Knowing how enamored I am by disasters of epic proportions and my penchant for crisis management (!), some fanatical fanlings of the TV series “Jericho” have been encouraging me to watch the first season (this was prior to its cancellation, they are much more subdued at present). So I did. I thought it was interesting, fun even, but one thing struck me — this has to be one of the most secular shows I’ve ever seen. We’re supposed to be in a small, Midwestern town, which has a church in which (we assume) people worship, get married, have their funerals, etc. and yet we never ever see or even hear about the minister (except for about 10 seconds when he’s concerned about the church building being damaged). amazing. There has been a nuclear holocaust, thousands have died across the country, there is no communication with the outside world, loved ones are missing, chaos is growing, and yet not a word from the minister? No one wants to talk to him? No prayer meetings? No services calling for public repentance or for God’s help, strength, protection, deliverance, etc? nothing. He is the invisible man (except for the 10 seconds when he is the whining, visible man). wow. I knew the Church was considered to be irrelevant to this culture, but “Jericho” is a stunning reminder of just how irrelevant we are in the eyes of this world.
And, if the writers were to put a minister, church and God in the show, it would have been critisized as well.
I think this is really a no point issue.
JERICHO is a GREAT show and I hope it finds a new home.
The issue is not whether the show is criticized. The fact that you have dismissed Wilkins’ comments proves his point.
Grace,
I was simply observing what is obvious — namely, the writers view the Church as completely irrelevant to this story. It’s not that they didn’t include a good, faithful, humble minister; rather, it’s the fact that there is no minister at all (for all practical purposes). Thus, to them, the perspective of the Church was completely irrelevant to the story and could be safely ignored.
Sorry,
I was too harsh with my comments.
The fight to save Jericho is not over!
If you want more Jericho please write to: Ms. Nancy Tellem, President, CBS Paramount Network Television Entertainment Group, 4024 Radford Avenue, Studio City, CA 91604-2190.
Ask her to continue to produce Jericho and sell it to another network. These letters need to go out now, if we wish to save Jericho.
For more information go to: http://www.jericho-kansas.com/Community/SaveJerichoCampaign/tabid/195/Default.aspx
I agree with Pastor Wilkins survey of Jericho. Thanks for pointing this out!
Thanks to a Canadian teacher at Geneva :) , who I will not name, we are now disappointed fans of Jericho due to the discontinuance of the show. As to Pastor Wilkins comments, the fact is that the Church is largely irrelevant in the secular culture of the day. The question is what we do about it. I think I have thankfully heard, over and over, the answer is, worship God and faithfully live out the faith. We did not get here over night and we will not take back the culture over night. There is lots of faithful living ahead required, so let’s live out the faith with joy, feasting and vigor!