You Gotta Have Faith
Okay, THIS is weird. I’m bored right now, and I’m flipping channels through my local Chinese cable. Almost all of them are CCTV (Chinese government TV) channels, and all the others are strictly monitored for content by government censors. You can buy pirate satellite dishes here and pick up the feed from the Philippines, but I still haven’t gotten off my ass and done that.
Anyhow, I flipped to a new channel and saw what was clearly a caucasian finger with red nail polish pointing to a verse in a Christian Bible. Since China is strictly atheist (a holdover from communism, when any ideology outside that of the party was considered a threat) I watched a little. It’s an American TV show, REALLY amateurish and low production value, definitely not a show produced by professionals. As I watched it became obvious that it was some kind of church-produced show. The characters eventually were shown standing outside something called the “Faithville Christian Fellowship.” I Googled “Faithville” and, sure enough, it’s a real show. From their website:
Faithville is a half-hour comedy television program seen on T.V. stations around the world. The show is based on the experiences of characters that live in a town called “Faithville”. Using humour as a vehicle, the characters of Faithville illustrate practical moral lessons designed to help children and families understand and apply the principles of God’s Word - and the example of Jesus - to their own lives.
Set in the 1940’s, the show offers a taste of nostalgia - while addressing issues that are timeless. Subjects like “Salvation”, “Peace”, “Gentleness” and “Faithfulness” are explored at a level the children can understand. Older believers will appreciate the program’s biblical fidelity and uncompromising values. The characters in Faithville aren’t perfect, but then neither are we. Their goal, like ours, is to learn more about God and to pattern their lives after the example of Christ - making Faithville truly “The Town That Lives After Its Name”.
How the fuck this got past the government censors I don’t know, but it’s definitely not an accident. There are a few churches here in Beijing, but only foreign passport holders are allowed to attend them—the government takes this seriously. Perhaps, as more and more Westerners involved with the Olympics begin to arrive, the government is permitting this sort of thing on a temporary basis. “See? We allow religion! It’s even right here on your TV!”
I think, from a cultural standpoint, the fact that only poor white trash from somewhere like Arkansas would actually watch this drivel is something that the Chinese wouldn’t understand. All they’d see is “Christian TV show,” not “amateur, cheap, poorly-acted religious show watched by retards.” (It’s not that it’s a religious show, only that it’s a REALLY BAD religious show.)
No idea what the Chinese are thinking. I should write to the producers and tell them their TV show is being broadcast in Communist China.
