In latest saga of Hollywood assaults on Christianity, comic Kathy Griffin has come under fire from multiple groups for her offensive Jesus remarks at the recent Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
Griffin made the remark over the weekend upon receiving the award for Outstanding Reality Program for her show "My Life on the D-List."
"I guess hell froze over," said Griffin, whose show overtook ABC's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. "A lot of people come up here and thank Jesus for this award. I want you to know that no one had less to do with this award than Jesus.”
Holding up her statuette, Griffin topped off her off-script speech by saying, "Suck it, Jesus. This award is my god now."
Griffin’s remarks immediately drew harsh criticism Monday from Catholic League President Bill Donohue, who called on the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences to denounce what he called “vulgar in-your-face brand of hate speech.”
“It is incumbent upon Dick Askin, chairman and chief executive officer of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, to denounce Griffin’s obscene and blasphemous comment,” said Donohue.
He went on to suggest that the situation would have received due attention if it were Islam as the target instead of Christianity.
“It is sure bet that if Griffin had said, ‘Suck it, Muhammad,’ there would have been a very different reaction from the crowd and from the media who covered this event. To say nothing of the Muslim reaction,” continued Donohue.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said in a statement Monday that it will censor Griffin’s “offensive remarks” when the event will be broadcasted this Saturday on the E! channel. The remarks will also be edited from official Emmy Awards broadcast the next day on Fox.
While Donahue was pleased that TV Academy “reacted responsibly,” he still called on Griffin to apologize for her “verbal assault on 85 percent of the U.S. population.”
“The ball is now in Griffin’s court,” he said. “The self-described ‘complete militant atheist’ needs to make a swift and unequivocal apology to Christians. If she does, she will get this issue behind her. If she does not, she will be remembered as a foul-mouthed bigot for the rest of her life.”
But an apology from Griffin appears unlikely. Griffin, who has made her career from raucous remarks at celebrities, reacted to the situation lightly, according to Reuters, saying, "Am I the only Catholic left with a sense of humor?"
Even those closer to Griffin are reproaching her actions.
Sherri Shepherd, a stand-up comic who formerly co-starred with Griffin in Suddenly Susan, also told The View on Tuesday morning, “I love Kathy but I was trying to text her, 'Girl, you know you ain't supposed to be saying no mess like that.'
"There's just a line that you shouldn't cross, there's a reverence for God that we should have."
However, on the other side of the camp, the President of American Atheists is backing Griffin’s freedom to express herself as an atheist and said that the League and the Academy were censoring speech by atheists.
"It's permissible to make religious comments at the Emmy Awards and other public events as long as they do not criticize or threaten the self-appointed 'Religion Police," said Johnson. “Atheists cannot make an honest and forthright statement that their success came from developing their talents and working hard."
While the Griffin’s Jesus remark controversy has evoked strong reactions from many sides, its assault on Christianity is not an isolated case in Hollywood.
Comedians on air often use Christianity as an easy target for punch lines and political remarks.
In January, Christians protested Conan O’Brien’s portrayal of a “homophobic country western singer,” who sang about a “touchin’” Jesus.
Later, in March, Comedy Central featured a segment in which Sarah Silverman had sex with a character playing a black God and then trying to brush him off afterward.
And last year, Rosie O’Donnell, former co-host of ABC’s The View, had made remarks comparing “radical Christianity” to radical Islam.
Regarding Griffin’s recent offense, Donahue said: “Mel Gibson. Michael Richards. Isaiah Washington. [Don] Imus. Jerry Lewis. Every time a celebrity offends a segment of the population, he pays a price, in one way or another. The question now is whether Kathy Griffin will pay a similar price for her outburst.”
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God Bless.
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She should be ashamed of herself,and she is free from thanking God in Jesus name, she is.. she doesnt have to do that at all!. It is up to her. But all I know is that God does things for us big or small, there is no measure on his blessings on us. But she has lost a lot of followers to watch her or care about her. She is in a free country to do what she wants, but not to care what others think or insult their God, well I think that really small of her. She could have kept that quit.She should have been more respectful not to insult something she obviously doesnt know anything about. It is to bad, she needs Jesus. Yes and prayer,no money,no fame can ever take the place of the spirtual feeling of the Holy Spirit of God can give to a person. Poor her. I really did like to watch her but to insult a persons spirtual belief right on camera like that.. oh well. But God will deal with it in his own way, he is in control. But he loves her the same as anyone else, but as far as watching her anymore or listening to her is history. God needs to be thanked for everything. No matter how small or big. At least Christians have hope in Jesus. We have something. She has only that Emmy for her God. oh well!.
