"Ripped" from the Headlines?

Try "cooked up with ridiculous stereotypes." That's more accurate.

For those of you who don't recognize the title, that's the catchphrase of one of my favorite shows, Law and Order. I've been watching this show for close to eight years now, and I have rarely missed an episode. And while there are a few times when I squirm a little, last night's episode really cheesed me off.

Let me explain why: the writers, deciding to rip something from the headlines: Terri Schaivo. The episode starts out with a very sympathetic husband deciding to remove the feeding tube of his vegitative wife. Outside the hospital stands a rabid group of protesters.

At this point, I thought, "This ain't good. It's too soon, it's too fresh, it's too close to reality. This is going to be bad."

It got worse. Two minutes into the episode, sympathetic hubby died when his car exploded.

By the time the episode was over, it turned out that a "Christian" pastor and the vegitative lady's family had conspired together to kill the husband so that they could keep the woman alive. But that's not what cheesed me off. I realize that pastors aren't perfect (I should know since I am one) and that they, like anyone, are capable of murder. (Case in point)

No, what really upset me about this episode is that every Christian was presented as rabid, hypocritical zealots, people who don't see the hypocrisy evident in killing someone for a "Pro-Life" cause. Every. Single. Last. One. Of. Them.

I doubt the producers or writers of Law and Order will ever stumble on my humble little blog, but if they do, I would like to quote one of my personal heroes, Crow T. Robot from Mystery Science Theater 3000:

BITE ME!

Why? I am a Christian. I am also pro-life. I believe that abortion is not right except in very specific circumstances. I'm sorry if that offends anyone. I believe that all life is a gift from God and should be protected.

That being said, I am not a rabid, bomb-throwing zealot. Killing abortionists, bombing clinics, and then claiming that you're doing the Lord's work is simply ridiculous and unChristian. True pro-lifers understand that. Yes, some morons take it too far, but they are in the extreme minority.

What Law and Order did last night was paint everyone who is Christian and pro-life with a very broad brush and they didn't offer anything to balance the viewpoint. If they had, I doubt that I would have been as angry as I am right now.

Consider: in the past, Law and Order has done episodes regarding environmental terrorism. In those episodes, they have made it clear that the extremists are not spokespeople for mainline environmentalists. They have made it clear that those folks have taken things too far by including characters who speak from a more moderate perspective.

The more moderate perspective was missing from last night's episode, and as a result, I'm feeling a little miffed. I realize that the entertainment industry has a heavy liberal slant. I realize that they can use their little bully pulpit to say whatever they want. First Amendment and all that. I just wish that when they ripped something from the headlines, they would have done so with a little more care.