Can I dive in here for just a second to say that this is one of those
accepted cliches that has nothing whatsoever to do with reality? It's like
the other one, "All these cartoons are violent," but when you ask the person
to show which ones, they can't back it up.

The *norm* in television is to NOT script religious people as loonies.
I'm sorry, I know that's generally what one's told, but that's simply not the
case. Religious people have gotten FAR better treatment in general than
atheists, that's for certain. FATHER MURPHY, THE FATHER DOWLING MYSTERIES,
HELLTOWN, HIGHWAY TO HEAVEN...there have been *many* series headlined by
religious people, or in which religious people appear in a favorable light.
(DR. QUINN in particular comes to mind.)

It seems like if you show *one* religious nut, suddenly it's taken as a
statement that ALL are like this. No, it's not, that's just that one person.
And religion has gotten PLENTY of good air on TV. Some groups just don't
think it's enough yet, want to feel persecuted, exaggerate the situation,
publicize inaccuracies and misinformation, and generally won't be happy until
such figures are everywhere.

jms