Anderson Cooper Special on Christians Tilted Right
Anderson Cooper aired a special last night about the many faces of Christianity. The show discusses everything from the unusual alliance between Evangelicals and Jews to "Capitalist Christians" and the Prosperity Gospel.
Although they do a decent job of portraying Christianity from many different perspectives, there was a distinctive tilt toward conservative Christianity. The only progressive church pictured was Unitarian Universalist--and as a member of that congregation myself, I know that there are many (including me) who would not appreciate being labeled as Christians. With so many moderate and progressive Christians in America, why were they so lacking in this special?
A few alternative voices do get some of the spotlight. Jim Wallis and Jim Forbes are both featured, and there is a great section on an evangelical church that's going green. However, the only faith leader chosen to talk about religion in Ohio is Russell Johnson--where are all the great leaders from We Believe?
There was also a severe lack of female voices represented, which seems to be an all too common problem in the media.
Nevertheless, the special is quite interesting, and definitely worth watching--check out all seven clips inside this post.
Comments
Anderson Cooper defined Christianity much more broadly than is justified by reality. Saying a Unitarian is a Christian is like saying a Christian is a Moslem. Neither are true.
Posted by: Gary Bryson | December 16, 2006 11:10 AM
ALSO-- where were the Catholics? The show mentioned that Catholicism "is the sigle largest Christian denomination" -- but then went on to include no Catholics in the piece.
The whole transcript from the show is posted here: http://www.faithinpubliclife.org/content/news/2006/12/what_is_a_christian_new_moral.html
Posted by: Katie | December 18, 2006 09:19 AM
I don't think I agree with Bryson's comment up there; the UU church I went to had many people who might be described as "Pagan-identified UUs" or "Buddhist-identified UUs" or "Humanist identified UUs" or, yes, "Christian-identified UUs."
Posted by: Tracie | December 18, 2006 11:25 AM
While there are certainly many UUs who would identify as Christians, ther are just as many who would not. I think Bryson's point is that it is not fair to say that ALL UUS are Christian, just as it would not be fair to say that all UUs are pagans or humanists. The problem I was trying to point out about the Anderson Cooper special is that this distinction is not made, and that such generalizations fail to recognize an integral part of Unitarian Universalism--the FREE search for truth and meaning.
Posted by: Allison | December 18, 2006 12:38 PM
The most troubling omission, however, was that of women. American Christianity still skews (60%) more female than male. Yet no women theologians, authors, commentators, or preachers were included in a substantial way. I felt like I was watching a documentary from the 1950s!
Posted by: Diana Butler Bass | December 23, 2006 11:27 AM