The Book of Daniel

Well, tonight is the big premiere of "The Book of Daniel" on NBC. I'm tempted to tune in, just to find out what all the fuss is about. I suspect that I won't like it, not because it's offensive, but because it fails to entertain.

What I don't get is why people are in such an uproar about it. I am a Christian, and not one of particularly strong faith. My faith is challenged all the time, by things I read, or things I watch, or just by the persistence of disaster and sorrow in the world. And it seems to me that that is a good thing. It keeps my faith alive, and keeps me focussed on God, and what He wants of me, and of the world. If this show gets me to think about what I believe and why -- even if it's mostly me thinking "Gee, they got that all wrong," -- it's a good thing.

So how come all these people of supposedly strong faith are worried about it? What is it to them? If you are comfortable with your God and with your beliefs about him, what does it matter if a bunch of secular humanists in Hollywood don't get it?

The whole thing reminds me uncomfortably of the furor over Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses. For those of you too young to remember, when it came out in 1988, there was a tremendous furor by Muslems who felt that it was blasphemous. There were death threats, including a fatwa from the Iranian religious leadership, and Rushdie had to go into hiding. My reaction then is the same as my reaction now. How can a work of fiction harm your religion?