Danielle Kim

Media representation of Christianity

Purpose: To show how Christianity contrasts the way they are represented in media.
Outline:
Intro: Hi, My name is Danielle.
Today we are going to talk about how media portrays Christianity in the United States.
We will discuss what common traits and portrayals of Christianity in media look like, how they
may not be accurate, and why these misconceptions may have come about and why you should
care
Statistics about Christianity
First I would like to give you a little bit of information about Christianity.
Gary Langer, an author for ABC news states that 83% of Americans say they are christian. Out
of that group 53 percent of Americans are Protestants, 22 percent Catholics and 8 percent other

Christians, such as Mormons or Jehovah's Witnesses.

Overall, Hartford Institute says there are about 217 different Christian denominations which
fall under these three categories. Yet in media, all 217 are treated like one uniform religion with
identical beliefs.
What is Christianity?
While any religion based off of the teachings of Jesus Christ is technically categorized as
Christian, norally the word Christianity refers to Protestant denominations of Christianity.
Protestants are people who differentiate themselves from Catholics and other denominations
like Mormons, and rely solely on the bible for their values and beliefs. They are different
because unlike many denominations, they believe that everyone is a sinner and are forgiven by
God so they may go to heaven if they love and believe in Him. They are also unique because
they believe that God and humans may communicate directly.
Who is in Media?
Protestants are overwhelmingly the majority when it comes to Christians in America. However,
they are often the least represented in the American media. TV shows have mocked and
oppressed Christianity for ages. One of the most popular and well known Christian characters
on tv is Ned Flanders of the Simpsons. It becomes overwhelmingly apparent that Ned is not a
liked or positive character. His actions are those of a repressed sexuality, dull and boring
personality, judgment towards others and fear of the outside world. This type of personality is
repeated over and over and over again in popular tv shows. The Big Bang Theory also features
a Christian character, Sheldon Cooper's mom. She is a white southern, gun loving, sex hating,
judgmental and intellectually ignorant woman. She is hated and mocked on every episode.
These are only two examples on fictional tv, while in reality tv the corrupt Dougar family is
used as the face of Christianity.
Why this is important for non Christians.

It is not democratic.
It is a threat to the freedom of religion