‘Glee’ gets religion
If you are a die-hard Gleek, you know that last night’s “Glee” episode tackled the weighty subject of spirituality?
What did you think about the show?
Let me know by posting a comment in this blog’s comment section or send me an e-mail at chinton@opubco.com.
And yes, just so you know, I would probably be catergorized as a Gleek. I sang in the school choir in middle school and high school, took show choir my senior year (lots of singing and dancing — at the same time!) and I have sung in the church choir for many years. We didn’t have a Glee club at my high school, but I identify with the characters on the show … well, some of them.
Here’s what some other folks are saying about last night’s “Glee” episode:
USA Today’s Faith & Reason blog: “Glee mashes up God, music, religion — and Satanic Sue”
The Atlantic: “Glee gets religion … with mixed results”
The TV Column, The Washington Post: “Glee tackles religion, swallows grilled cheese”
The Deacon’s Bench, Beliefnet.com: “Don’t stop believing: Glee gets religion”
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Welcome to the Jesus Shore, Snooki
What’s the difference between the “Jesus Shore” and the “Jersey Shore”?
Lots, say the members of Move the Earth ministry.
The Associated Press reports that the ministry recently held a free concert promoting “PTL” or praise the Lord near the place where the cast of MTV’s hit show “Jersey Shore” enjoy “GTL,” or the gym, tan and laundry lifestyle.
The AP reported that Move the Earth ministry organized a “Jesus Shore” event Monday on the Seaside Heights, N.J., boardwalk as an alternative to the “fighting and fornicating” organizers say the reality TV show celebrates.
The Rev. Anthony Storino, pastor of Abundant Grace Church, told the Associated Press that they are not against the MTV show, but want to show that there is another side to the Jersey shore.
The concert featured Christian bands and a Christian-themed tattoo contest. Vendors also sold Christian books and T-shirts.
(AP Photo: Members of the popular MTV show “Jersey Shore” pose for a photograph.)
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
A minister’s perspective of Comic-Con
Christianity Today’s online component featured an interesting article by Tony Kim (pictured), a Irvine, Calif. pastor who is a regular attendee of Comic-Con. 
Kim, pastor of Newchurch, has some interesting comments to share about the pop culture convention that draws thousands each year.
Here’s what he had to say: “A Comic-Con Recap from a ‘Pastor of the Nerds’.
(AP Photo: Photographers take pictures of Comic-Con attendees dressed as their favorite super heroes during the 2010 convention in San Diego, Calif.)
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Opposition to JC on TV (Comedy Central, that is)
Opposition is being organized against a new animated show to feature Jesus Christ in a modern day setting.
The show is in the “idea” stage at Comedy Central, but some people are already doubtful about its merits. 
The Associated Press is reporting that Citizens Against Religious Bigotry is a newly formed coalition that doesn’t want to see the Jesus Christ cartoon show air — ever.
The AP reports that the coalition is accusing Comedy Central of a double standard in mocking Christian figures and beliefs while recently refusing to let the animated show “South Park” depict the Prophet Muhammad for fear of offending Muslims.
The coalition includes the Catholic League, Media Research Center, the Parents Television Council and talk show host Michael Medved.
For more about this brewing controversy in Saturday’s Oklahoman.
(Photo: Jesus Christ, as depicted in an episode of Comedy Central’s show “South Park.”)
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Cartoons, religion and TV
Several of my worlds collided last night when I finally sat down to watch one of my favorite television shows.
“The Good Wife,” starring Julianna Margulies (pictured) and Chris Noth, featured an episode about a newspaper being sued for negligence because it ran a cartoon image of the Prophet Mohammad. One of the newspapers editors was killed when someone threw a bomb in the newspaper building. A radical Islamic terrorist group claimed responsibility for the fatal bombing.
Now, the new episode aired on Tuesday, but I didn’t get to see it until Thursday because of my busy schedule. I sat there slack-jawed because I couldn’t believe that my effort to escape into a TV show had been tharted. It just goes to show that religion permeates every part of our society these days.
I was especially intrigued about the ethical questions that surrounded the whole issue of the cartoon. Should a newspaper or any media entity be held liable if it prints a cartoon of a religious figure and the cartoon incites violence?
