07AR12-16

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Apologia Report 12:16

April 27, 2007

Subject: Assessing the theological underpinnings of pop television

In this issue:

APOLOGETICS, CULTURAL - AR's Robert Velarde surveys relevant theological themes in the ABC television series, Lost

+ World magazine offers an analysis of Grey's Anatomy

+ Commonweal magazine evaluates The Sopranos

BUDDHISM - its American book publishing market

ORIGINS - Publishers Weekly pans Behe's new Edge of Evolution

PSYCHOLOGY - evangelicals continue to "embrace" the discipline

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APOLOGETICS, CULTURAL

"The Gospel According to Lost: A Survey of Relevant Theological Themes" by Robert Velarde -- notes that the ABC television series and a winner of six Emmy awards "addresses the relationship between faith and reason." Velarde explains how the show contrasts a mystical 'man of faith' and a 'man of science'; explores mysticism, fate, and chance; and presents philosophical concepts, particularly in the area of ethics - such as ethical egoism and utilitarianism. In the process, Lost "grapples with guilt-ridden characters seeking atonement for their sins" in all the wrong places.

One of the most popular shows on television, "Lost delves deeper than a typical television program into important spiritual matters. It offers a mixture of spiritual beliefs ranging from Roman Catholicism to occult spirituality such as psychic phenomena, astrology, energy healing, and numerology, but it also delves into matters of theological and apologetic relevance. This article will survey four key areas of interest: (1) faith and reason; (2) mysticism, fate and chance; (3) ethics; and (4) redemption."

Velarde begins by addressing concerns "regarding the use of popular culture in reference to apologetics." He urges that "Christians should seek to engage popular culture and its media wisely, in order to develop apologetics approaches that are relevant to a contemporary audience." He recommends T.M. Moore's Redeeming Pop Culture [1] as a critical assessment of television and popular culture, briefly summarizing it "for the wise use of television programs in the field of apologetics. ...

A few further observations from Velarde: "Lost ... sets up a dichotomy between religion and science that in some ways parallels current debate [referring to controversy over the Intelligent Design movement]. ...

"Lost underscores themes of redemption, but not in an overt Christian sense. Characters struggle with guilt and the need to atone for sins, but Lost focuses on self-redemption rather than Christ-centered redemption. ...

"Granted, Lost is an entertainment product of secular Hollywood. As such, it cannot be expected to address Christian themes overtly. At times, it nevertheless offers surprisingly astute dialogue, character development, and observations that can be applied to Christian apologetics, particularly in pre-evangelism efforts." Cover story. Christian Research Journal, 31:1 - 2007, pp10-19.

Velarde was on "Issues Etc" discussing "Lost" and his article on April 11: http://www.kfuo.org/ie_main.htm (about a 25 minute spot).

"Why Grey Matters" -- cover line for the Marvin Olasky's lead feature, "Grey's Theology" (World, Mar 17 '07, pp18-21), is subtitled: "Television's most popular dramatic series looks at life beyond 'death.'" The contents summary for the piece reads: "Long on diagnosis, the most popular TV show in the world - and its lead physician - stand in need of some chartwork themselves."

Olasky notes that the lead character of Grey's Anatomy, Dr. Meredith Grey (Ellen Pompeo), expresses opinions that "seem almost biblical in their worldview. ...

"Essentially, show creator and executive producer Shonda Rimes, a product of Chicago Catholic schools, provides a pretty good analysis of contemporary life (solitary, not so poor, but nasty, brutish, and short). Her semi-solution includes no verticality (as far as the central characters are concerned, God might as well be dead) but lots of temporary horizontality, as characters get through their days and nights by developing short-lived community.

"Grey's theology, judging from the fan blogs, is not the primary reason why the show is popular." However, Olasky points out the significance of theology to the show. One of the production's writers, Marti Noxon, blogged that one of the show's lessons includes the maxim: "We are who we love." Olasky responds: "Grey's Anatomy is not Touched by an Angel, and 'who we love' is not God." Olasky's conclusion: "Missing from Grey's Anatomy is God's grace."

The cover story for the February 9, 2007, issue of Commonweal, "Salvation & 'The Sopranos'" by Cathleen Kaveny (pp10-14), opens with the observation that "American society is deeply engaged with the question of whether - and how - human beings can be redeemed. Many of us aren't sure the question has a positive answer. And in America, such pessimism expresses itself most visibly in popular culture.

"I want to justify this claim by discussing the Emmy-winning HBO series The Sopranos, which will begin the second half of its sixth and final season in April. The Sopranos centers on the life of fictional New Jersey mob boss Tony Soprano. Although its violent subject matter and coarse language will shock the faint of heart, it is easily the best series on television, both a popular and critical success." She adds that "no television show has explored more relentlessly - or more compellingly - questions of moral character, responsibility, excuse, and self-deception. ...

"Over and over again, the series drives home one lesson: The everyday brutality of 'civilian' American family life bears an uncommon resemblance to life in the 'family' of organized crime. So the question of whether the Sopranos and their circle can be redeemed, in my view, is inextricably related to the question of whether we ourselves can be redeemed."

