Reality on Bravo

People are still talking about it. Oh, Kathy Griffin. I suppose you’ll be making fun of religion more. It definitely is a great way to get press.

In any case, I’ve been passing over the posts and articles about this issue, simply because they all say the same thing. We can all argue until we’re blue in the face, but at the end of the day, no one is going to change sides on the issue. (some) Christians will argue that he remarks were inappropriate and that she’d be in a lot more trouble if she had made the comment about, for example, Moses. (some) Others will say that it was all a joke and people need to lighten up.

Well, I decided to read ONE MORE ARTICLE and finally read an intelligent comment about it:

I just finished reading Stephen Prothero’s great book, American Jesus, and I think his thesis is relevant here. He claims that, since the founding of the Republic, Jesus has moved from being an under-emphasized Biblical figure (the Puritans did not really talk about him), to being a personality (evangelicals talked about him as a “friend”), to being a celebrity (omnipresent in books and films), and finally to an American icon. As an American icon, Jesus is a figure that every American has to reckon with, regardless of their religious affiliation.

I would suggest that Griffin was referring to Jesus as an American icon, not as a Biblical figure, and not as a symbol of Christianity. If she had invoked Muhammed or Moses, that would have been a direct invocation of specifically religious figures (Muslim and Jewish), because those figures are not American icons.

This may be a subtle difference, but I do think it’s important. And it troubles Bill Donahue’s suggestion that Griffin’s remarks are symptomatic of a widespread secular acceptance of anti-Christian attitudes. Griffin wasn’t making an anti-Christian statement. In a sense, she was drawing attention to how Jesus has become something more than (or *other than*) a religious figure - he’s become an American icon.

The comment was left by “Kevin”.

And I agree. Someone finally put it into words how I could not.

This is the last I had to say about the Kathy Griffin/Jesus issue…at least for the time being. Please feel free to leave your comments, but let’s play nicely, ok?

Kathy Griffin, Jesus can Suck it, My Life on the D-List