Then, another question arose: Is it ethical for a newspaper or media outlet to print or air something solely for the shock value (and the resulting spike in circulation), even knowing that it might stir violence or put someone in serious jeapardy? Is there a sensitivity to religion and religious figures that should come in to play when these questions are being debated?
Some news folks would argue that those kinds of questions come up everyday and that there are many stories that wield that potential power and influence.
What is different in the case of cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammad is the threat of violence from radical Islamic extremists.
A prime example of this is what happened in mid-April when the Comedy Central TV show “South Park” aired an episode featuring the Prophet Mohammad.
The animated show showed the religious figure hidden in a bear suit, so his actual image wasn’t depicted per se. The show did, however, portray Jesus and Buddha in such a way that many Christians and Buddhists were probably offended by.
Should the Prophet Mohammad have received similar treatment? Should the Islamic religious figure have been treated with kid gloves as Comedy Central obviously chose to do? In a world where fear of terrorists is very real (with good reason), were the Comedy Central leaders doing the right thing by pushing their censorship button?
All these provocative questions came to mind as I watched ”The Good Wife,” trying to relax a bit.
What do you think?
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
P.S. If you are interested, here’s more on the “South Park” episode: South Park censorship. And here’s some more: Forbes.com. Also: Christian Science Monitor.
OETA airing programs fitting for Yom HaShoah
Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, commemorates the anniversary of the Allied liberation of the Nazi concentration camp Buchenwald. The commemoration honors the memory of the 6 million Jews who died in the Holocaust.
One of my main sources of information about happenings in the Oklahoma City Jewish community, Deborah Wolraich, sent me an e-mail about several TV programs that will be aired this week on OETA Channel 13. 
I thought I would share the names of the TV programs and the dates they are scheduled to air in case readers are interested. If you can’t be home to watch it, you can always set your DVR to catch it on tape.:
“Among the Righteous” is a documentary about research by historian Robert Satloff to track down and verify any instances in which Arabs aided their Jewish neighbors while Hitler’s Afrika Corps swept across North Africa. Satloff’s research turned up evidence of 100 forced labor and concentration camps in Tunisia and Morocco.
The show airs at 9 p.m. tonight, 3 a.m. Tuesday and 4 a.m. Thursday.
“Diary of Anne Frank” airs at 2 a.m. Tuesday. The film first aired on Sunday.
“Blessed is the Match,” is a film that recounts the bravery of Hannah Senesh, a young poet. Senesh joined an elite group of Palestine’s Jews to parachute behind Nazi lines and rescue Jews in her native Hungary.
The show airs at 10 p.m. Tuesday and 2 a.m. Wednesday.
“Worse Than War” looks at genocides in Turkey, Ukraine, Nazi-occupied Europe, China, Cambodia, Guatemala, Bosnia, Rwanda and Darfur.
The show airs at 9 p.m. and midnight Wednesday.
Check out OETA’s programming for this week for yourself by visiting OETA schedule.
Tim Tebow Super Bowl ad still talk of the town(s)
Representatives of Focus on the Family, the faith-based organization sponsoring the much talked about Tim Tebow Super Bowl ad, said the 30-second spot will air for the first time sometime during the first quarter of the Super Bowl on Sunday.
The ad continues to cause talk as football fans await the game between the New Orleans Saints and the Indianapolis Colts.
I’ve seen lots of opinions on the issue being bandied about on the Internet in the days since I last posted a blog on this issue. I just got a news release today that says an anti-abortion group called Wisconsin Right to Life has produced a Tim Tebow mask that people can wear on Sunday to show their support for Tebow and his mother Pam. For those who haven’t heard about the ad yet (it’s possible, I guess), CBS has agreed to air a Focus on the Family ad featuring Tebow’s mother, who will share her decision against abortion when she was pregnant with the young college football star. Some pro-choice groups are upset about the ad and demanding that CBS refuse to air it, while anti-abortion groups are rallying in its favor.
Back on the masks, Barbara Lyons, executive director of Wisconsin Right to Life, said in a news release that they are a way to have a little fund and show the public that Tim and his Mom and Dad are “an inspiration to all of us.” 
Learn more about the mask at www.wisconsinrighttolife.org.
Meanwhile, I saw lots of comments concerning my last posting on this issue.
