God and television have been together from the start—from the theologically explicit “Lamp Unto My Feet” and “Life Is Worth Living” to the I-can-walk-again schmaltz of “Highway to Heaven” and “Touched By an Angel.” Small Screen, Big Picture, however, concentrates on more recent and complex examples of the partnership. This rich and compelling book describes the remarkable flowering of religious themes in the high-quality television melodramas of the new century. It discusses with both sanity and intelligence two subjects that are often discussed with neither. —Robert Thompson, Professor of Television and Popular Culture, Syracuse University
DAVID: I really like the way you define spirituality in your book. Regular readers of ReadTheSpirit know that we frequently describe “spirituality” as answering three questions: Why should I climb out of bed in the morning? How can I make it through another stressful day? And, at the end of the day, did anything I do really matter? And we’ve explained to readers that these really are questions that go back through Tolstoy and a host of other writers to the ancient questions about life. You’ve got a nearly identical definition of spirituality.
DIANE: To me, the most basic spiritual questions are: What am I doing here? How can I make a difference? And, what happens when I die? Those three questions are a great starting point for getting a discussion going in your small group about “Battlestar Galactica” or “Sopranos” or many of these other series. Diane Winston in an interview with ReadtheSpirit.com ...more
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