re: Words mean things

Dear Aaron. After seeing your portrayal of Christians in Sportsnight, The West Wing, and now Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, I think I get it. You hate Christians.

Which, if you think about it, is ironic, considering you spend a lot of time painting believers as bigoted and mean spirited people who seek nothing but to take power and shove it down people's throats.

Now, that may be an honest criticism of some, Mr. Writerman, but not all. And yet, so far in all your shows, you make little, if any, distinction.

In Sportsnight, you painted Jerry Fallwell as a bigot. In the West Wing, Christians are portrayed as "crazies," power mongers willing to drag anyone through the mud, and positively revolting for daring to pray for the salvation of the one of the White House staff (shocking!).

And for Studio 60, let's look at the complimentary language you have used for Christians: crazy, bigoted, nut jobs, wackjobs, people going up in space ships ... and that's just in the first two episodes. Oh sure, you try to acheive some cover by making one of your main characters a "christian," but that's the spiritual equivalent of Step n Fetchit, much like Ainsley Hayes was your attempt at Republican cover in President Bartlett's universe. Then, in episode two, the network president uses most of these eloquent terms and then tries to cover it up by saying "I'm not trying to offend anyone here ...," which to my mind is the equivalent of telling a racial joke and then trying to say one "isn't a racist or anything."

Words mean things, Aaron. The one dimensional ways you paint people of faith show you as using the same behavior you claim Believers have. That of having little tolerance for any belief other than your own. Which leads to a question, is this a literary device, or are you just showing America your true colors when it comes to the subject?

I think Miriam Webster put it best ...

: a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices; especially : one who regards or treats the members of a group (as a racial or ethnic group) with hatred and intolerance

So far, I've only seen you use hate filled and intolerant portrayals of Christians, your bible believing equivalent of Janine Garafalo not withstanding. You have a national forum, a sandbox with which to express your views. And you use it beyond the entertainment context.

And as a Christian, I don't mind the ocassional slam. Hell, I'd probably laugh during the Crazy Christian sketch. But when you paint a people in a consistently one sided and generally negative fashion, there can be only one word for it. And if, in an alternative universe, some bible believing version of Aaron Sorking dragged your faith through the mud on a weekly basis, you'd be thinking of words like "anti-semite."

And as a Christian, here's a very important word in my faith ... forgiveness. And in spite of how you feel about this "Crazy Christian.", I offer it to you.

Because words really do mean things.