NBC’S “BOOK OF DANIEL” IS “DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES” IN CLERICAL COLLAR
Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Let’s be honest. NBC’s “The Book of Daniel” is simply “Desperate Housewives” dressed up in a clerical collar.


As a result, NBC has stabbed the church in the heart and twisted the blade with this bigoted program which demeans Jesus Christ and mocks Christians.


My question is a simple one: Why is the church the last politically correct punching bag in America?


I seriously doubt that the top network brass would ever lend their approval to a television show which belittled Mohammad, Allah or Muslims. Such a proposal would never make it out of the conference room. The NBC double standard is alive and well.


Right off the bat, pill-popping Episcopal Priest Daniel Webster, played by Aidan Quinn, is at the police station, posting bond for his pot-selling teenage daughter Grace, played by Alison Pill.


Parenthetically, his other children are named Adam and Peter. Notice how Jack Kenny, the homosexual writer, purposely chose very Biblical names for the various sin-celebrating characters as a way to suggest that all Christians are wild-eyed hypocrites.


When the policeman on duty makes a wisecrack, suggesting that Daniel
Webster, a “founding father,” is posting bond for his lawbreaking daughter, Webster clarifies that he wasn’t one of the founding fathers.


He’s right. That was Noah Webster.


But Daniel Webster was one of our five greatest senators, served three presidents as secretary of state and was arguably America's finest orators around the time of the Civil War.


Ironically, in light of the sacrilegious fictional TV character, the real Daniel Webster, a Christian who put his faith into practice, had this to say:


* "If we abide by the principles taught in the Bible, our country will go on prospering and to prosper; but if we and our posterity neglect its instruction and authority, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us and bury all our glory in profound obscurity."


* "Finally, let us not forget the religious character of our origin. Our fathers were brought hither by their high veneration for the Christian religion. They journeyed by its light, and labored in its hope. They sought to incorporate its principles with the elements of their society, and to diffuse its influence through all their institutions, civil, political, or literary."


The real Daniel Webster is a far cry from the NBC fictional Daniel Webster who cusses like a sailor, and, despite being a pastor, uses the Lord’s name in vain with not one twinge of contrition.


I counted a fair amount of profanity. They featured the “d” word 6-8 times, the Lord’s name taken in vain several times, the “a” word a couple of times and the “b” word 3 times.


For example, when Rev. Webster expresses his anger about the fact that his brother-in-law had stolen $3.5 million from the church treasury, he says, “I’m the one who hired that [Lord name in vain] guy. No, I am not taking the Lord’s name in vain. I actually want God to damn him.”


No matter how angry a Christian might get, especially a shepherd of the flock, to unashamedly wish for someone actual eternal separation from God in the fires of hell is downright repugnant.


In addition, toward the end of the first episode, Rev. Webster’s daughter Grace, startled that her father knocked on her bedroom door to talk with her, uses the Lord’s name in vain herself. Momentarily, Webster thinks that Grace can see Jesus standing in the hallway.


No need for Dad to step in and wash his teenage daughter’s mouth out with soap since he’s guilty of the exact same sin.


In his pulpit, Father Webster, wearing authoritative clerical vestments, says, “If temptation comes to us, maybe we shouldn’t beat ourselves up. Maybe we shouldn’t ask for forgiveness from the church or from God until we can forgive ourselves.”


Not very sound theology. Sounds like something Oprah Winfrey might say. No, let’s be clear. We DO need to repent, asking God to forgive us first and foremost.


I’m reminded of Joseph’s response to the temptation to sleep with Potiphar’s wife. He asked her, “How could I do such a wicked thing and sin against God?” (Genesis 39:9)


Or David, after his affair with Bathsheba, who said, “Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” referring to the stench of his sin before Almighty God.(Psalm 51:4)


Father Webster says, “It’s unrealistic to expect people not to give in to temptation.”


Unrealistic? Not with the power of the Holy Spirit whom Jesus sent for precisely that reason.


