Jesus vs. the D-List Celebrity
Comedian Kathy Griffin made some major headlines last week when she won a “creative arts” award for her show, My Life on the D List, at the Emmy Awards. During her acceptance speech she said, “A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus. He didn’t help me a bit.” Griffin then said, "S--k it, Jesus. This award is my god now."
Suffice it to say, the academy edited her comments out.
The backlash, though, was immediate. Suddenly petitions began floating around the Internet with bloggers calling it “hate speech” and comparing her remarks to Don Imus and Michael Richards. The President of the Catholic League, Bill Donahue, said, “Hollywood laughs when she says, 'S--k it, Jesus.' Had she said, 'S--k it Jews, s--k it Mohammad, s--k it Moses, s--k it Hillary,' they wouldn’t be laughing, would they? … It’s worse than racism.”
One of the most vocal criticisms came in the form of a 90,000-dollar full-page ad that ran in USA Today, paid for by a Christian theater group called Miracle Theater. The ad read, “We at The Miracle Theater consider it an honor to stand for Jesus today. We may never win a national award. We may never be household names. We may never be se! en in Hollywood. Although others may choose to use their national platform to slander our God, we are honored as professional entertainers to stand for Christ.” The Miracle Theater then posted a petition on its website called “Million Voices for Christ” which urges Christians to sign a statement condemning comments, saying, “The name of Jesus Christ should not be mocked, nor should those who love Him be slandered for their beliefs.” So far, about 55,000 people have signed it.
But this isn’t the first time a comedian or entertainer has poked fun at Jesus: Sarah Silverman makes fun of God and Christians; longtime veteran George Carlin does too. In fact, another set of “Griffins” on Family Guy are almost as sacrilegious, if not more so: Peter Griffin said he was Jesus when he discovered his pajamas allowed him to shock people with static electricity. Stewie Griffin had his own rather explicit vision of Jesus. And I! am sure those scenes cause some Christians to go up in arms as well, but oftentimes, we tend to write those off because “those Griffins” are cartoons.
Now, I had to admit when I first heard the comment, I was taken back. She did make a bold statement, and it was probably to stir controversy and to be funny. And knowing Miss Griffin’s act, the woman thrives off any publicity she can get. (She responded with a statement that said, “Am I the only Catholic left with a sense of humor?”) But, who cares about her response? The real question is, how do we as Christians respond? Do we get angry and start firing hate speech back at her? Do we shout “discrimination” and demand our 15 minutes of fame on TV too? Because like it or not, those who know we are Christians are going to be watching to see how we react, and they will be listening to what we have to say, because what we say and what we do says something about Jesus.
America was built so that there could be religious ! freedoms, so that religious people could be free of institutions and governments telling them how to worship, how to act and what to say; free speech allows us to worship and to evangelize. So, if we as Christians enjoy our right to free speech, can we in turn condemn others (especially the lost) when they exercise their freedoms? We all enjoy our rights to profess our faith, but then we get hurt and demand apologies when others profess theirs. People in America are so adamant when other people “offend them.”
Kathy Griffin said she was joking, and maybe she was or maybe her comments stem from something much deeper, but regardless, she is one of millions of people who are lost and searching for answers. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside" (5:12–13, TNIV). Ultimately, it is Christ who is the final Judge of all our hearts! (John 5:22). Who am I to judge a self-professed “D-list” celebrity?
Jesus said to love people; He said to pray for people–especially people who condemn and insult us. “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Being a Christian means dealing with broken people, and yes, that’s a messy and complicated thing, but that’s our blessing. Matthew 5:11 says, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” And dealing with broken people is our calling (Matthew 28:19–20).
Author: David Kenney David Kenney is a college pastor in L.A. and is a recent graduate of the Master’s degree program at Fuller Theological Seminary.
from : 850 Words of Relevant- 09.24.07
Suffice it to say, the academy edited her comments out.
The backlash, though, was immediate. Suddenly petitions began floating around the Internet with bloggers calling it “hate speech” and comparing her remarks to Don Imus and Michael Richards. The President of the Catholic League, Bill Donahue, said, “Hollywood laughs when she says, 'S--k it, Jesus.' Had she said, 'S--k it Jews, s--k it Mohammad, s--k it Moses, s--k it Hillary,' they wouldn’t be laughing, would they? … It’s worse than racism.”
One of the most vocal criticisms came in the form of a 90,000-dollar full-page ad that ran in USA Today, paid for by a Christian theater group called Miracle Theater. The ad read, “We at The Miracle Theater consider it an honor to stand for Jesus today. We may never win a national award. We may never be household names. We may never be se! en in Hollywood. Although others may choose to use their national platform to slander our God, we are honored as professional entertainers to stand for Christ.” The Miracle Theater then posted a petition on its website called “Million Voices for Christ” which urges Christians to sign a statement condemning comments, saying, “The name of Jesus Christ should not be mocked, nor should those who love Him be slandered for their beliefs.” So far, about 55,000 people have signed it.
But this isn’t the first time a comedian or entertainer has poked fun at Jesus: Sarah Silverman makes fun of God and Christians; longtime veteran George Carlin does too. In fact, another set of “Griffins” on Family Guy are almost as sacrilegious, if not more so: Peter Griffin said he was Jesus when he discovered his pajamas allowed him to shock people with static electricity. Stewie Griffin had his own rather explicit vision of Jesus. And I! am sure those scenes cause some Christians to go up in arms as well, but oftentimes, we tend to write those off because “those Griffins” are cartoons.
Now, I had to admit when I first heard the comment, I was taken back. She did make a bold statement, and it was probably to stir controversy and to be funny. And knowing Miss Griffin’s act, the woman thrives off any publicity she can get. (She responded with a statement that said, “Am I the only Catholic left with a sense of humor?”) But, who cares about her response? The real question is, how do we as Christians respond? Do we get angry and start firing hate speech back at her? Do we shout “discrimination” and demand our 15 minutes of fame on TV too? Because like it or not, those who know we are Christians are going to be watching to see how we react, and they will be listening to what we have to say, because what we say and what we do says something about Jesus.
America was built so that there could be religious ! freedoms, so that religious people could be free of institutions and governments telling them how to worship, how to act and what to say; free speech allows us to worship and to evangelize. So, if we as Christians enjoy our right to free speech, can we in turn condemn others (especially the lost) when they exercise their freedoms? We all enjoy our rights to profess our faith, but then we get hurt and demand apologies when others profess theirs. People in America are so adamant when other people “offend them.”
Kathy Griffin said she was joking, and maybe she was or maybe her comments stem from something much deeper, but regardless, she is one of millions of people who are lost and searching for answers. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside" (5:12–13, TNIV). Ultimately, it is Christ who is the final Judge of all our hearts! (John 5:22). Who am I to judge a self-professed “D-list” celebrity?
Jesus said to love people; He said to pray for people–especially people who condemn and insult us. “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44). Being a Christian means dealing with broken people, and yes, that’s a messy and complicated thing, but that’s our blessing. Matthew 5:11 says, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.” And dealing with broken people is our calling (Matthew 28:19–20).
Author: David Kenney David Kenney is a college pastor in L.A. and is a recent graduate of the Master’s degree program at Fuller Theological Seminary.
from : 850 Words of Relevant- 09.24.07
posted by Mike at 9/25/2007 03:16:00 PM
1 Comments:
I don't care if she was joking or not. If that's her idea of being funny, she needs to get new material. Just because we live in a country where we CAN say whatever we want, dosen't mean we SHOULD say whatever we want! It's called respect. Respect for one another as humans, and respect of each person's individual religous beliefs.
2:11 AM
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