Culture Notes

TV heaven and hell

A recent poll by TV Guide found that 82 percent of respondents would like to see more references to moral issues on television, and 68 percent wanted more "spirituality." Answers to some of the other questions, however, suggest that audiences, no less than the TV industry, may not understand spirituality when they see it. One question in the poll asked which TV character is most likely to go to hell. The most damnable arch-villain, according to respondents, was nuclear-energy tycoon Mr. Burns of The Simpsons. Second place went to soap-opera bad guy Michael Mancini of Melrose Place. Third place in perdition went to the cancer man, the chain-smoking government conspirator of The X-Files. The overwhelming choice for the most spiritually rich show was Touched by an Angel, followed by Family Matters. Tess, the angel supervisor played by Della Reese, was voted by half the respondents as the character they would most like to have a conversation with about God. A similar percentage said that Tess is the character they would most like to have as their child's Sunday school teacher. Perhaps more revealing is that the second most in demand for a theological discussion was Jerry Seinfeld. The comedian, star of the top-rated Seinfeld, is genuinely talented in being able to make humor out of trivialities. He was also voted the second best choice for a child's Sunday school teacher. For much of America, being religious means being "nice," while sin is a matter of being "mean." Few seem to understand Christianity, which teaches that those who go to heaven are precisely those who have been bound for hell, that Christians are sinners who have been redeemed.