Kaveny explains the process: "The Sopranos raises and then dashes [redemptive] hopes." Its "grim tales suggest that we are trapped in a world ruled by an inexorable fate that seizes upon our moral failings in order to bring about our ruin. ...

"One of the fascinating features of The Sopranos has been the way its makers address the moral criticisms raised in previous seasons by audiences and critics alike. ...

"[I]t presents us with the grim specter of a cosmos emptied of all redemption - bereft not merely of the prospect of Christian salvation but also of the most powerful and widely available alternatives.

"Once The Sopranos has dispatched the most commonly held hopes for redemption in American culture, what does it put in their place? The key to this question, in my view, lies in the poster for season 5, reproduced on the cover of this issue of Commonweal. Evoking an era in the Sopranos' Italian heritage that antedates Catholicism, it gives us the worldview of Rome - not Christian Rome, but pagan Rome. ...

"The poster for season 5, set in the marshes of New Jersey's inaptly named Meadowlands, perfectly captures the pervasive bleakness of the underworld in its dual sense: the world of organized crime and the world of the dead. Both those characters who are living and those who are dead remain trapped."

The two "overarching" story lines of season 5 find their place "in the worldview of Greek and Roman mythology." The main characters' "lives were determined by inexorable Fate, which even the gods cannot defy. At the same time, their deaths were attributable to the moral flaw of greed, a flaw both shared with all those around them. In season 5 of The Sopranos, there is retributive justice. Indeed, in the end there is only retributive justice."

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BUDDHISM

"Buddhist Publishing in America" by Marcia Z. Nelson -- while less a general overview and more of a plug for new publications within the topic, Nelson does note that "The Buddhist book market is dominated by the Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh and the American Buddhist nun Pema Chodron, whose popularity has justified mass market editions of her work from Shambhala."

Jim Culnan, "resident Buddhist" of the West Hollywood, Calif., Bodhi Tree Bookstore [bodhitree.com] says: "I was told by a Tibetan Buddhist monk and scholar who grew up in Tibet that we now have better access to a number of important texts than he would have in Tibet."

Nelson reports that "With the current popularity of Buddhism now in its second generation, longtime Buddhists are graying, so teachers and publishers are reaching out for younger readers and writers. ... What Makes You Not a Buddhist by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse [2] ... reflects the sensibility of a Tibetan master familiar with Western culture." (Nothing more is said about this book apart from a cover photo caption which calls it a "pop-Buddhist corrective.")

Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, a "bicultural Tibetan teacher" based at the Nalandabodhi Center in Seattle <nalandabodhi.org>, "has developed a teaching program, for which Snow Lion publishes books. The press does significant business supplying study texts for Buddhist centers - publisher Cox estimates that about 35% of his business comes from such centers. He guesses that 500 centers have developed in the West." Publishers Weekly special section, Mar 26 '07, ppS1-3.

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ORIGINS

The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism, by Michael J. Behe [3] -- an unnamed reviewer finds that: "Behe strongly asserts, to the likely chagrin of young earth creationists, that the earth is billions of years old and that the concept of common descent is correct. But beginning with a look at malaria and the sickle cell response in humans, Behe argues that genetic mutation results in only clumsy solutions to selective pressures. He goes on to conclude that the statistical possibility of certain evolutionary changes taking place is virtually nil. Although Behe writes with passion and clarity, his calculations of probability ignore biologists' rejection of the premise that evolution has been working toward producing any particular end product. Furthermore, he repeatedly refers to the shortcomings of 'Darwin's theory - the power of natural selection coupled to random mutation,' but current biological theory encompasses far more than this simplistic view. Most important, Behe reaches the erroneous conclusion that the workings of an intelligent designer is the only reasonable alternative to evolution, even without affirmative evidence in its favor." Publishers Weekly, Apr 9 '07, p45.

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PSYCHOLOGY

"Growing Christian Shrinks" by Cara Marcano -- describes how evangelicals have come to "embrace" the discipline. "Psychology is one of the 10 largest majors at the more than 100 schools that are members of the Council for Christian Colleges & Universities, according to Ken Bussema, the council's vice president for student programs. ...

"The Fuller Seminary, in Pasadena, Calif., was the first clinical psychology program outside a university to receive accreditation from the American Psychological Association. ...

"The number of students enrolled in the [Azusa Pacific University] psychology department has tripled in the past decade." Marcano concludes that "the trend seems clear: Psychology is now among the varieties of religious experience." Wall Street Journal, Mar 30 '07, n.p. <http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110009876>

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Sources, Monographs:

1 - Redeeming Pop Culture: A Kingdom Approach, by T.M. Moore (P & R, 2003, paperback, 167 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0875525768/apologiareport>

2 - What Makes You Not a Buddhist, by Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse (Shambhala, 2006, hardcover, 128 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1590304063/apologiareport>

3 - The Edge of Evolution: The Search for the Limits of Darwinism, by Michael J. Behe (Free Press, June 2007, hardcover, 336 pages)

<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0743296206/apologiareport>

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