Buffy The Vampire Slayer

UPN television program ridicules Christianity during recent episode.

The Parents Television Council (PTC) is going after the creators of the TV series, "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer," because of the episode that played during Holy Week. PTC said the show mocked the Christian faith.

The controversy is over a scene in which one of the characters dresses as a priest and makes fun of the act of communion - suggesting what would happen if someone at the Last Supper wanted white wine, instead of red.

"We were pretty outraged," said Melissa Caldwell, of the PTC. "In fact, the analyst that logs the show for us . . . was shaking, she was so upset about the content."

Caldwell said the anti-Christian bigotry was bad enough, but was made worse because it aired during Easter week.

"If you could imagine them doing a TV show where they were making fun of a rabbi in that sort of way during Passover or making fun of the Muslim faith during Ramadan - if it had been any other sort of religion, it would have been . . . decried," Caldwell said.

The episode also contains gruesome portions in which a character ends up seducing girls and then kills them.

"Hollywood is going down that slippery slope of immorality," said Dave Lukens of the Dove Foundation, which tracks entertainment fare from a Christian perspective.

Lukens added Christian parents have an important responsibility in all this.

"The Bible tells us that we have to live ’in this world’ but we don’t have to be a part of it in terms of dealing with all the filth," Lukens said.

That’s a heavy-duty challenge but an important one to meet.

PTC has complained to the show’s producers and the UPN network, which carries the series. So far, there has been no response from either.

TAKE ACTION Please contact your local UPN affiliate and let them know that you would like programming that does not scorn Christianity. Let them know that you are disappointed with their decision to air the episode of "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer" that aired during Holy Week. Ask them to be more careful in the future about what they choose to air, especially during such a sacred time. To find out who your local UPN affiliate is, please see the UPN affiliates page in our Legislative Action Center.

In addition, the Parents Television Council and the Dove Foundation maintain their own Web sites.

Focus on the Family also produces "Plugged In," a monthly newsletter that tracks popular entertainment. To find out more, see the "Plugged In" Web page.

(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the Family is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites’ content.)