FAITHHACKER
| When "American Wedding" Means "Christian Ceremony" | |
 by AmyGuth, December 18, 2007
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Chuppah? Jewish wedding?: Is that 'Merican?I'm a writer, so I work out of my apartment. Most of the other residents of my building are 9-5ers, so I enjoy very quiet workdays. But, sometimes one of my upstairs neighbors is home during the day, too, and is so very noisy and so sometimes I turn on the television to cancel out her midday dance club or the late evening rendezvous she enjoys with her boyfriend (whom she praises during such rendezvous by first and last name).
Anyway, that's not the issue. I turned on the television for some white noise and landed on TLC. I don't remember what show made me stop on that channel, nor was I paying much attention to the programming all morning, but it was on and canceling out the noise from above, for the most part.
I make a point to take a moment and step away from my desk for lunch usually, or at least I try to most days, and as I did this, I got sucked into a show called A Wedding Story and was prompted to write a letter to the network. A Wedding Story is as the title would suggest-- the story of a couple getting the last-minute stuff together for their wedding and this particular episode was of Sarah (Christian from the US, her family is from the US) and Kamir (Muslim from the US, his family is from Morocco) who decided to have two destination weddings, one a protestant ceremony (which seemed pretty secular) and the other Muslim. During the early segment of the show, captions indicated the choice the couple made to have two weddings with the caption, "Two weddings. One Islamic. The other American."
Blink, blink. Blink.
Granted, I like to pick my battles, but this wording really bothered me because the implications were so culturally insensitive. Really, consider the implications. Is Islam a place? Is American a religion? Okay, I'm being a smart-ass, but really, this usage indicates that American is the same as Christian and, well, it isn't. With this wording, one has to assume TLC takes to position that "American wedding" excludes Jewish, Hindu, Muslim, Wiccan-- and any other wedding tradition that isn't Christian? It might be, and probably is, a simple matter of semantics, an oversight maybe, but for it to air, a lot of people within the network had to see it and either not be bothered by it, not care enough to speak up or not even realize what it implied. I doubt the bride and groom saw the show prior to it airing, and so I wonder, too, what the groom thought? He probably felt marginalized at the implication that Muslim didn't qualify as American. How could he not?
So, I wrote an email to the network. It was a calm, polite email that asked for a reply in the matter, so while the network probably doesn't give a shit about my letter and will never respond, if they do, you'll be the first to hear about it.
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Amy Guth is the author of Three Fallen Women, which she is perpetually schlepping around to pimp out. Between travels, she's hard at work on her next novels and is the woman with the pink-stripey hair usually starting up the horah at More... |
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AmberPasternak
here in the midwest (and
here in the midwest (and probably elsewhere) countless letters to the editor in the local papers remind us that america is a christian nation and those who have a problem with it should go back to wherever they came from. This time of year the letters are especially plentiful, because wherever these people go they are told "happy holidays" and not "merry christmas." one letter suggested those who don't celebrate christmas should volunteer to work that day. i would like to respond that i would if i could get my holy days off without using vacation time. just a tad sensitive about the american=christian assumption right now.
Uriah
That's why we aren't a nation
Ever wonder what the true definition of a nation is? A nation has a language, a religion, is a cohesive unit...We are NOT a nation. We are a country. We are a people. But we aren't really a nation.
I wish people would realize this. America is not a "Christian" anything. It is a country who's founders decided to do everything they could to uphold their moral values without impeding upon the rights of others to live by their own set of morals. Murder is illegal, but attending a Mosque isn't. There's a reason for that, and I wish more Americans would realize that.
Not doing so is simply, well, un-American.
AmyGuth
Lovely
Lovely comments, both of you, which I appreciate you both leaving. Amber,the last thought of your comment, in particular, though, had me at my desk going "Tell it, sister!"
Thank you both.
Jonathan
You're right, but
You are certainly correct factually, but why make a big deal out of it? Most Americans are Christian and the dominant culture is certainly Christian, right? The Protestant wedding probaly looked culturally familiar to 95% or more viewers and the Muslim wedding probably looked culturally unusual to that same group. Aren't we better off fighting bigger problems?
And, yes I say Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to my Christian co-workers and friends even though my holiday started on the 25th of Kislev, not December and my new year started several months ago.
As to the mid west letter writers, they're not that far off the mark. America was founded by men who believed in the God of the Bible in some form. I don't get why they think I should work on December 25 though. It is a national holiday
Jonathan
AmyGuth
You make a great point, but
You make a great point, but we aren't limited to fighting one thing. I'm the first to say we should all pick out battles, but I also think that if something bothers us, we should ask ourselves why, and then act accordingly. I don't think writing a letter and asking someone to think outside of social majorities for a moment is a waste.
Adam Shprintzen
I might also add that most
I might also add that most of our more prominent Founders were actually Diests, so the idea that we have a purely Xtian tradition in this country is a bit of a myth. In addition, Xmas didn't even really become a particularly celebrated holiday stateside until the late 19th century. It just seems we can't have it both ways; to claim that our country is inherently a melting pot, yet also harken back to an imagined Xtian dominant past, when it wasn't nearly that cut and dry.
Wesbilly
I think once again the "fringe community" is looking for...
legitamacy in the normal realm of our country. The normal realm being what is understood to be normal and good. I think by not associating the American = Christian wedding you can further legitimize your beliefs that same gender marriages is an acceptable thing. Why do you all search for ways to make your somewhat perverted beliefs "normal" is the Christian standard? Drop the jealously. Stop being haters. Marriage is a Christain Institution, it came from the bible. Invent your own, call it bumpinugliages or something. Same gender romances are not biblically sound. Just deal with it. Stop with the marriage envy thing. Come to grips.
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