Another sure sign that the ends times are coming soon is about to hit the airwaves.  Coming next month, January 2006, is the new TV show "Book of Daniel".  This is a disgusting display of how the media enterprise is working overtime to change the way people look at Christianity, gays, lesbians, drugs, and other aspects of life.  Read below a the articles from Fox News and the Associated Press.  You can figure it from there.    REVIEW OF 1ST SHOW THIS PAST FRIDAY CLICK HERE

NBC's 'Book of Daniel' Sparks Fire-and-Brimstone Reaction

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

By Catherine Donaldson-Evans

NEW YORK — Conservative Christians are gearing up for a holy war of sorts over NBC's forthcoming show "The Book of Daniel," airing the first week of 2006.

The American Family Association (AFA), a leading group in the Christian right movement, has called for a boycott of the series about a self-medicating Episcopalian priest whose son is gay, whose daughter deals pot and whose wife is a midday martini-lover.

The program "is an example of that network's anti-Christian bigotry," said the AFA in a press release widely distributed on Wednesday. The group claims that the network has received more than 400,000 e-mails complaining about the show.

NBC executives could not immediately be reached to confirm that statistic or respond to the AFA's threat of a boycott and characterization of "The Book of Daniel."

A day earlier, "Book of Daniel" star Aidan Quinn — who plays the Rev. Daniel Webster — called the series "a pretty down-the-middle, wholesome show."

"I honestly don't think it's going to be nearly as controversial as some people may now be afraid of," Quinn told The Associated Press. "It just has the courage to deal with some of the real issues that go in on people's lives."

Webster is shown having visions of and conversations with Jesus Christ in the flesh and has such a bizarro extended family that his priesthood and parish are in jeopardy of forging a relationship with the mafia.

"I'm an Episcopalian priest who struggles with a little self-medication problem, and I have a 23-year-old son who's gay, and a 16-year-old daughter who's caught dealing pot, and another son who's jumping on every high school girl he sees, and a wife who's very loving but also likes her martinis," Quinn told the AP.

"I can't tell you how many people have said to me, 'Hey, that sounds like my family.'"

The AFA begs to differ, blasting NBC and the show.

"The decision by NBC to air the series reflects the anti-Christian bias which exists at the highest levels of the network," AFA chairman Donald Wildmon said in the press release. "Christian-bashing is in style at NBC."

"The Book of Daniel" premieres Jan. 6 at 9 p.m. EST with two back-to-back episodes, before moving to its regular 10 p.m. slot the following week.

NEW YORK — "I think it's a pretty down-the-middle, wholesome show," says Aidan Quinn, referring to his new NBC series, "Book of Daniel." (According to today's standards, this might just well be wholesome to some, but to the believer, it is anything but).

"I honestly don't think it's going to be nearly as controversial as some people may now be afraid of," he declares. "It just has the courage to deal with some of the real issues that go in on people's lives."

Like, for instance? Quinn laughs as he recites a litany.

"Well, I'm an Episcopalian priest who struggles with a little self-medication problem, and I have a 23-year-old son who's gay, and a 16-year-old daughter who's caught dealing pot, and another son who's jumping on every high school girl he sees, and a wife who's very loving but also likes her martinis. (A little self-medication problem is his way of stating that he does not have a real problem.  Denial is always the first response to the addicted. Where has the Priest been all his married life, when he should have been teaching his family some good moral values).

"I can't tell you how many people have said to me, `Hey, that sounds like my family.'" (Certainly does not sound like any family I know and pray whoever told Quinn that, will seek guidance from a real Preacher of the Word of God to help straighten out his life).

Don't forget the Rev. Daniel Webster's recent cruel loss of another son to leukemia. Or the kookie extended family that, among other things, is about to put Daniel's priesthood (and parish) in jeopardy by forcing him into business with the Mob.

Or the fact that he has regular visions of, and frequent conversations with, a flesh-and-blood Jesus Christ.

Is this like your family? Viewers can soon find out. On Jan. 6, "Book of Daniel" premieres with back-to-back airings of two episodes from 9 to 11 p.m. EST, before claiming its regular 10 p.m. slot the following week. Nobody's family life is like that.  Jesus does not appear in the flesh to anyone (not even Benny Hinn) and will not even be seen until He comes again to claim His bride.

Between now and then, TV congregants can eagerly await — or brace themselves for — a comedic drama that might be described as "7th Heaven" meets "Desperate Housewives." Its initial eight-episode run throws a host of curves at the Webster clan while Daniel munches Vicodin to ease his pressures and doubts.

Does this demean a man of God?

Not a bit, says the 46-year-old Quinn, who, Chicago-born and of Irish descent, has taken the vows for his first series after a diverse career in made-for TV movies, theater and feature films (including "Legends of the Fall" and "Michael Collins"). Diverse? He may be the only actor whose credits include Paul McCartney, Benedict Arnold AND Robinson Crusoe. It may not demean anyone in Quinn's opinion, but in mine it certainly does.

