Book Of Daniel

I watched the two hour premiere of the much talked about controversial new show Book Of Daniel. The reason for all of the fuss is because this show is said to center on a religious family that seems far from religious. The father is supposed to be addicted to Vicodin, one son is gay, and the daughter is involved with drugs. Does that sound like a typical priest and his family?

As a TV show, it seems pretty intriguing. Every character has a story that will probably be fleshed out over the course of its time on TV. It turns out that the mother likes a stiff drink on occasion. The maid hides her smoking habit. The adopted son is having premarital sex. The priest's father is a bishop and he is having extramarital sex with the woman who oversees Daniel at the church. The adopted son is Chinese and dating a church goer's daughter. The mother of that girl is racist. A Catholic priest has ties to the mob. Daniel's sister-in-law is bi-sexual. His brother died with several things in his backside that seemed to be from a sexual relationship with his wife and secretary. A young couple seeking marriage counseling got the idea from Daniel, although is wasn't his intent, to just keep "living in sin" since the idea of marriage seemed to be causing some stress between them. The girl in that relationship smokes pot. Am I leaving out any characters? See how interesting they all are? There could be some great stories developed about these people.

The overwhelmingly sad thing is that none of them seem to truly be seeking God except for the possibilty of Daniel. Daniel does spend a good deal of time in prayer. That's how I see it. The character of Daniel is seen talking to his idea of Jesus several times during this show. I think it's a clever way of showing prayer and our time spent talking to God. We have in our minds an idea of how Jesus may or may not respond to our prayers and it colors our conversations with Him. Daniel does pray for his family and friends. He is tempted in areas of weakness and he questions his belief system while still secure in the fact that there is a God and He is involved in our lives. Daniel is the only person in this show that seems to be aware of that to the extent that it affects his life and how he lives it. The others surround him with their problems, but not really seeking Truth. That could change as the show goes on. Daniel does seem to have a good relationship with his family, although it seems a bit distant like a visiting relative.

I'm curious to see how Daniel's family has turned out this way since one would assume that a religious man would do a better job at raising his family with strong values. Of course, my parents set a high standard and I'd love to see that reflected in a TV show. I truly believe that a man seeking God and living a righteous lifestyle would raise a family in the way he is taught through the Scriptures. I've seen preachers who have had their share of problems and their kids turn out pretty bad, but I can honestly say it's because they treated the church like a job and didn't take care of what God tells us is important. A Christian man married to a Christian woman striving to be Christlike will raise a family that won't resemble the cast of characters in The Book Of Daniel. The children will turn out more like the parents and hopefully pass that on to their kids.

While I was entertained, I still felt sad that Christians aren't reflected on TV very well at all. Would real Christians make good TV, though?