Biblical blunder?

An NBC prime-time TV show, “The Book of Daniel,” is under fire from conservative groups, including the American Family Assn., that say it is anti-Christian. The show focuses on an Episcopal priest in suburban New York who has an addiction to Vicodin, talks with Jesus (a regular character) about his problems, and he has marijuana-selling, gay and promiscuous children. Is the show anti-Christian, is it just entertainment (or even art of a low form) and do you think it should be pulled from the airwaves?

I appreciate a television network trying to portray relationships involving faith. It seems that recently a number of elites have discovered that there are a large number of people in America for whom faith in God is an important foundation for their life. True! So, good for NBC for attempting to dramatize this.

I am also glad to have a show with flawed characters. “We have this treasure in earthen vessels” says St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 4:7.

“Clay pots” is the way another translation puts it.

In “The Book of Daniel,” characters find life a struggle and have besetting problems with which they cannot cope on their own; they know they need help. At that level, again, hooray.

The people also need grace and redemption. In the first show, the daughter, Grace, seemed to me most in need of grace. After he gets her out of jail, the first thing Daniel says to Grace is “Are you OK?” A later scene is at least an attempt to show more of that compassion and empathy: Daniel has surely had similar moments of struggle and thinks about raising his voice, but his love for their child shines through. Those of us who are looking for love in all the wrong places need such love shining through more than we understand.

With those appreciations expressed, the show was a great disappointment and a missed opportunity. The initial episode seemed designed to provoke, not examine. I felt it was an attempt to create a mixture of “Desperate Housewives,” “The Sopranos” and “Six Feet Under.” Way over the top!

Yes, we all live in flawed families, families with dysfunction -- but not problems this bad in this concentration. These characters are a cartoon of reality.

As an Episcopal priest, I know how out of touch with the real Episcopal Church this show is. Those of us who watched “Nothing Sacred” a few years ago saw ourselves pretty clearly in the struggles and in the heroism of the clergy and laity in that series.

Another series, “Father Ted,” gave me a bad case of spiritual diabetes. As for “Daniel,” why didn’t NBC have consultants? Where is the concern for accuracy?

As for Jesus appearing regularly in conversations with Daniel, I applaud a portrayal of Jesus who is personal and accessible. I was delighted to see a Jesus with a sense of humor.

But do we really need a 21st century show in which every interaction between this man and his Lord is portrayed like two college graduates in “The Big Chill”? Are we really not past the 1960s even now?

To portray a Jesus who is safe and sympathetic is to miss the truth about divine goodness: As C.S. Lewis has Mr. Beaver say about Aslan, “Of course he isn’t safe, but he’s good!”

Jesus isn’t safe, but he is good! Life really isn’t “I’m OK; you’re OK; it’s OK.”

The bottom line is that some fine actors and actresses are buried by weak writing and a totally unrealistic script. Artists like Stephen Spielberg could present similar attempts to live in faith in ways an intelligent audience would have to try to think and feel what the characters are thinking and feeling. Aidan Quinn, who plays Daniel, has been quoted as saying he believes the show’s religious aspect is “right down the middle.”

It is scary to me to think he and the show’s writers and producers believe that. Instead, they have created a caricature of the religious lives of most of the people they want to watch their show.

I watched the initial episode because I thought beloveds here would ask my opinion. When they did last Sunday morning all I could say was “poor television!” I don’t think I’ll watch future episodes; despite what the show would have us think, 10 p.m. on a Friday is past this Episcopal priest’s bedtime!

(THE VERY REV’D CANON) PETER D. HAYNES