Now Quinn plays a priest who must be taken on his own human terms — a good man who wants to do right by his family and flock, keep up necessary appearances, and cleanse his soul.

"He is caught up in the modern malady of extreme busyness and stress," Quinn says. "But he can have moments of great lucidity and humor, and he cherishes his moments of quiet in the church, and in prayer."

Communing with his inner self takes the form of those tête-à-têtes with Jesus — a loving, good-humored comrade whose robes-and-beard style stands apart in the starchy, posh suburb just outside New York City where "Book of Daniel" is set.

Jesus is demonstrably there for Daniel — but delivers no easy answers even when, in a frequent state of befuddlement, he seeks them.

"You know it doesn't work that way," Jesus reminds him.

"Yeah," Daniel sighs. "I just don't know why." (If he doesn't know why, then why doesn't he ask Jesus if He is right there with him)?

A Savior-as-therapist, Jesus is played by Garret Dillahunt ("Deadwood"), while the series also stars Susanna Thompson ("Now and Again") as the reverend's wife, Judith, plus Christian Campbell ("Trick"), Alison Pill ("Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen") and Ivan Shaw ("All My Children") as the couple's three children.

You might say "Book of Daniel" is the gospel according to Jack Kenny, an unlikely auteur considering his resume: executive producer of the sketch-comedy series "Wanda at Large" and, before that, the creator of "Titus," producer of "Caroline in the City," and a staff writer on "Dave's World."

But looking to move into one-hour drama, he wrote a pilot script for "Book of Daniel" on spec as a writing sample, "in hopes I could get in some doors. Then it took on a life of its own."

A gay man raised in the Catholic Church, Kenny says he drew on the Wasp-y, emotionally guarded family of his life partner. This explains the gay/lesbian aspects of the show.

"Michael," he says of his mate with a dramatist's relish, "came from a world that is all about what is NOT said — the hidden meaning in the words and sentences."

Declaring he has never seen "7th Heaven" or "Joan of Arcadia" (a drama that had God revealing himself to a high school girl in a variety of human visions), Kenny insists his show isn't about religion.

"This is about a family," he says between bites during a hasty lunch break at the Queens studio where the series is shot. "The fact that Daniel is a priest is secondary. The church is the backdrop. This is no more about religion than `Six Feet Under" was about mortuaries."  (How can he claim the Priest is secondary when all the show rotates around him and if it isn't religion, then why Jesus as an integral part of the program?  Isn't Jesus about as religious as you can get)?

But pray tell, doesn't saddling a priest with all those dicey tribulations (and a Vicodin habit!) risk putting off the audience in a way that a similarly plagued plumber or stockbroker wouldn't?

"Daniel faces the same relatable problems that every father has to deal with," says Kenny. "And if the problems seem heightened because of what he does for a living, then that just raises the stakes. And that makes better drama." (I hope that every father in America and around the world does not have to face these same problems every day in their own homes or this world is certainly on it's last legs for sure).

WOWZERS,
     I watched the Book of Daniel Friday but only saw the second half as I wasn't aware it was a 2-hour movie the first time out.  BUT, I took notes and still had 5 pages of notes when the second half was over.  I have to tell you that I have never seen a TV sitcom with so much innuendos towards sex, talk about sex, talk about homosexuality, drugs, lesbianism, total disregard for morals of any kind, even by the Bishops of the Church themselves.  Let's take a look at some of the notes I took.

At a Sunday dinner which was held at the Priest's house, the family openly talked about sexual matters like it was everyday life discussions.  The mother of the priest who is also the wife of the Bishop has Alzheimer's and was really off the wall with some stuff but the most amazing line they allowed her to speak was at the dinner table when she said about her husband, "He's the man who is always showing me his pen**."  This is totally uncalled for as they could just have easily used a different scenario to show her dementia without having it be sexual. Open discussion about the gay and lesbian lifestyle were nothing at all.

Everyone seemed to always have an alcoholic drink in their hands throughout the show.  The Bishops included.  Promoting drinking as a everyday part of a families lifestyle is not the typical lifestyle in my opinion.

When Daniel ask Jesus if there was anything He could do for his mother, Jesus answered by saying, "You know it doesn't work like that."  My question here is IF this was supposed to be the Jesus of the Bible, I could well imagine Jesus saying something like, "Because of your faith, your mother will be healed."  that is the Jesus in my Bible, but not according to the Book of Daniel.  The Jesus displayed in the television show was nothing like the Jesus of the Bible.

At one point, Jesus said something to Daniel that was supposed to be funny and Daniel turned away and smirked, "Very Funny". Jesus reacted by saying, "I thought it was funny", with a big grin on his face.  This type of activity shows complete disregard and disrespect for the Holiness of Jesus.

