Was thrilled to meet and talk to Krisitn Chenoweth last summer at an event hosted by actress Rosario Dawson in LA. Kristin is super friendly and warm, not the stereotype Hollywood pushes about successful Broadway stars. Tonight was the series premiere of ABC's TV show 'GCB' (after the book entitled 'Good Christian B*tches') starring Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth, who played Glenda, the Good Witch in the original cast of Broadway’s Wicked, my favorite musical! Chenoweth is open about her Christian faith; she also doesn’t shy away from voicing her disagreements with certain Christian-identified individuals who militantly promote ignorance and fear, such as last fall when Chenoweth was interviewed by CNN’s Piers Morgan and she publicly opposed Michelle Bachman’s phobic rhetoric. That's right, on top of being a talented singer and actress with numerous awards, she is a socially conscious and responsible advocate who promotes change towards more accepting and harmonious ideals , including the change needed by some in organized religion. Whether she's being interviewed on TV or the red carpet, or giving quotes to journalists, she always shares her beliefs that diversity in human beings should be celebrated and accepted, not feared, bullied or condemned. This is why Kristin Chenoweth is absolutely perfect to star in GCB, a show that will no doubt bring the truth to light about those who misrepresent and misuse Christianity.
Though it’s pretty simple ideals to ‘live and let live’ and ‘love thy neighbor’ and ‘diversity is the spice of life’, some critics of GCB claim “confusion” as to why any Christian would be a fan of a show (let alone star in one) that brings out the skeletons in the Church’s closet. It’s unfortunate that some of these critics have been misled to their state of “confusion” and can’t seem to come back to the light, and I pray intuition and warmth finds and awakens them. Yet GCB's confrontational message is wholeheartedly welcomed by many Christians because we refuse to co-sign fear-mongering, oppression of diversity in human beings, attacks against a woman’s right to govern her own body and health and other items which a hostile fraction of self-proclaimed Christians are pushing.
It’s 2012 (thank God) and strong oceans of enlightenment and open-mindedness are flooding the collective human consciousness in this country and around the world, causing more and more to reject what we find to be misinterpretations (if not blatant rewrites and patriarchal spins) of Jesus’ authentic and universal message of neighborly compassion, selflessness and forgiveness. It hurts, embarrasses and alienates many of us who appreciate Jesus' words of compassion as we witness some people who hijack Christianity as a weapon for messages of intolerance, ambition stemmed from greed and power, and/or narrow and mean-spirited ideas of how to treat those in the universal human-being congregation who were born different.
I disagree with the ridiculous propaganda pushed by some media outlets that says GCB’s premise encourages “hate and ridicule on Christians”. Truth be told, it’s actually the other way around. The intention of the show (apart from entertaining us with laughter and drama) is to unveil how contradictory it is when one identifies as Christian, yet mistreats, or even outcasts, people that they either dislike, envy or can’t (or refuse) to understand. The portrayal of some of GCB’s characters tonight shined a much needed light on hypocrisy such as when some of the show’s characters stood on self-righteous soap boxes with “more Christian than thou” comments, yet moments later lied, cheated, stole, bullied and a string of other actions which they had just condemned. Personally, as a Christian I wasn’t offended because I can testify that my whole life I have witnessed people firsthand who mirrored the GCB ladies' duplicity.
I admire Kristin Chenoweth’s courage to be in a show where the premise will attract judgments and personal attacks from fellow Christians, yet I think she must know there are many Christians who feel as she does about acceptance and openness. I also appreciate her integrity, as there are many professionals in the entertainment industry who feel similar as her, but won’t admit it publicly for fear of losing not just fans, but career opportunities and financial gain.
The show’s billboards have the following quote: “Love Thy Neighbor”. Yes, this action of “loving your neighbors” is precisely what I feel GCB has the potential to inspire towards and within certain Christians who have been misguided, except it will be a tough kind of love which holds a mirror up to their faces in hopes that they will realize that if it’s not unconditional love they are preaching or following, then it’s really not authentic love at all.
