Christianity in old television

ViaCrucis said:

I don't know why I would be going to my television to find Christianity.

But I'm realizing that for many there is an idea of a "Christian culture" that matters to people. An idea that I consider foreign. And the thought that strikes me most is this:

Christ founded a Church, not a civilization.

-CryptoLutheran

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I think there is certainly such a thing as a "Christian culture." 1 Peter is the basic field manual for how someone of the Christian culture must interact with those of worldly cultures.

Davey and Goliath:


That and Star Trek were probably my earliest memories of television on a little black and white TV.

RDKirk said:

I think there is certainly such a thing as a "Christian culture." 1 Peter is the basic field manual for how someone of the Christian culture must interact with those of worldly cultures.

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There is a Christian people. The Christian people inhabit the cultures and nations of this world as aliens and pilgrims, as this people we bear Christ and His Gospel to the world; called to do so with humility, kindness, service, and love.

-CryptoLutheran

Almost there said:

What is also interesting is that later on (70's and later), there are other "feel good" shows that, though would have been perceived as "Christian values" shows, really don't get into Christianity or religion at all and, instead, focus on the humanistic search for strong values. A prime example is "Seventh Heaven".

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Very true. IMO, a 70s show that wasn't religious in any way, but portrayed strong values was MASH. It was irreverent, clearly anti-military, and definitely anti-authority. But the scripts almost always dealt with trying to be caring, benevolent, and compassionate towards those in need. Even when you have to break rules, and ignore established procedures to do so. Which is, in a sense, a Christian message. Wasn't Jesus's teaching anti-authoritarian? He taught that one should follow a higher calling despite what the laws, regulations, dogmas, and doctrines of the established powers-that-be tell you is proper and necessary.

BTW: You remember the unit chaplain, Father Mulcahy? His character was very good-hearted and sincere, but maybe a little addled at times. He had one of the funniest lines. He's ministering to a wounded soldier. The soldier says, "You know Father, I'm not Catholic." Father Mulcahy pauses, gets a befuddled look on his face, and says, "Well, my son---nobody's perfect."

jayem said:

Very true. IMO, a 70s show that wasn't religious in any way, but portrayed strong values was MASH. ...

BTW: You remember the unit chaplain, Father Mulcahy?

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Yeah, I was thinking of the episode A Holy Mess, where he shows a strong conscience and conviction.

ViaCrucis said:

There is a Christian people. The Christian people inhabit the cultures and nations of this world as aliens and pilgrims, as this people we bear Christ and His Gospel to the world; called to do so with humility, kindness, service, and love.

-CryptoLutheran

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Many years ago, while wandering around Kadena, Okinawa, one morning I happened upon a storefront church. The Okinawan man inside--the pastor--welcomed me and after a bit we wound up in discussion about Jesus, then he invited me to lunch.

His English wasn't perfect and my Japanese was non-existent, but we continued to talk through the afternoon about a host of subjects: Love, hate, peace, war, justice, honor, et cetera.

We saw eye-to-eye on everything. The visit left me amazed that two people born and raised on opposite sides of the planet could be in such agreement on such deep issues. Very interesting.

Less than a year later, I was in Washington, DC. I found myself in a similar discussion with a man who looked much like me, spoke the same language, was born in the same nation had much the same life experiences.

But we saw eye-to-eye on none of those issues. We were as different as black is from white, no agreement at all on any of the deep issues of life. But that man was not a Christian, and none of his views were from a Christian viewpoint.

I pondered these two incidents, and I asked myself: Which man was my true fellow countryman? And what was my true country?

It wasn't the American in Washington DC who was my fellow kinsman--his culture was not the same as mine. Sure, we ate the same foods, but eating is not the measure of culture. How one considers the "deep subjects" is the measure of culture. The Christian in Okinawa was my true fellow countryman.

And as I've been in other nations where Christianity is not the default religion, I've found that repeated over and over again.

Not immediately, but very soon afterward, I realized that just as I had been deployed to Okinawa to perform a mission of limited duration, as a Christians I am a citizen of Heaven deployed now to the USA to perform a mission of limited duration. Then I'm going home.

Almost there said:

Now that we have Amazon Prime, my wife and I find ourselves watching a few very old television series'. One thing we've found interesting is that those old shows are so steeped in the Christian message that they would be considered "overtly Christian TV" by today's standards. It's stark and shocking. The shows I notice it in are not what you'd expect:

Star Trek

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So just to clarify, you are taking a single episode of a long running show in which the lead character had one night stand intimate relations with hottie aliens every second episode as an example of being steeped in Christian message.

Would that it were.

Almost there said:

Well, with one show. sort of. The fact that they brought it up the way that they did was rather interesting, especially considering the program it happened with.

This actually ties into another show that I had never heard of, but is also on amazon prime. It's a canadian sci-fi show called "Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda". It has strong Christian themes, without actually calling them out overtly. The main captain is also palayed by an overtly Christian actor (he used to be "Hercules" and is the obnoxious professor in "God's not Dead".

The show is surprisingly good, though the effects are somewhere between 60's stuff and modern stuff. The stories are interesting and the characters are not bad. I give Firefly a 10 on that front and would give this show a 7.

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Roddenberry was dead by then. Even the Trek shows after his death began to treat religion with more respect. "The Next Generation" was so anti-religion that once in the late 80s I found myself on the same side as a pagan complaining about it in a newsgroup discussion.

Almost there said:

I see shows like that (and movies like "Little Miss Sunshine" as "Feel good stories for atheists."

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Why particularly for atheists? It's safe to say a lot of other people liked MASH too. It was a top ten show for most of its 11 year run. It doesn't seem any more secular (or atheist-y) than most mass-market TV.

Almost there said:

It's just a phrase and not precisely descriptive. All I mean is that it shows problems that all just get worked out without the existence of any god being brought into it. I probably should say "humanists" rather than atheists.

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Doesn't this describe 99% of mass market TV? Everything other than Touched by an Angel? Including some of your original examples like TOS and TZ?

Almost there said:

Yeah, I could never get into TNG. I called it "Star Trek for women". TOS was really a western in space. TNG was way too touchy-feely for my tastes. It's great in a chick film, but...

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For its day, TOS was edgy. TOS went places no other series had gone before. TOS made people uncomfortable. It brought ideas people didn't want to know into their living rooms for the first time on network television (outside other SF like Twilight Zone). People hated TOS. People wrote angry letters to their television stations about TOS and demanded it not to be shown.

TNG was pablum. TNG never went anywhere some other series had not gone before--it only trod trails blazed by TOS, M*A*S*H, All in the Family, SOAP, and others. TNG was comfortable and likeable for the masses. My mother liked TNG.

Almost there said:

Yeah, I could never get into TNG. I called it "Star Trek for women". TOS was really a western in space. TNG was way too touchy-feely for my tastes. It's great in a chick film, but...

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I'm sorry that you have such a low view of men.

-CryptoLutheran

Almost there said:

One thing we've found interesting is that those old shows are so steeped in the Christian message that they would be considered "overtly Christian TV" by today's standards. It's stark and shocking. The shows I notice it in are not what you'd expect:

Star Trek
Petticoat Junction
Twilight Zone
Route 66
The Real McCoys

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I haven't seen all of these, but do they really mention and promote Christianity all that often? I'm especially wondering about Star Trek...

Almost there said:

Star Trek, just a little. It's "friendly" to it, which is a big deal when you consider the show. The others actually do.

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Star Trek, like its creator, was hostile to Christianity and to all religions in TOS and TNG, as long as its creator Gene Roddenberry was alive. It was so hostile that even pagans complained about it.