7 TV Shows That Came Under Fire From Religious Groups (PHOTOS)
Good Omens
So what had the petitioners taking issue with Good Omens in the first place? This “blasphemous” fantasy series, based on a 1990 book by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett “mocks God’s wisdom” and “presents devils and Satanists as normal and even good,” they wrote.
Arthur
One Million Moms, a website of the Christian-based American Family Association, took issue with this animated children’s series earlier this year after the teacher Mr. Ratburn married his male partner. “Discussion of such controversial topics and lifestyle choices should be left up to parents,” a petition on the website read. “Just because an issue may be legal or because some are choosing a lifestyle doesn’t make it morally correct.”
Preacher
This AMC drama came afoul of the Catholic League in 2017 when it showed Jesus Christ having sex with a woman on the night of the Last Supper. “Depicting Jesus in a grotesque sex scene is an assault on the sensibilities of all Christian,” Catholic League president Bill Donohue said.
Lucifer
In 2015, One Million Moms also urged Fox to cancel this series for “glorify[ing] Satan as a caring, likable person in human flesh and “disrespecting Christianity and mocking the Bible.” Fox eventually did cancel the show in 2018, but Netflix picked it up for two additional seasons.
Black Jesus
“We, the Christian community, are vehemently opposed and violently offended at this upcoming program,” one pastor wrote on Facebook ahead of the 2014 premiere of this Adult Swim sitcom, which portrayed Christ as a black do-gooder living in Compton. “The level of disrespect aimed at the depiction of our Lord and Savior is inexcusable.”
The Book of Daniel
The Catholic League also trashed this short-lived NBC drama, which starred Aidan Quinn as an Episcopal minister addicted to painkillers. Upon its cancellation in 2006, the organization said, “This is good news for Christians, and bad news for those who get their jollies trying to disparage them.”
South Park
This long-running Comedy Central cartoon is an equal-opportunity offender, with Christianity and other religions as some of its most targets. By 2000, the Christian Family Network had created an “action guide” to help “protect our youth from vile trash like South Park,” per Reason.
A petition organized by Return to Order — a group affiliated with the Catholic group the American Society for the Defense of Tradition, Family, and Property — backfired spectacularly this month when it asked Netflix to cancel the Amazon Prime show Good Omens.
“OK we promise not to make any more,” Netflix UK & Ireland tweeted in response. Tweeted Amazon Prime, “Hey @netflix, we’ll cancel Stranger Things if you cancel Good Omens.”
Good Omens is far from the first TV show to incite religious condemnation, petitions, and boycotts. Click through the gallery above for other such controversies.
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