I asked what people thought about the ad, whether CBS should air it or not. Here are a few responses:
“I hate Tim Tebow, as any Sooner should, but I say run it. How one-sided are we as a country if we cannot at least allow both side to be heard?” — EJP
“I’m confused by this reaction. Isn’t the pro-choice movement in support of choice? Why is it wrong for this mother to say she chose to have her child? — Cara
“Absolutely not. I will boycott not only the game but all the sponsors if they don’t retract this.” — Carolyn
Stay tuned for more on the issue …
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
HBO apologizes in advance
HBO cable network has apologized in advance to people who may be offended by Sunday’s pepisodeof the network’s show “Big Love.”
The drama is about a modern-day Utah polygamous family.
The heart of the matter is a depiction of an endowment ceremony in a Mormo
n temple involving one of the “Big Love” family’s three wives, played by Jeanne Tripplehorn. HBO’s apology came after controversy arose when it became public that the episode would include the ceremony in a Mormon temple.
“We … took great pains to depict the ceremony with the dignity and reverence it is due,” “Big Love” creators Mark V. Olsen and Will Scheffer said in a statement.
“Obviously it was not our intention to do anything disrespectful to the church but to those who may be offended, we offer our sincere apology. It should also be noted that throughout the series’ three-year run, the writer/producers have made abundantly clear the distinction between the LDS Church and those extreme fringe groups who practice polygamy. ”
According to a story from The Salt Lake Tribune distributed by Religion News Service, church officials with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have declined to comment on the episode, but have posted a statement on the church’s Web site:
“Such things say much more about the insensitivities of writers, producers and TV executives than they say about Latter-day Saints,” the church statement read.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Fasting for real
So I’m thinking that my columns in The Oklahoman have jinxed me.
I wrote a column before Christmas about being thankful for things that money can’t buy, things that I think come from God, like love and compassion. Then my house was burglarized and some items were taken that I had bought for my children.
Recently I blogged about possibly fasting or abstaining from some of my favorite old sitcoms like “Frasier” during Lent. Then this past Saturday, I wrote a column about being mindful of the spiritual premise of fasting.
Well Sunday my own pastor called an all-church fast for one week.
We are to abstain from meat, breads, sugar or sweetener, fried foods and soft drinks. Add to this list items with sugar – and there’s to be no salt to season the food we do eat.
I’m going to be straight — the food part is something that my family has adjusted to pretty well. We can eat fruits, vegetables, 100% fruit juice and whole grains. We can use herbs for seasoning. It has definitely given us a new appreciation for all the splendid varieties of fruits and vegetables. And salt — I never knew I loved ya.
Here’s the kicker: We also are fasting from television, movies and the Internet, although the Internet can be used for Bible study.
We are to use this time of fasting to pray, particularly with our families.
Without the TV and Internet (this includes video games, I had to tell my son) , there should be ample family time and moments to reconnect and explore biblical teachings and each other.
So my plan to possibly abstain from sitcoms became a literal fast. I have to tell you, I don’t think I would have done it all by myself. It’s one week and I’m sure I will make it. One loooonnngggg week, but yes, I will make it through.
Who can ever question whether or not God had a sense of humor?
Of course He does!
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Giving up is hard to do
Fasting during Lent is a way for Christians to identify with Jesus in the suffering He experienced to redeem mankind.
Most folks fast from eating certain foods during Lent.
A few years back we talked to several readers and found that chocolate and sweets, in general, were some of the food items many people vowed to stay away from during the season. One young lady hoped to give up soft drinks for the season.
Lots of other people abstain from other things like certain behaviors or habits.
I used to attend a United Methodist church here in the city and I found the Lenten season very meaningful.
With those memories in mind, I have wondered if I might sacrifice or give up something for Lent.
I don’t think giving up some type of food would be very meaningful because I am doing that anyway as part of a weight loss program that begins this week.
However there are a few habits that I could forego that would reflect a great sacrifice.
One of them is my penchant for watching old sitcoms at the end of the day.
I tape some of my favorites like “Frasier” and then I might catch “The Cosby Show” on Nick at Nite or “The Golden Girls” on Lifetime.
Now giving up my nightly ritual of watching those shows — that I’ve probably seen a thousand times — would be a sacrifice.
I could instead use that time to entend my prayer time and bible-reading.
It’s something to think about.
I’ll decide soon. The night wears on and my handoften creeps to the remote about this time …
