After the twelfth of the twenty-four episodes of Lost's first season, religious viewers thought they'd taken another step toward inclusion in mainstream culture, as represented by television and film. (Or at least one religious viewer did.) Lost treated religion seriously — acknowledging it as part of the society in which we live. Without a tone of sneering irony, as is expected in one direction, and without the feel of saccharine sincerity, as is expected in the other, two characters prayed to the "Heavenly Father" right at the end of a hit show that isn't definingly faith-based.
Well, by the two-hour season finale, it seemed as if Lost's creators had banned the word "God" except as an expression of emphasis. I can't help but wonder, as I have in my latest column for TheFactIs.org, whether "Religion's Gone Missing on 'Lost.'"
Posted by Justin Katz at June 9, 2005 9:59 PMYou ponder whether religion has gone missing from an inconsequential television show? It's television! You probably know every single detail of your navel. Here's some ideas: Go volunteer in a pediatric oncology ward. Plant trees in a decimated forest. Deliver meals to the infirm or sick. Volunteer for an animal shelter. Plant your own garden. Turn off the damned television and write someone you're enstranged from and tell them you're sorry and you love them. I swear you religious people look for God in the weirdest damn places.
Posted by: steve duncan at June 9, 2005 11:11 PMGee, Steve, and here I thought a seventy-hour workweek, fatherhood, and homeownership justified an hour on Wednesdays to sit with my wife, talk, and watch television. Thank you for highlighting the wastefulness of my ways.
As for the inconsequentiality of television, consequentiality isn't something that flows "from me out." Television affects the lives of a lot of people, ergo it is worth contemplating, at least for a mere 700-something words.
Posted by: Justin Katz at June 10, 2005 5:29 AMGo volunteer in a pediatric oncology ward. Plant trees in a decimated forest. Deliver meals to the infirm or sick. Volunteer for an animal shelter. Plant your own garden.
Steve, do you really do all that stuff? I'm doing well to take out the trash some days...
Posted by: Matt Taylor at June 10, 2005 3:39 PM>> "look for God in the weirdest damn places"
And you'll find Him there.
Posted by: Chairm at June 10, 2005 8:21 PMAin't that the truth Chairm? Whenever I look for him because he's out of sight, he's usually right behind me waiting for me to turn back to him.
Posted by: smmtheory at June 10, 2005 11:47 PM"I swear you religious people look for God in the weirdest damn places."
Steve, if you are not a religious person, as you comment implies, what criteria do you use for determining what places people look for God constitute "weird"? Just curious...
Posted by: Mike S. at June 14, 2005 3:46 PM
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