Fox’s ’Glee’ represents counterfeit joy

glee: 1. great delight; 2. jubilant feeling; 3. song for unaccompanied voices; 4. newest big hit on Fox TV, a musical comedy series about a high school show choir in Ohio.

If I am going to look at the fall TV lineup from a biblical worldview, I cannot simply ignore “Glee”'s Kurt Hummel. I'll give the writers credit–at least they didn't waste any time having him come out of the closet.

Kurt is already a big favorite on the show. Viewers first admired his musical talent, and then celebrated his dancing extra-point kick that won the school's tied football game. Fans were all but trapped into feeling sympathy for him as he expressed his gay feelings to his testosterone-heavy father.

If you are a parent, I pray you protect your children from being sucked into the counterfeit joy that “Glee” provides. I can only imagine what doors this show will open to the liberal left to indoctrinate our children in the ways of the world, especially considering actor Chris Colfer's own comments about his character. Colfer warned that Kurt “definitely opens up that Pandora box of emotions and goes for it.”

Many of my own friends will hate my post and the stance I am taking on “Glee”. But if I am to be true to the Word, then I must examine the show accordingly. While God loves people, He doesn't love everything we do. Because some personalities have a bent toward extreme anger doesn't excuse their uninhibited expression of it. God desires restraint of tendencies that are outside of His perfect plan for humankind. The Bible is clear that homosexuality is not an equally acceptable lifestyle to Him; but a desire of the flesh that, while it may feel natural, is in opposition to God's design for man and woman (Genesis 2:24, Romans 1:26-27).

Where is the Christian right's voice regarding “Glee”? We have been very vocal with regard to the teaching of the homosexual lifestyle in schools. We've raised cain over the required reading of “And Tango Makes Three”, featuring Mr. and Mr. Penguin, their different (and logically empty) nest, and their donated egg. Why are Christians not equally outraged over this television show, clearly targeting the teens of America?

As Christians, we need to be careful of egotism. We are much quicker to speak when something affects our own school district, or our own community, and much slower to speak on a broader scale. When we are directly affected, we don't hesitate to make noise. But are we not charged in His Word with defending the orphan; and aren't children who are being raised by non-Christian parents orphaned spiritually? (Isaiah 1:16-20)

Let's take some lessons from the recent tea parties and town hall meetings in America. While violence and hatred is not the rule to follow, bold speech is.

I know some Christians will agree with my position wholeheartedly. But some will think I'm overreacting. These rationalize “Glee” as being mere entertainment, not indoctrination. These have reconciled themselves to the homosexual lifestyle to such a degree that they are desensitized. This is exactly what many in the LGBT community want to see happen, if not to you, then certainly to children. When we become unmoved by sinful actions, we become apathetic, tolerant, and ultimately participatory.

Consider this testimony. Another hit show, the world's longest-running soap opera “Guiding Light”, went off the air this past week after its 72-year history. Years ago, it was a favorite show of my two grandmothers, my mother and therefore me. Sarah Phillips of the Guardian rightly said, “Its role in U.S. culture cannot be overplayed.” Over the years, this show changed from a representation of the traditional American town, to the town of the writers' and producers' modern views and imaginations–imaginations prone to wander to the ways of the world. During my impressionable young years, I grew to believe that what I saw happen on the show each day was normal and acceptable. Sadly, this had a negative impact on my behavior, behavior that eventually brought me sadness, not joy.

Such is the way of sin. It is deceptively enticing and entertaining for a season. I wonder how many seasons Christians will trade an hour of God's joy for the world's “Glee”. And I wonder how the next generation will be changed as a result.

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  1. MelissaS said:

    I recently reviewed some of CBS’ fall line up and while I enjoyed watching the shows myself, none of them had content appropriate for my 13 and 12 year old boys. Glee falls into that category for our family as well.