At one stage of the movie a couple came to Daniel for marriage counseling as they were on the verge of getting married.  While the couple was sitting waiting for Daniel, the Lady Bishop (I don't remember her name), was badmouthing about someone and saying all types of derogatory remarks about them and the couple waiting could hear her plain as day.  The Bishop never gave any impression of apologizing to the couple at all.

The lady Bishop ask Daniel for one of his headache pills and Daniel told her that they were not the normal garden variety headache pill.  The lady Bishop said something to the effect, "I went through the sixties, I don't think you can bring me down.  Daniel explained that the pills had a lot of codeine in them and she said, "I like codeine."

The lady Bishop like the pills so well she came back to Daniel late on and ask for more. When Daniel started to give her one, she said to give her more than just one and laughed.

Then Daniel tells her to not take too many pills as they can be hard on the liver.  The lady Bishop replies, "So can Brandy but at my age how much more damage can I cause."

I guess pill popping and drinking is allowed by the Bishops of the Episcopal church but just not in my Bible or my Life!

Daniel's son gets caught in his girlfriends bedroom and jumps out the window onto a tree limb trying to escape and the limb breaks and he hurts his arm.  The hospital gives him pain pills,  but he says no way so Daniel says, hey, give them to me,.... you might want them later and puts them into his pants pocket.  You must realize here that Daniel is hooked on pills so in reality he is taking them for himself not his son.

The mother of the girlfriend informs the boy and his mother that her daughter is not allowed to see the boy again.  Keep in mind that the boy is an oriental as he is adopted by Daniels family.  When the boys mother ask why, the girls mothers says, "I have no intention of watching little oriental grandchildren running around my Christmas tree".  A blatant display of racism for sure.

When the choir was practicing at the Church, the choir director tells them to take a break but then says, "NO smoking".  What is that all about?

Right inside the church, the children are joking about homosexuality and laughing and teasing.

The couple at the marriage counseling openly talk about the girl having to smoke pot before she can have sex with her fiancé. Daniel doesn't tell them that sex outside of marriage is a sin nor does he tell them that smoking pot is against the law and against the way the Lord would want them to treat their bodies therefore making it a sin also.  The only thing he tells her is that she should not smoke pot when she is trying to talk to her fiancé because it might be better if she had a clear head.  The reason Daniel does not condemn them for the drug use is because the screen flashes back to Daniel sitting in his car and popping pills.

As part of the counseling session, Daniel tells the couple that he and his wife schedule every Friday night for sex.  The problem here is that this should never have been discussed in the first place.  He is breaking a vow to his wife by discussing their life in this manner.

Part of the plot of the story is that millions of building funds have disappeared and Daniel doesn't know where it went.  At one part in the show, when Daniel finds out his son is a homosexual, he acts upset and when ask about it, he says, he wasn't upset about his son being gay, he is upset about the missing money.  Looks to me like his priorities are all screwed up.  Even though this sure does fit in with the way churches are acting today doesn't it.

Daniel tells his son, "We have an openly Gay Bishop in New Hampshire for God's sake.  It's about time we stumbled into the 21st century." Once again, this is just an attempt to get everyone to accept the gay lifestyle as natural instead of a sin like the Lord said it is!

At one point in the show, Daniels father who is a Bishop and the lady Bishop are at the lady Bishops house and with a drink in both their hands, Daniels father tells her he does not feel guilty and ask the lady Bishop why don't they get married.  I took from all that was going on that the two of them must be having an affair with his wife being so bad off with Alzheimer's and all.

Another unnecessary scene is where Daniel and his wife are in bed and you can tell that they have just finished making love.  They are talking about something and his wife says, "Honey, I'm gonna need something more."  Daniel laughs and says, "Well, you're gonna have to wait a few minutes, I'm not 20 anymore."  This is just disgusting.  To show everyday men and women, husbands and wife in bed is certainly unacceptable but to show a supposed man of God in bed and talking that way is an absolute blasphemy towards God.

Daniels while still in bed with wife, mentions about mortgaging the house.  His wife ask what for?  Daniel jokingly says, "I have a girlfriend on the side and she needs a boob job" and laughs.  What kind of talk is this for a Minister of the Gospel to be portrayed on national television.

The young couple who were in for counseling about getting married, have come back to Daniels office at the church and they proceed to tell him that they have decided not to get married.  They have discovered through counseling that the thing they were both afraid of was getting married and therefore decided not to get married but to just continue to live together. They then inform Daniel that they are so happy with the decision and their lives and they owe it all to Daniel and his counseling.  Isn't that just great! 

I have to tell you that I will not be watching the show next week!

If you consider your Christian walk to be of value to you, please contact your local NBC television station and express your dislike of this type of programming.  We do pray this article has been of help to you.

Blessings,
Robert Wise