Martin Luther vs. Desperate Housewives

A few weeks ago, there was a distinct pattern in our home.  After the kids were in bed and asleep by about 8:30, my wife would be watching DVDs of the TV series Desperate Housewives, and I would read about Christianity. My reading is from various sources but focused on a book about the history of Protestantism which features a somewhat menacing picture of Martin Luther on the cover; besides this, when I first started reading the book, she would ask me questions about some themes, which usually lead back to Martin Luther (or sometimes John Calvin).  Hence my wife refered to my reading as “Martin Luther” – for example, when we went to bed, she’d ask me, “So, what does Martin Luther say today?”

 

Our evening activities had thus become a contrast of Desperate Housewives and Martin Luther.  Thinking about this contrast, I’ve come to an important conclusion:

If Desperate Housewives had existed during the 16th Century, the Reformation would not have happened.

 

Here are the reasons why:

1. If Martin Luther had seen the women and men interact in this series, he probably would have been afraid to marry, and would have pointedly decided to remain in good status with the existing church simply to stay within the safe bounds of celibacy, regardless of all the perceived deficiencies of that system.
2. Luther, Calvin and the others could have attacked moral deficiencies of the culture represented in the series rather than those of the medieval church.
3. Those looking for a a place to apply purer forms of Reason could’ve used it to analyse characters and plots, rather than the Holy Scriptures.
4. Viewers would also have realized that grown, educated adults are incapable of “rational” living, thus rejecting the proposal that all are capable to interpret the Bible for themselves, and perhaps even rejecting pure reason as a viable approach to understanding.
5. The Reformers would’ve seen some of the long-term results of “de-sacralization” of the physical world and abandoned their agendas of iconoclasm and re-interpretation of True Presence and the Eucharist (Holy Communion.) 
6. Most importantly, if Luther, Calvin,Zwingli, Grebel and any of the others had seen this series, they simply would’ve become too addicted to spend any time on the agendas of reform, restoration or revolution.  Upon conclusion, they probably would’ve sought out some other T.V. series with similarly addictive qualities to fill their time.  (I find Desperate Housewives draws me in only a little, but the series Rome is much more addictive; most people I know, however, become very addicted to the first series.)

 

So, what would you choose – the Reformation or Desperate Housewives?