough to make one forget, for a blissed-out minute, one’s deeply-held belief that overall, people are only out for themselves and don’t really give much thought to the needs of others.

And then, the kids threw their empty water bottles into the woods. And the incongruity of the action nearly left me speechless. How could people who’d come out for such a great cause do something so antithical to the day? Sure, all causes are not created equal in any person's mind, but how did they justfy walking to raise money to help save lives even as they polluted the planet we call home?

When I say it “nearly” left me speechless, I mean just that. Because anyone who knows me knows that speechless is not generally something I am when it comes to situations such as this one.

“Guys,” I said, gesturing toward the plastic bottles they’d thrown into the grass, “come on. That’s not cool.”

The teens looked at me as if I had grown three heads.

And from behind, an older woman glared at me, saying, “My children are out here doing something good for this world,” she angrily declared. Then, full of righteous anger, she added, “Something for people... like you!” Whether she meant people who are gay (which I am) or people infected with HIV (which I am not), it wasn’t clear. But the tone made it clear that she and her children, marching as part of a church organization, looked at themselves as superior to the poor, pitiful folks they were there to help.

Apparently, she and her delightful brood had zoned out during the opening ceremonies, during which such celebs as Nick Jonas and Dot Marie Jones (of GLEE) spoke of how important it is to educate young people to the fact that AIDS isn’t simply “a gay problem”, or the fact that in 2009, people aged 13-29 accounted for approximately 39 percent of all new HIV infections. 

For this woman and her children, taking part in the AIDS walk was nothing more than an opportunity to pat themselves on the back and say, “Look at all the good we do.” They weren’t capable of seeing the irony of their own words or deeds, that even as they helped raise money for a worthy cause, they did a disservice to the literal environment by polluting and the figurative one by furthering the kind of hatred and negativity that kept HIV in the shadows for years.

I could have said all this and more, but instead, I did something I’m not particularly known for; I kept my mouth shut, walking into the grass and picking up their bottles, carrying it to the next available recycling bin... which was about 50 yards away. I ignored the eyes of the woman, her teens and their church group, all of whom were clearly viewing me as one of the poor heathens they’d so generously donated their Sunday afternoon to helping.

And I tried not to smile too broadly when all around me, people applauded my actions. I'll admit, however, that I may have failed on that count.

Silence Isn't Always Golden

Across the country, people have been angrily reacting to what Pastor Sean Harris of the Berean Baptist Church in North Carolina said from his pulpit... but what's gone largely uncommented on is why none of the people in his congregation protested his hateful rant.

For those who've somehow remained unaware, the Pastor found himself in hot water after a sermon in which he urged parents to "punch" male children if they acted effeminate and prevent their daughter from being too "butch" by making sure they looked attractive and "smell like a girl."

Listen to the congregation to the crowd the pastor -- who has issued the standard unapologetic apology -- addresses, and you can hear shouts of approval and laughter. But you know what you won't hear? A single person standing up to stop his homophobic rant.

So while pundits are taking the man of God to task for his unholy declarations, I can't help thinking they're missing the big picture. Because as indignant as many of us are at his remarks, where is the anger directed at the people sitting in that church who agreed wholeheartedly with his words?

It's easy to take to task the man whose words have echoed across the nation, but what about the people whose silence also speaks volumes? If actions truly speak louder than words, what are we to make of people who said nothing while listening to a man advocate such hateful behavior?

Airin’ The Laundry: COMMUNITY Edition

For a few years now, dramedy’s have been all the rage on television. But what works for DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES or NURSE JACKIE isn’t quote so appealing when it comes to real life. Just ask fans of COMMUNITY.

Surely, I can’t be the only one who was kinda bummed to find out that creator Dan Harmon and star Chevy Chase were engaged in an exceedingly nasty feud that involved temper tantrums, public displays if inaffection and the kind of mutual disrespect that we’d all like to think we wouldn’t wish on our worst enemy.

When news of the bickering first broke, I couldn’t help hoping it was all some kind of “there’s no such thing as bad publicity” stunt. But that quickly proved untrue, eventually leading to Harmon’s mea culpa, saying he wanted to “acknowledge my mistake and apologize to the fans.”

Unfortunately, you can’t unring a bell.

