I'm sorry, but there *are* accurate portrayals of christians and
other religious people on television. (And please don't cite TV Guide to
me as a reference on *anything*...they buy into the okeydoke just like
anybody else because they don't challenge the premise and investigate the
actual facts.) I would point out that David Kelley, producer of "Picket
Fences," just got an award from Catholics in Media for his portrayal of
that group of believers. (Does that group fit one's definition of a
group whose every, smallest, tiniest decision is based on the bible? It
probably doesn't, but that group is only a very small percentage of the
population, despite their volume.) Maybe the evangelicals don't
consider Catholics, and portrayals of catholics, as christians, but that
is an issue between you and them, not you and TV.

There's a sympathetic, realistic minister on "Dr. Quinn" as well as
on many other shows.

Now, you again cite the party line about christians and other
believers being portrayed as knife-weilding maniacs on TV. Please now
cite to me your specific examples. I have been willing to provide you
with specifics to the contrary. Let's see what evidence you have about
this fleet of maniac christians committing murders. Names and shows,
please.

See, what happens here is that people begin to fall for the Big Lie.
Someone says "X is true." And uncritical people accept this without
really stopping to investigate for themselves. They spread the statement
that X is true, until finally everyone's saying it...but it isn't true.
This is a *prime* example of this.

jms