Someone--I will not cast aspersions on them by saying who--was recently watching The Real Housewives of some Affluent-Place-or-Other on a television near me. The accents of the women on those shows seem to vary, but thick makeup appears the universal unity at a certain socio-economic class. One of the women was trying to make a theological point, something about loving a person in her same-sex relationship and yet also broadly condemning all such relationships. That's a conversation I have witnessed a million times, although the tawdriness of the show gave a certain flat tabloid-ness to the exchange. If this series of trash-TV is anything, it is most certainly not "real," which makes it a rather poor place for a discussion of theology.
As I watched, I wondered: what would it be like to have a Real Housewives of the Episcopal Church? (with an emphasis on the 'real'). Husbands who stayed home with the children; same sex couples who were so healthy and happy as to be utterly dull; families who struggled to make sense of their faith; communities dedicated to social justice; people young and old who spend time in meditation and prayer. Perhaps the show editors could arrange scenes in such a way as to belittle any reality, smash it to an easily digested pulp of animal conflict and herd instincts.
Strange that our fictions show the highest truths, and our realities are pale imitations.
