ABC's 'GCB': More Christian Bashing on the Way?

On March 4, the new show “GCB” will premiere on ABC. The series is based on the book “Good Christian Bitches” by Kim Gatlin. The book and TV show are about a former mean girl who moves back to her hometown in Texas only to be the subject of gossip and backstabbing by Christian women. As a Christian woman, I can’t help but wonder what to expect from the show. To find out, I first looked into the source material.

The book’s official website features the tagline “For Heaven’s sake, don’t let God get in the way of a good story!” There is a picture of the cover featuring a large diamond-encrusted cross resting on rather impressive cleavage. The cover, title, and tagline make it seem as through Christianity is treated as simply an accessory to be used when it is convenient to the situation.

What is a “Good Christian Bitch,” anyway? I went took the web site’s quiz to see if I qualify, and I was asked such deep, probing questions as:

• Have you ever used the ribbon bookmark in your bible to tie back your hair?
• Have you ever gotten back in line to get a second helping of communion wine?
• Have you ever gone to church just to meet men?
• Have you ever mouthed your phone number to the choir director while the rest of the congregation was in the second verse of “How Great Thou Art?”
• Do you ever sit in the middle of the pew just so everyone on either side of you can see how much money you leave in the collection plate?
• Do you sometimes wear more revealing clothes to church than you would wear to a nightclub?

I was able to answer “no” to all of the fifteen questions and qualify as “Close to Sainthood.” Apparently, going to church for faith and fellowship rather than to impress others and hit on men now makes one a saint. These are the standards to which the author holds Christians.

---

Many of the book’s reviews suggested its attention-seeking title compensated for the mediocre content. Of course, it’s hard to believe such a book about any other religion would be accepted in the mainstream and result in a television show. When the author was asked about the title, she said that, after a difficult divorce, she was treated poorly.

“Some of the worst perpetrators,” she said “were women who held themselves up in the community as Christian women.” She goes on to say that a Christian woman is different from a GCB because “A GCB is a Christian woman who (makes mistakes) with intent when she’s not about to let her Christian walk get in the way of her worldly agenda.” Clearly the author doesn’t paint all Christian women with the same brush, but the title alone shows us which she chooses to focus on in her book.

I watched the available clips on the ABC site to see what I could expect from the show. It seemed like each clip had something that mocked Christianity. Several clips ended with the voice over telling us “we shall receive.” We saw a Bentley with a John 3:16 decal and a license plate reading “Holy One.” There were also such delightful quotes as, “Ladies, it is not appropriate to speak of such things on the phone. I’ll see you in church.” They’ll see each other in church and I’ll see them when the show premieres. I expect another mainstream Christian-mocking exercise that wouldn’t be accepted towards any other religion.

I’m going to watch, however, and I’ll let you know if I’m wrong. I hope I am.