You are right, and wrong. Yes, we do need to look at our lives, examine what we are, are make changes, daily. That doesn't mean that we are to focus on ourselves the rest of our lives because we make mistakes. Christians have never claimed to be perfect. We are all sinners. So, with that in hand, are we to walk by every sin we see and say, "nope, not my problem, I need to focus on changing my life first". If that were the case, there would be no hope for any of us. I can do two things at once. I can focus on my life, trying to keep it down the right path, and I can also cry out in anger, when someone makes vile comments about my God. I'm a "soldier" for Christ, not a passive wimp for Christ. About all the other things going on in the world, such as, the bad pastors you pointed out, people do speak out about that. Nicki Cruz has a book called, "Brothers and Sisters, We Have A Problem". And, it discusses all the problems in the Church. And, that is just one example. You can't just sit on your bottom and do nothing, because you are a sinner. When you sin, pull yourself back up and move on, that's what Jesus did for us, we can repent and move on. Don't let your sin hold you back from trying to clean up the world. If we all did that, things would be a mess.
I was a bit surprised by the negative reactions to my comment on 9/20.
I just wonder what is your Biblical justification for reacting like this?
One of the reasons why people like Ms. Griffin's responds as she does is that the body of Christ has a bad habit of pulling out the splinters in the eyes of non-belivers while ignoring the logs in our own eyes.
The world views us as a bunch of hypocrits, because so many in the body preach one thing, do another, and are not held accountable for their actions, when the Scripture says that we ARE to hold them accountable. Scripture does not tell us to hold the non-beliver accountable.
We are angry by the foolishness of Hollywood celebrities like Ms. Griffiths but ignore the open sin of the Whites (Christian pastor and inspirational speakers) -they are divorcing, and are "fine" with it, but where is the Christian outcry about that sin?
My mom and dad used to say "clean up your room before you clean up the world", and this was a statement of great wisdom. In John 8 where Christ tells the crowd "he who is without sin should throw the first stone" he was telling us that when we see (or hear of) a sin, it should send us to our knees to examine ourselves. When we have done so, then we can go to Ms. Griffith and show her her need for Christ. We won't be able to berate her into heaven.
So, Ms. Griffith in her ignorance can say as she pleases. What does it matter? We should be more concerned about the garbage that flows from our mouths than the trash spewing from another.
I'm tired of these celebrities/politicians trying to hide behind the Holy Roman Catholic Church. It didn't work for John Kerry in the last election, I hope it doesn't work for Giuliani in this election. They know their views don't match with Catholic teachings yet they try to portray themselves as loyal Catholics to the very liberal in our church. What we need is more conservative converts like Sam Brownback to continue to enter into our Church. Ironically enough the politician/entertainer who did the most for the Catholic Church in the US wasn't even Catholic. We need another Ronald Reagan type leader from the entertainment industry. I could care less with regards to gender. Someone like Elizabeth Haselbeck seems like a good role model because of her views.
Sir, if you know your history, at all, you would know that Christians have a very tough skin, and have taken a lot. It's sad because we are about love. Why would someone come against us or our God? The comments that Ms. Griffin made were not funny, at all. Our God died for us, a very loving thing to do. To say someting vile against our God, when we are to be in total reverence to our God is beyond offensive. You have to understand, we bow to our God, on our knees, and pray to Him, talk to Him, cry to Him. He heals us, comforts us, helps us. For someone to say something so vile against Him, I think you would be able to understand the anger that we feel right now. I think Christians should also be able to do what they want with their money. We have rich Christians, poor Christians, and we can spend our money on an ad like anyone else without being judged for it. We have the right to speak out against Ms. Griffin, and spend as much money as we like, doing it. I think, no matter what Christians do, we'll be judged, and looked down upon, so it really doesn't matter what people think. We'll do it anyway. And, we thank God for living in a country that allows us to do this. And, Kathy has her right to say what she wants as well. You reap what you sow. If it ruins her career like it did for Mr. Mel Gibson, for is hate against the Jewish community, then so be it. Christians have the right to be angry. Our God gets angry. We are in His image...so we get angry. As long as we don't sin in our anger. I plan to use my anger right now in a productive manner and speak out against Ms. Griffin, and her comments. I just hope that one day people look at Christians in a better light. As in any group, there are good apples and bad apples. Not all Christians are the same. Some are very hurt by this comment, and rightfully so. I hope you understand a little better, to why we are so angry. God Bless
Her comment is further proof that we are living in post-Christian times.
Ms. Griffin doesn't need censorship, she needs prayer.
We Christians, who should expect persecution and defilement and abuse - afterall, this was done to our Savior - need to be a little thicker skinned on the outside.