Certainly every family member is giving in to temptation, and in a BIG way. Adam is having sex with the Bishop’s 15-year-old daughter in the back of the car. Peter is having sex with his homosexual partner. Grace is selling marijuana. Rev. Webster is popping pain pills. His wife is a drunk. And his lesbian secretary is having sex with his sister-in-law.


I have no objection to the depiction of Christians who struggle with and give in to sin. But this Pastor appears to be rationalizing his collective dysfunctional family’s choice to sin. There is no remorse, no sorrow, no repentance. Just bold, unashamed sin.


What happened to the plumb line of Scripture and its call upon our lives as Christians?


Even the Washington Post, one of America’s leading liberal media outlets, condemned NBC’s “Book of Daniel.”


Tom Shales writes, “I cannot recall a series in which a greater number of characters seemed so desperately detestable -- a series with a larger population of loathsome dolts.


“But ‘Book of Daniel’ just barely merits First Amendment protection, flaunting its edginess with such wince-inducing contrivances as a teenage daughter who stuffs her teddy bears with pot, a grandma with Alzheimer's who interrupts Sunday dinner to complain that her husband is "always showing me his penis," a wife whose lesbian affair with her husband's secretary started when the husband insisted both women join him in a threesome, and an Episcopal priest who pops Vicodins like Tic-Tacs and regularly converses with the living image of Jesus Christ.”


This pastor also approves of euthanasia.


After the church service, Rosemary, a parishioner, says, “I hate seeing her suffer like this. I’m going to make them turn off those d--- machines.” Father Webster says to his adopted Chinese son Adam, “Mrs. Barlow’s mom has to be taken off life support.” Later at the hospital, after they have “pulled the plug” she clearly opens her eyes, recognizes the priest, as Webster says, “It’s okay Jean. You can let go now.”


So much for the Biblical sanctity of human life! How sad!


Take a closer look at the misguided theology of Rev. Daniel Webster.


At the memorial service for his embezzling brother-in-law, Father Webster says, “Life’s hard for everyone. That’s why there’s such a nice reward at the end of it. Charlie is at his reward now. And may God rest his soul. Amen.”


He’s unmistakably implying that everyone gets to heaven whether they have accepted Christ as Savior or not.


So much for John 14:6 which says “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”


Neither is there any Biblical balance from those in spiritual authority over Rev. Webster.


When he expresses an interest in discussing the Bible, his Bishop, played by Ellen Burstyn, cites her liberal Ivy League academic credentials as the trump card over any reference or belief in the inerrancy of the Holy Scripture.


The Bishop’s office features a HUGE display of alcohol in the middle of her office in fancy glassware, much as you’d see on a soap opera set. Then, she indicates that after dinner, she and a church colleague are going to see “Hairspray” – a musical which celebrates cross-dressing.


The moment man thinks he’s higher than Scripture, he becomes his own god and makes his own rules. And they never mirror orthodox Christianity.


The dysfunctional collection of characters is not limited to the church officials, but include his immediate family in some dramatic ways.


After Adam, the Chinese adopted teenage son, played by Ivan Shaw, has finished having sex with 15-year-old Caroline in the back of the family car while parked in the garage, his sister Grace opens the kitchen door into the garage as Caroline is putting back on her shirt.


Grace asks, “Magic with the ladies?”


Incredibly, he responds by replying, “Want to find out? We’re not actually related,” says Adam, implying an incestuous proposal.


Pretty funny, huh? Aren’t you laughing out loud?


Homosexual writer Jack Kenny’s hedonistic worldview comes through most vividly in his favorite character, the 23-year-old Republican homosexual son named Peter, played by Christian Campbell.


Not surprisingly, Rev. Webster approves of and gives his blessing to Peter’s choice to have homosexual sex. In fact, later in the second episode which aired Friday night, Rev. Webster essentially states that If the Episcopalian New Hampshire bishop is open about his homosexual preference, then son Peter has nothing to be ashamed of.


