The church according to Alan Ball

Alan Ball is the genius behind some of HBO's biggest hits. His credits include writer/produce of Six Feet Under and True Blood. If you haven't seen these shows - I apologize in advance. These are not "christian" shows. These are not even shows which can be viewed un-edited on basic cable TVs during daylight hours.

Six Feet Under follows a family of undertakers through the lens of the people they are burying. True Blood is about vampires.

I know, I know. It sounds pretty ridiculous, right? It's not. They are amazing shows - well written, filmed, acted, and produced pieces of art that reflect and shape our culture. I hope that my children study the impact Alan Ball left on the world.

I am absolutely fascinated by Alan Ball's treatment of Christianity. Ball is openly gay and grew up in the south. In the wealthy suburbs of Atlanta. Of any American experience - surely his would lead to open hostility to the church.

Let's take True Blood for example:

Yes, some characters are stock religious nuts. Terra's mother, Lettie May, makes Jesus look like a jerk sometimes. And, yet, she is at least a real example. She is a complicated person who would like to make Jesus and the Christian faith an integral part of her life and the lives of those around her. Which of us isn't conflicted ... dare I say, hypocritical ... sometimes?

The "Fellowship of the Sun" is a "church" based on the idea that all Christians should hate vampires. It's full of nuts - and not too loosely based on some televangelist ministries.

But the real surprise is the good and faithful Christians sprinkled throughout the story. There's an old country church in Bon Temps, LA which could hold it's own against any church in history.

The main characters grandmother is a faithful member. She is a loving, caring Christian who ministers to all around her. She raised her grandchildren after their parent's death. She risks the ire of the town to invite Vampire Bill to come and speak at the Bon Temps historical society which meets at the church.

Hoyt Fortenberry is a committed Christian. He stands up to his mother for not following the teachings of Jesus - he calls her out for hating everyone, including Methodists. In one recent scene, a main character, Jason, calls out Hoyt "You're a Christian Hoyt, it ain't cool to judge." after he makes a judgmental comment about a girl. Hoyt waited until he was in love before he had sex (the show hadn't really brought up the possibility of human/vampire marriage at that time) - and he even joined Jessica, his vampire girlfriend, in a synthetic blood substitute beverage to show his love for her. Sex wasn't the expression of love, it was an after effect.

Now, the genius of Alan Ball, and the thing that I appreciate most is that there is a dichotomy between these two groups. There are crazy, ridiculous religious figures and then there are the Christians. There are those who make a mockery out of religion and there are those who follow Christ.

Six Feet Under deals with death. Every episode begins with someone's death. The rest of the episode features the inter-personal relationships of the dysfunctional family who runs the funeral home - through the eyes and life experience of the recently deceased.

Death and religion go hand in hand. This series offered no sanitized views on faith - there was nothing palatable; but it showed real and frank discussion on the topic of religion.

Angry people who hate God for taking their loved ones.

Christian people who couldn't survive without their faith.

The main family, as dysfunctional as any in America, attends church together infrequently. The mother lives out Christianity by trying to find joy in a setting that lacks any sense of joy. Let's just say that they wouldn't play it on the Hallmark Channel. But - it's real. It's an honest look at a (more or less) American family interacting with religion. It isn't the core of who they are - it's a fringe issue in their lives. And, ultimately, viewers get the idea that they might be much happier if they re-prioritized a little bit.

I'm glad that Alan Ball has provided these three things; an honest view of church and how it relates to an average family, specific indicators of what a crazy religious setting would look and feel like, and a tone that creates genuine appreciation for the gentle faith of characters who lead full lives and also happen to be followers of Jesus Christ.

Thank you.