Hollywood's Religious Double Standard
Posted: Tuesday, June 08, 2010
by Terry Mitchell
http://commenterry.blogs.com
Claudia Puig, a film critic for USA Today, recently criticized the new film Sex and the City 2 for being "an affront to Muslims." However, I don't ever recall hearing her or other critics complain about Christianity being insulted. And it's not because they don't have plenty of opportunities.
Christianity has been a favorite target of Hollywood over the last 30 years. Christians are constantly be being lambasted usually without justification by movies and TV shows. But let one movie deride Islam and someone cries foul.
So, why the double standard? I believe it's due to a combination of fear and liberal guilt. They might be afraid of what some radical Islamic individual or group will do if they offend them too much. Hollywood and the mainstream media have no such fear of Christians, and justifiably so. Christians in the U.S. might whine and complain, but they are not going to use violence or the threat thereof against people who disparage their religion.
However, I think the double standard has a lot to do with elitist guilt in regard to minority issues. It stems from that silly old "comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable" mentality. Islam is a minority religion in this country, so therefore it must be given aid and comfort or at least not be offended. Christianity, on the other hand, is still the majority religion, so therefore it deserves to have its feathers ruffled on a regular basis.
However, religious double standards in the media and entertainment industries are not unique to America. They also exist in countries like Iran. Of course, it's a little different there. For one thing, it's mandated by the government. Another difference is that the majority religion is favored. The final difference is that this double standard is enforced by penalty of death!
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)Minorities are protected by the constitution. The founders, who mostly were deists not Christians, never mentioned Jesus, or God except as an expletive ("Oh my God"), well understood the excesses of the majority. In harmony with this sentiment, minority religions must be protected vigorously from the aggressive Christian right.Hunh? So, what are you saying here? The Constitution forbids the criticism of minority religions? Those who happen to be in the majority have no constitutional protection? That's what you seem to be saying. Or is it that you just don't know what the heck you are talking about?"Democracy therefore requires minority rights equally as it does majority rule. Indeed, as democracy is conceived today, the minority's rights must be protected no matter how singular or alienated that minority is from the majority society; otherwise, the majority's rights lose their meaning. In the United States, basic individual liberties are protected through the Bill of Rights, which were drafted by James Madison and adopted in the form of the first 10 amendments to the Constitution. These enumerate the rights that may not be violated by the government, safeguarding—in theory, at least—the rights of any minority against majority tyranny. Today, these rights are considered the essential element of any liberal democracy."I understand what you're saying about the constitutional issues, but that's not what my article was about. I was talking about Hollywood's double standard of criticizing Christianity, but not minority religions. No one and no religion has a constitutional right to not be offended or criticized.Could it be you are imagining a double standard? Can you provide evidence that there is a secret cabal in Hollywood "out to get" Christianity?No "secret cabal" here, just a natural liberal bias.You can't provide evidence to support your accusation? What is the evidence for this imagined anti-Christian pogrom you accuse Hollywood of?Dude, watch "SouthPark", "The Simpsons", and "Family Guy" at least once a month. If that's not enough proof, nothing will be.Actually, there's something to this. Minorities in general are protected, or they should be, in theory. For example, let's say the majority thinks it is acceptable to own slaves, or to hunt people of a certain ethnic group, let's say, the American Indian, which was exactly the case up until the latter half of the 19th Century. Minority's rights must be protected, even against the bad judgment of the majority.I understand what you're saying about the constitutional issues, but that's not what my article was about. I was talking about Hollywood's double standard of criticizing Christianity, but not minority religions. No one and no religion has a constitutional right to not be offended or criticized.
Double standards are such a convenient tool for avoiding accountability, they drive me quite crazy.Jennifer, I'm glad you hate them too. :-)
I agree. We should be able to lambaste all religions with equal impunity.Hypatia, thanks for reading and commenting ... all the way from Egypt!
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