So much for the Biblical prohibition against homosexual behavior articulated in Leviticus 18:22, I Corinthians 6:9 and Romans 1.


When Peter asks, “Am I going to have to come out to you at every family meal?” his father, Rev. Webster, simply laughs.


Later Peter, the homosexual son, says “I’m driving into the city to meet Tim.”


Webster asks, “Is he someone you’re seeing?”


Peter indicates that he’s just a study buddy.


Mrs. Webster, played by Susanna Thompson, says, “I never liked Josh.”

Webster says, with clear parental approval, “Maybe you’ll meet someone, maybe a male nurse.”


The mother says, “You’re young, good looking and well-off. No need to
settle.” I guess he’s settling for a life-long commitment to sin against his own body prohibited by Scripture.


In a later scene, the mother says, that homosexuality is genetic. And concludes, “Peter’s happy. He’s a good boy.”


Well, as long as someone is content in their own sin, I guess that’s the only real concern. So much for the demands of Almighty God.


Kenny seems to revel in the details of the homosexual lifestyle.


When his brother-in-law is found, who stole $3.5 million worth of the church building budget, they indicate that he was found naked in a hotel room with “several diverse objects found in his rectum” implying that he ran off with the money with some homosexual partner.


Webster’s wife asks, “Did they at least find the money?”


Webster says, “No, and apparently they looked everywhere.”


Oh my. More side-splitting NBC humor!


Dr. Paul Cameron, President of the Family Research Institute, rightly notes that “The message of the program is simple: Christians are bad and homosexuals are good. Sub-theme: Christians are hypocrites whose preaching does not translate into their daily lives. In contrast, the new “super gender”, the homosexuals, are persecuted simply for being true to who they are.


But what about the way NBC treats the character of Jesus?


There is one positive note. This particular dialogue was refreshing.


“Why do you talk to me?” asks Webster of Jesus.


“I talk to everybody, but most don’t listen,” says Jesus, played by Garret Dillahunt.


But sadly the Jesus invented by NBC is not the Jesus of the Bible.


Don’t misunderstand me. I love the device itself. The idea of Jesus appearing to a television character is compelling and commendable. But this was not the Jesus I know and love.


Tom Shales of The Washington Post notes, “Actually, [Webster and Jesus] don't so much converse as swap jokes, with Jesus being a pushover for a bad gag and much too cool a guy to be judgmental about the deplorable pack of crackpots who make up the priest's family and friends.”


After watching the pilot, I concluded that the NBC Jesus does not appear to have omniscience, the knowledge of all.


For example, when Rev. Webster asks Jesus where the church’s embezzled
money is, Jesus says, “I’m not a fortune teller. Let it play out.”


Fortune tellers are either frauds or satanically inspired. In that sense, Jesus is neither. But He certainly does know, since He is God, where that money is.


At the end of the pilot, Father Webster is startled that his sister-in-law and her husband’s presumed mistress are giggling over coffee at the sister-in-law’s kitchen table. Webster peaks in the window and does a double take.


Jesus appears in the driveway next to Webster and says, “You never know, do you?” – implying again that He, Jesus, is not omniscient, doesn’t seem to have a clue about what’s going to happen next.


That’s why 500,000 Christians sent e-mails to NBC in New York, thanks to the leadership of the American Family Association, pleading with them to reconsider airing the program which was first broadcast on January 6th in back-to-back episodes.


Thankfully at least four NBC affiliates used their Federal Communications Commission-given right to not air the series. KARK in Little Rock, Arkansas, WTWO in Terre Haute, Indiana, KBTV in Beaumont, Texas, and WGBC in Meridian, Mississippi all refused to run “The Book of Daniel.”


