Questioning the Gods: How TV's Tackling Belief and Religion

Religious depiction has often toed a cautious Touched by an Angel or 7th Heaven line, mostly out of fear of disrespecting or upsetting viewers that are also believers. But the new wave of television coming this spring is slated to bring that conversation, loudly, to the forefront. Returning series like The Leftovers, and the scienced-up religion behind the nefarious baddies of BBC America's Orphan Black (Neolution) will be joined by a new class of rabblerousers, American Gods and Handmaid's Tale, which take the look at belief and religion forward in their depiction of belief on TV. Where The Leftovers and Orphan Black ruminate on the idea of evangelism and the power of faith, Starz's American Gods and Hulu's Handmaid's Tale look at what happens when you weaponize that power to not only control the believers, but the social mechanics of the world itself.