When we hear of these things our first response should be to examine ourselves to see if we have sinned likewise, and to have compassion on this poor lost woman, hoping Christ will tell her to rise and go sin no more.
(for more on my ideas on this issue go to my blog at www.achristianresponse.blogspot.com)
The Miracle Theater in Pigeon Forge spent $90,440 on a full-page advertisement in USA Today that ran nationally Monday, proclaiming "enough is enough."
Boy $90,440! That money could have been spent on a lot better things. The theater is sponsoring a petition on its Web site, http://www.miracletheater.com
So I went to sign this petition just to have my comment posted. I wrote:
"I’m a stand-up comic, and I understand both Kathy and your position. With all the different groups out there, it is exceeding difficult to not offend a few in a comedy career. Can’t we all just get along? It’s the Christian thing to do. I’m not surprised to hear that devout Christians are offended by Kathy’s remarks. I was talking to my Buddhist friend about it and he thought she was hysterical. The reality is that, no mater what your beliefs are, there are no shortage of people who DON’T AGREE WITH YOU. Surround yourself with people who do agree with your beliefs, and don’t fuss too much about the ones who don’t, because you can waste your entire lives arguing and getting nowhere. Making a national to do about all this just puts Kathy in the spotlight. Let’s face it, there are much worse celebrities out there driving drunk and endangering lives. If your beliefs are that Kathy will be going to hell for what she said, then that should be plenty. www.FunnyMexican.com"
Within a few minutes, my comment was pushed down to the next page because of all the offended Christians that signed after me. You’ll also find many other people who signed and like myself thought the Christian groups were overreacting.
Lastly I would like to point out the most entertaining bit of irony. Next to the AP news article is a Google sponsored ad list that says “Kathy Griffin Tickets – on sale now”
I see your point.Just make sure that it is done in love(honey),not hate(vinegar).That's what Jesus would do!!!
Faith without Works and Works without Faith....are worthless. I guess you are the type that would pass a homeless person and pray for them without giving them a thing. No sandwich, no blanket, nothing. Well, I do pray for Ms. Griffin, and I do plan to write to as many of her supporters as I can and let them know I'm not standing for these vile comments any longer. This was exactly what I was talking about. Christians today complain about how bad the world is getting, and about this and that, and do NOTHING about it. Yes, God can take care of business, but He also gave us a brain and hands to do His work. "WORK". Yes, it will actually take getting a pen and paper and a stamp. Could you even think what it would be like if John the Baptist just prayed about the sin around him and didn't speak out against it? Wow.
Well said.We attract more flies with honey than with vinegar.Not that I'm comparing potential converts to flies, but you get the point.Thanks for keeping me on balance!!
At first I was offended, I mean he is my savior and lord. Maybe instead of screaming at her we should be praying for her (not by might, power, but by my spirit says the Lord). She has openly put her fist in the face of God, the same thing we do when we sin. I am not trying to water this down, just trying to be effective. If someone came out and said "We love you, despite the fact you were offensive" wouldn't that be more powerful than anything that has happened in the Jihad. Take a minute and pray for this poor soul, I think it is what our master would want.
I must admit that I missed the point on this one.The fact that she didn't give credit to Jesus is not the most offensive thing.Saying "suck it Jesus" is what is offensive.Surprising?NO.Offensive?YES!!
I'm shocked, simply shocked to see that an unbeliever openly vilified my Lord, Jesus Christ.
Come on folks, looked to the Word and keep this in perspective. The apostle Paul wrote the the gospel is foolishness to those who are perishing. Ms. Griffin's words will either condemn her at the great white throne of judgment, or, should the Spirit of God perform a work of grace in her heart, will become a reminder to her of how great a savior Christ is to all who repent and turn to Him. Either way, He is glorified.
Only the Spirit of God can solve these problems, and he does it one heart at a time. Protests to Hollywood only obscure that point.
If anyone wants to write to the station that airs Ms. Griffin's "D List" show, and let them know you will not watch their station again until Ms. Griffin is off.....here it is.....NBC/Universal Bravo Viewer Relations 3000 W. Alameda Ave. Suite 250 Burbank, CA 91523. Also, her booking agent is Steve Levine at ICM...phone number is: 310-550-4000 and fax number is: 310-248-4673. The only way that we as Christians will stop the vile comments that are becoming the "norm" is to come against them. Not just talk about it, DO SOMETHING. Write letters, fax, call, and let them know by you not watching anything that supports Ms. Griffin, we plan to hurt their pockets!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That will open an eye. We can't do this as a few. We all need to do this. Lets see if we can get Kathy Griffin off the air!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!