I challenged the listeners to KSLR Radio here in San Antonio, Texas to picket WOAI-TV4, our local NBC affiliate. Sixty Christians stood with me holding signs that said, “WOAI-TV attacks Christians,” “God is grieved,” “WOAI-TV makes Jesus sad” and “Read the REAL book of Daniel.” The story of our protest was carried by our local NBC and Fox affiliates as well as the San Antonio Express-News and The Texas Observer.


Plus, my four-day on-air focus generated 600 e-mails and 100 phone calls of complaint to the San Antonio NBC affiliate before the program initially aired.


Despite the publicity generated by the heretical nature of the program, it only garnered “a basement rating in the Nielsen ratings for this program -- a 2.7 rating, which is very low. It shows NBC it’s a failure,” said Randy Sharp, director of special projects for the American Family Association to the Baptist Press.


“I think it was doomed to fail from the start. Advertisers for the most part -- the most nationally recognized advertisers -- avoided it like the plague because it is a plague. This program is equivalent to leprosy to the Christian community,” he said.


The next step for Christians is to target the national advertisers who bought ad time for pennies on the dollar. The list includes: Walt Disney World, Burlington Coat Factory, Icy Hot Sleeve – Chattem, Just for Men (hair color), H&R Block, Gold Bond Ultimate – Chattem, and Charter Digital.


If you’d like to contact them by phone, e-mail or letter, click here: http://www.americandecency.org/email_updates/email01.07.06.htm


According to AFA’s Randy Sharp, “historically H&R Block and Burlington Coat Factory are what we call ‘buzzard buyers,’” Sharp said. “They buy the bargain basement shows.”


With the blockbuster success of “The Passion of the Christ” and “The Chronicles of Narnia,” I would think that Hollywood would see the value in honoring Christianity, not mocking it.


I predict that NBC’s ‘The Book of Daniel’ will die a similar death as ABC’s ‘Nothing Sacred’ which took similar potshots at people of faith.


If nothing else, perhaps all of the controversy will prompt nominal American Christians to crack open the dusty pages of their Old Testaments and read the inspirational true story of the real Daniel, a man who refused to compromise, risking his very life in the process.


Too bad NBC’s Daniel doesn’t resemble him more.

TAKE A STAND ACTION STEPS:

1. Call your local NBC affiliate and ask them not to air the program. You can find their contact information in your local phone book or by clicking
Here: http://www.nbc.com/nbc/header/Local_Stations/


2. If you live in San Antonio, contact Greg Derkowski at WOAI-TV4 at
(210)476-1006 or e-mail him at GregDerkowski@woai.com or write him at P.O. Box 2641, San Antonio, Texas 78299-2641 and object to NBC’s attack on Christianity.


Prior to the airing of “The Book of Daniel” on Friday, January 6th, WOAI-TV received 600 e-mails of complaint and 100 calls of complaint from KSLR listeners. Let’s keep the pressure on!


3. Print out a copy of the American Family Association pass along sheet, fill in the affiliate call letters and phone number, make copies and pass out at your church.


Ask your pastor to announcement it and put information in the bulletin and newsletter. Here is the pass-along sheet:
http://www.afa.net/passalong/pdf/nbc_bookofdaniel2.pdf


4. If you haven't already done so, send an email to NBC by Clicking Here:
https://secure.afa.net/afa/afapetition/takeaction.asp?id=175


5. Contact: Bob Wright, Chairman, NBC, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112, Primary Phone: 212-664-4444, Fax: 212-489-7592, nbcshows@nbc.com.


6. Let the advertisers know that you object to the NBC assault on Christianity: http://www.americandecency.org/email_updates/email01.07.06.htm




Adam McManus hosts a weekday afternoon radio show called "Take A Stand" on AM 630, KSLR in San Antonio, Texas from 3-6 p.m. central. If you’d like him to speak to your group or you’d like to react to this column, call Adam at (210) 344-8481 ext 132 or e-mail adam@takeastand.net. Join 5,300 people and sign up for his weekday e-mail alert about upcoming guests, critical articles and action steps to make a difference, go to: www.TakeAStand.net and listen live at www.kslr.com