    September 24, 2009
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  2. olivian2011 said:

    People who think like you do are like the Christians who tried to use the Bible to justify slavery and racism and segregation for decades–you try to use the Bible to justify your own prejudices. And just like we now look with horror at people who engaged in racist thinking and behavior 50 years ago, in 50 years we’ll look with the same horror at people who engaged in this kind of homophobia. What I will never understand is this: The words in Leviticus that deal with homosexuality amount to a few lines. Leviticus contains hundreds of rules and regulations that must be followed, and describes tons of different kinds of behaviors that are not acceptable and must be punished. It says that people should be stoned or burned or banished for behaving certain ways or doing certain things or wearing certain kinds of clothes or eating certain kinds of foods. And yet none of you so-called Christians who seem more terrified of gay people than of anything else seem to care about those other rules. Why is it only the few sentences on gay people that still matter? What makes it okay to ignore everything else that gets condemned, to say that no, all that stuff is fine or obsolete now, but the few words on gay people still stand? That is such unbelievably hypocrisy. You can’t pick and choose what you want to believe. If it’s still wrong to be gay, then it’s still wrong to eat shellfish or wear certain fibers or touch the skin of a pig or do certain activities on Sundays. But you don’t care about that, and it’s because you guys don’t really care about what God wants in this area, and I think that deep down you know that those rules and regulations were made for that time, not ours. I’ve never heard any so-called Christian address that hypocrisy, and it’s because there is no answer for it. You guys are like the Pharisees–what God wants doesn’t matter, just what you want. Gay people just make you go “ick” and rather than admit to bigotry, you’d rather be a hypocrite and try to use the Bible to justify your prejudice. Answer me this: 1) Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighbouring nations. A friend of mine claims that this law applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can’t I own Canadians? 2) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her? 3) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanness – Lev.15: 19 – 24. The problem is how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense. 4) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odour for the Lord – Lev.1:9. The problem is my neighbours. They claim the odour is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them? 5) I have a neighbour who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself or should I ask the police to do it? 6) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination – Lev. 11:10, it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don’t agree. Can you settle this? Are there “degrees” of abomination? 7) Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here? 8) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die? 9) I know from Lev. 11:6 – 8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves? 10) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev.19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? – Lev.24:10 – 16. Couldn’t we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14) Hypocrites. Pathetic, unthinking hypocrites. This is why the religious right is finally losing its hold over America. It became, like the Pharisees did, about power, politics, and keeping others down, rather than about God and love for one’s fellow creatures. The religious right became about hating gay people and making sure they can’t get married, and that’s all it’s about now. It became counter to everything that God is about, and now a new generation of Christians is coming to power (of which I am one), a generation that understands what it actually means to love their fellow humans, and a generation that understands that being gay is just like being black–it’s a difference that has nothing to do with how good a person you are or your relationship with God. And it’s heartbreaking to me that after watching an episode about the sadness and misery and self-loathing that gay kids suffer in a society that doesn’t accept them, you don’t think about how tragic that is–instead you think, “Yes, we must make sure they know they are not accepted.” It’s easier to have a scapegoat, a group you can point at and say, “Those people are worse than I am!” rather than just try to be a good person yourself, isn’t it? And it’s so sad that to you, gay people are defined by the fact that they are gay. You don’t see them as people, but as “gays,” as something to protect your children against. You don’t see them as what they are–your children’s friends and teachers and neighbors and, sometimes, your children themselves. I’m straight and Christian. I have gay friends who worship God, and they are more Christian than you, and people like you, with this kind of hate-filled, fear-motivated thinking, will ever be. You have lost sight of God. Your whole movement has. And that’s why it has lost power, and why the country is slowly, but surely, turning towards greater love and acceptance. I hope you get back to God. It’s a much better place to be than the small-minded place of bigotry and fear that all of you have been in for so long.

    September 25, 2009
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  3. PolishBear said:

    DEAR KARYN: You write that homosexuality is simply “a desire of the flesh that, while it may feel natural, is in opposition to God’s design for man and woman.” So I have to wonder what you think the alternative is for Gay people. Do you think it’s a good thing for Gay men to marry straight women, to lie to them, corrupt their marriages, undermine the integrity of their bond and eventually, as so often happens, leave their wives with a sense of betrayal and loss? Do you really think this is a good idea? I’m reminded of when one Southern Baptist admitted to me, “I can’t reconcile how someone could feel he or she was born with strong homosexual feelings, love Christ and yet take on the limitations of what seem to me to be straightforward biblical teachings. That’s agonizing, and I don’t really understand it.” And this is the weird thing: “Straighforward biblical teachings” should at least be understandable to the average person. So often I hear it said, “OUR ways are not GOD’s ways,” as if God was some sort of inscrutable alien being. Consider The Golden Rule: We do unto others as we would have them do unto use. Put all the religious dogma and ritual aside, and this is what our law boil down to. We don’t lie or bear false witness because we won’t want people to lie to us. We don’t steal from other people because we do not want people stealing from us. We don’t betray the trust of our spouses because we wouldn’t want them doing the same to us. Same goes for killing and a variety of other “bad” behaviors. And yet somehow there seems to be this sheepish adherence to a double standard for Gay and Straight people. If you’re Straight, it’s all so wonderful to be able to find a compatible person of the opposite sex, court and get engaged and marry and live happily ever after. But if you’re Gay, all of that is completely out of the question. Don’t even bother trying to find a compatible person. Lesbians are Gay men are precluded from any hope for romance or commitment. Gay people are simply told: Gosh, sorry about that. You make us uncomfortable; acknowledging your existence means we might have to revise what we’ve been teaching all these years – meaning, Whoops! No infallible Magisterium or “literal” Bible … so you’ll just have to sacrifice your life and any hope of finding somebody to love. Tough luck, kid. God said it, I don’t necessarily understand it, but there it is. I wish more Christians like yourself would at least TRY to wrap their minds around why this makes so little sense to Gay people.

    September 25, 2009
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  4. finkledinkle said:

    This is the most hypocritical crap I have ever read in my life. God told you to love everyone, everyONE. Love thy neighbor as if they are your own, do not cast the first stone. Who cares if gay people find the show to be a stepping stone to come out of the closet, they were going to anyway. Your attitude is sickening, if one of your children ended up gay you would tell me you would love them less, treat them as less than a human, as god would do such? Since the obvious answer to that is “No I wouldn’t, but god would hate my neighbors kid, not mine.” Enough with my incessant ramblings there, allow me to counterpoint your argument that Glee will open a new generation of homosexuals. Who cares. Simple as that. God never asked you to be a voice of the generation,you are flawed, your opinions come out of a forked tongue. You want better from everyone else but aren’t willing to ask better of yourself. Blame a television show for homosexuality of a generation, because you watched a soap opera when you were growing up and it brought you sadness because you thought that was how the world was. Fact is not everyone is as impressionable and ignorant as yourself. You should hold respect to your parents and not judge them for allowing you to watch the show, they left it up to you to not be an idiot when it comes to your decision. My final point is the BIGGEST ONE of them all. Why in the name of the holy father would you bring up tea parties in your argument of a television show??? This is the biggest problem I have with you and christian conservatives in this country, you are using the church as your political median, your article is full of hatred and is nothing more than an ignorant attempt at being political. There is nothing in this argument that even closely resembles the word of god, god never said ANYWHERE in the bible, to discuss politics in the church, by doing so you are doing nothing but warping the word and teachings of god to grab attention, may he have mercy on your soul, as I imagine I would cry if I were the creator and my teachings were to be warped into nothing more than a political forum for those who want attention.

    September 25, 2009
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  5. jdblue82 said:

    “But are we not charged in His Word with defending the orphan; and aren’t children who are being raised by non-Christian parents orphaned spiritually?” That’s some pretty shaky ground you’re treading onto there. Do you really want to tell the majority of American parents that you know what’s best for their kids because those parents don’t fit your definition of Christian? Do you really want to imply that parents of other faiths are incapable of effectively raising children? Forgive me if I’m taking you out of context, but it sure sounds like that’s where you’re going when you make “orphans” out of children of “non-Christian” parents.

    September 29, 2009
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  6. alaskalivedotnet said:

    Do not be upset at parents not being upset about this program. What you should be upset about is all the fake christians, all those who think they know Jesus who allow televisions hooked to ANY BROADCAST IN AMERICA in their homes. God says to be seperate, to come out from among them. I ask you, the writer of this article…Do you have broadcast tv, cable, satellite or over the antenna coming into your home? If so, how can you claim to know Jesus? The best thing Americans can do is unhook from any broadcast, and homeschool their children. That will send a clear message. Even Disney, Disney is polluted with the fllth!

    October 10, 2009
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