My household stopped watching 30 ROCK after star Tracy Morgan, during a comedy routine, joked that he would stab his son to death were the boy to be gay. In the weeks that followed, there was much debate in the media, including an op-ed piece from the actor himself insisting, basically, that we pick and choose what to be offended by. In that, at least, he was completely right. My household — aware that this was not Morgan’s first run-in with homophibic remarks — opted to take offense and, despite being big fans of 30 ROCK, express that offense by refusing to watch.

Clearly, the Harmon/Chase dust-up is an entirely different matter, as the nasty remarks being tossed about were flying back and forth between the two men as opposed to at the audience. But that doesn’t mean that for some, a little bit of the magic that is COMMUNITY won’t be tainted by what Harmon described as “the giant far with my name on it that you’ve been inhaling.”

Look, we’ve all read interviews in which a cast member from a hit show says, “I know you hear this all the time, but we really are one big happy family!” And most of us probably laugh, knowing full well that the soundstages on which shows are produced are no different than any other work environment, and that means there are by nature going to be some folks you like and others you don’t. But that little lie allows us to suspend our disbelief and picture the cast hanging out and having a ball behind the scenes when not laboring to entertain us, the viewing audience.

Then again, maybe this is what people really want… the scandal. The gossip. The titter-worthy tales of backstage backstabbing. We’ve become a nation obsessed with dirty laundry, whether it be that of Newt Gingrich or Kim Kardashian.

I, however, wouldn’t mind being kept in the dark about some of the scandals that rock my favorite shows. I don’t want to find myself watching COMMUNITY and wondering how much of Pierce’s dickish behavior is just Chevy Chase being Chevy Chase, or if that snarky line Jeff fired at Pierce is really Harmon taking a cheap shot at the star he has issues with.

How about this: I promise that if the cast and crew of my favorite shows agree to play the “we’re a big, happy family” game until after the show leaves the airwaves, I’ll buy each and every one of the illusion-shattering tell-all books they write after the fact. 

This post originally appeared at thetvaddict.com

Are Conservatives Bad For Television?

The following first ran at TheTVAddict.com.

I have a theory: I think Republicans are bad for television.

Specifically, conservative Republicans. And not faux conservatives like Newt “I’ve had as many wives as that dude on BIG LOVE but gay people will ruin the sanctity of marriage” Gingrich, but real conservatives like Rick “no birth control, abortion or gay sex for yo” Santorum.

See, here’s the problem: Conservative Republicans like to tell people what to do. More importantly, they really, really, really like telling people what not to do. Whereas liberals and Democrats tend to be of the mindset that we are adults who can make up our own minds about things (and, potentially, learn from our mistakes), conservative Republicans are of the belief that you need to be dictated to because, gosh darn it, left to your own devices, you’re gonna screw up.

What, you ask, does that have to do with them being bad for television?

Well, answer me this: Do you like television?

Obviously, nobody likes everything on television. Some people (like Barbara Walters) think THE BACHELOR is degrading to women. Others would rather poke their eyes out than sit through an episode of JERSEY SHORE. And absolutely everyone will agree that Jerry Springer’s show is a national disgrace that none of us would ever tune into. (Except, of course, hat its very longevity suggests that a whole lot of us do so regularly.)

The point is that no matter how trashy your taste, television will fulfill your needs. (And then, if you’re watching TWO BROKE GIRLS, make a wildly inappropriate joke about having done so.)

Unless, of course, you want to watch a show like, say, ALL AMERICAN MUSLIM, and a group of conservatives decide that it sends a message they disapprove of and work to get it yanked off the air. Or maybe you find ABC’s new show GCB hysterical… as opposed to the folks at OneMillionMoms.com (you know, the folks who thought Ellen was “too gay” to be representing JCPenney), who want advertisers to yank their support, which is, in essence, saying they want the show gone.

As far as conservatives are concerned, you shouldn’t be allowed to watch shows that they disapprove of. It’s not enough that they take control of their lives and families by turning the channel; They want to take control of your family by making sure that you don’t even have the option of watching something they find offensive.

As the various GOP candidates fight for the right to be the Republican nominee for president, there are a lot of issues being debated. Foreign policy, birth control, how to get the economy back on track. It’s not as if anyone is asking them their positions on regular Parents Television Council whipping-boy Peter Griffin and his FAMILY GUY playmates. But it doesn’t take much to venture down the slippery-slope conservatives live in fear of and realize that a group of people who spend every minute of every day on the front lines of the culture war they created will eventually get around to declaring that little box that resides in every single American home public enemy number one.