Since E!’s The Soup premiered a few years back, I’ve enjoyed watching thirty-something comic Joel McHale give Hollywood stars slaps-upside-the-head for being idiots. I’ve recently gotten into Community, a comedy on NBC about a disbarred lawyer who has to return to community college to get his degree, starring McHale. Like everywhere else, the issue of religious conflict has popped up here, too.
Spoiler alert: In several episodes, Shirley (Yvette Nicole Brown), a fervently Christian single mother, tries to force Christian doctrine down her classmates’ throats. The suave Jeff (McHale) just smirks and shrugs; the indignant feminist Britta (Gillian Jacobs) proclaims her atheism; the sweet schoolgirl Annie (Alison Brie) cheerily says she’s Jewish; the quirky old dude (Chevy Chase) mutters about how he’s reaching the next level in his Buddhist-esque cult; Troy (Donald Glover) denounces blood transfusions as a Jehovah’s Witness; and Abed (Danny Pudi) brings in traditional Muslim dishes to Shirley’s Christmas party.
When all of these religions come together, conflict erupts, just like it would in real life. When Shirley gives everyone bracelets asking “What Would Baby Jesus Do?” and puts manger scenes up in the library, few object outright. Annie nods and smiles when Shirley shoves her menorah behind the Christmas tree. If that were me, I’d be seething at someone’s attempt to put my religious beliefs in the background. I’d be there, hands on hips, debating the historical merit of Jesus while displaying my menorah proud and center.
Of course, this is not a political conflict, but a TV show. But, at the same time, it brings up a larger point: how should Jews handle it when Christians, or people of any other faith, try to persuade us of their religion’s “correctness”? Should we nod and smile? Or should we engage in a fierce debate, trying to convince someone who will never be persuaded that we’re in the right?
I think there’s a happy medium. My vociferous approach is not the right way to handle the situation. Everyone would just end up miffed and ruin the holiday season. A religious dialogue can have its place, but, in the context of a friendship, it might become too heated and can ruin emotional bonds. Is it worth it to make your point if your friends will never feel the same way? At the same time, don’t be passive and just let someone assert themselves in a declaration that their way is the right way. Ask them to be more considerate.
On a much smaller level, this situation is the same one that Israel faces in the Middle East. How do they respond when others insist that their way of life is the right way to do it? The stakes are so much higher here, but Israel has to take a moderate possession. It shouldn’t alienate whatever allies it has by standing there and shrieking that the other is wrong, but nor should it acquiesce to others pushing it around. The middle ground is the way to go, whether in a sitcom or in real life. Community presents an important lesson for us to learn in any situation.
