You are visiting http://geocities.datacellar.net/SoHo/Workshop/2096

To see an archive of the articles on this site, click here.

Hindus take down Xena

Originally published in the April 11, 1999 edition of The Columbai Daily Herald.

Each week in her syndicated television series, Xena, Warrior Princess, triumphs over the forces of evil, firing those deadly rings, swinging a sword and somersaulting across the screen.

So when Xena met her match last week, it was news.

It wasn't a three-headed dragon, another fighting female or even an uncooperative horse that took down the hugely popular character.

Criticism from Hindu groups forced the producer of the show to pull from syndication an episode that the Hindu groups found offensive.

According to an Associated Press story, Renaissance Pictures, the show's producer, apologized Monday for offending members of the Hindu community and said it had no plans for further episodes involving Hindu deities.

The complaints were over the show's portrayal of Lord Krishna and Hanuman. Using the deities in the action-adventure series, which stars Lucy Lawless as Xena, was an affront to those who worship them, according to the wire story. Their complaints included the portrayal of their religious literature as fictitious.

Far be it from me to insult those of the Hindu faith, although I respectfully choose to disagree with their beliefs. However, I would like to know how they gained such influence over a television series.

Believers of other faiths should have such influence.

Christianity is a regular target of abuse on network television, but one rarely reads about producers apologizing for bashing Christians.

To find some examples of attacks on Christianity, I went to the Focus on the Family web site (http://www.fotf.org) to search its television reviews.

Some specific examples:

* The Nov. 29, 1998 episode of "That '70s Show" had the characters going to church, but their hearts aren't in it. The characters ridicule church, God and prayer.

* The Dec. 10, 1998 episode of "Jesse" includes a depiction of a Christmas play with numerous sacrilegious references. Child characters repeatedly mock the name of Jesus and play the name for laughs as a swear word. The play ends with Santa rewarding Jesus for good behavior by granting Christmas as a birthday present.

Compared to those two cases, it appears Xena went easy on the Hindus. Yet, they managed to get the episode pulled from syndication and received an apology to boot.

So why does Christianity, arguably the most popular religion in the U.S., receive regular abuse on television without apparent consequence, while the Hindu faith can get the attention of television producers?

Answers to that question involve much speculation. One possibility is that Christianity is so entrenched in popular culture that it's hard to draw the line where the religion ends and popular culture begins. Unflattering portrayals of Christianity may be perceived in the same way as attacks on institutions such as government and law enforcement. That doesn' t make any of those attacks right.

Christianity also has no unified voice to complain about insults to the faith. There are numerous denominations under the umbrella of Christianity, each with differing beliefs. Some individual denominations are split on certain theological issues. Thus, who can speak on behalf of Christianity?

The faith also has shot itself in the foot. On a national level, the scandals involving televangelists hurt the credibility of the faith. On a more personal level, a person who has been mistreated by a person claiming to be a Christian is likely to welcome unflattering portrayals of the faith. The failure of individual Christians to act out their beliefs hurts their religion as much as anything. Count me among those who have faltered in that regard.

Another theory is that Christianity is at odds with the content of some television shows. Portrayals of extra-marital sex and other acts of immorality are common on many shows. Most Chrisitians oppose these acts, and some groups have even boycotted advertisers who support shows with inappropriate content. Is it surprising that some TV writers would take shots at those who oppose them?

In the interests of fairness, there are some television shows that either leave the faith alone or offer positive portrayals. "Seventh Heaven" is a popular television show that appears to portray Christianity in positive light.

But TV has a long way to go to offset the negative portrayals of the faith of millions of Americans. Maybe we can get some help from Xena.

You are visitor no. to this page!

Home page||Send me an e-mail ||Click here for great deals on CDs!

||Tim Wood's Rocketry page ||Tim Wood's Music Page, featuring Chicago (the band)