Still No Apology From ABC on Mental Illness Comparison
It's not news that Vice President Pence is a devout Christian; along with President Trump, he has been very open about his faith since taking office. Despite having been a part of the leadership of this country for over a year now, the vice president still finds himself—and his faith—a target for religious slander.
Amidst the chaos of the horrific Florida school shooting, some of you may have caught wind of the disgusting comment made by Joy Behar on the popular gossip feature "The View". When the topic of faith came up, it was only natural that the conversation involved Christianity—as the most popular faith system in America today—but the discussion took a very negative turn when Behar summed up her opinion on the religion by describing it as a 'mental illness'.
Anyone familiar with Christianity knows that prayer is a big part of our faith. In fact, the Bible tells us to pray as often as we can in I Thessalonians 5:17 KJV "Pray without ceasing."
As a devout Christian, I make it a point to pray every day because I understand that prayer is not a process of silently complaining to the personal psychologist who exists only in my head. Prayer is a conversation with the Creator of the universe. God listens when we speak to Him and He does speak back—whether you believe in Him or not.
If you watched the episode of "The View" which aired on February 13, 2018 then you heard Behar's grossly offensive comment on Vice President Pence and his dedication to prayer: "It's one thing to talk to Jesus. It's another thing when Jesus talks to you. That's different, that's called mental illness."
Over 20,000 phone calls were made to ABC in response to the crude Bible-phobic statement but ABC neither released an apology nor acknowledged the offense. Behar's only response was that her comment was simply a joke. Though she may be a comedian, I found no humor in her statement whatsoever.
Making a joke about a sacred act such as prayer is not only offensive but, considering the unsaved and obviously ignorant mouth it came from, it's inappropriate and uncalled for. What makes this situation even worse is the complete lack of response from ABC on the matter. Even the vice president found their silence to be upsetting which he detailed in this statement: "It is simply wrong for ABC to have a television program that expresses that kind of religious intolerance."
Not only did Behar insult the strongest faith system in the world with her 'joke' by reducing God Almighty to a voice in someone's head, but she also insulted one of the leaders of this country, and those who suffer from a serious mental illness. It is greatly disturbing that ABC would allow such narrow-minded opinions to be expressed without acknowledging the negative backlash it earned. It leaves me to question whether my faith and beliefs are taken seriously in American entertainment as well as considering if I should continue to watch such a channel in the future.
It's been two weeks since this incident occurred, I think it's safe to say that there will never be an apology from Behar. But what does that mean for us as Christians? Should we continue watching "The View?" Should we continue to watch any program on ABC?
While it may not necessarily be sinful to continue watching this program, I personally do not have much tolerance for such a channel that does not have tolerance for my beliefs. While I never had much interest in the show to begin with, I will most certainly not be watching it from this point on.
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