So we all know that the only episode Lisa was absent in was "The First Time" due to the conflicting message with her own personal/religious beliefs. BUT, why didn't she have a problem acting as a God hating borderline atheist in "Best Sister"? I feel like it's a considerably bigger deal to portray a character who claims people are "gullible" for believing in God and says that "God is a legend" then to simply be in an episode where someone has premarital sex...

It is strange now that I think about it.

By the end of the two part episode Blair seemed to have a change of heart. This is probably why Lisa was okay with it.

The episode didn't present that attitude in a positive light, which is why she might not have had a problem with it.

The episode didn't present that attitude in a positive light, which is why she might not have had a problem with it.
That's true, too.

So we all know that the only episode Lisa was absent in was "The First Time" due to the conflicting message with her own personal/religious beliefs. BUT, why didn't she have a problem acting as a God hating borderline atheist in "Best Sister"? I feel like it's a considerably bigger deal to portray a character who claims people are "gullible" for believing in God and says that "God is a legend" then to simply be in an episode where someone has premarital sex...
A "God-hating atheist"????!!!!:eek: :confused: :mad: Apparently you hadn't really watched the episode as to WHY she was angry at God and felt he was dead. Her parents had gotten a divorce. Blair prayed fervently that it would be avoided. When it didn't happen, she was angry with God. She felt she lost faith, that he died. It was a deeply painful experience. One that would make people question God intensely. I have been thinking a lot about this episode and how it may parallel Lisa's early life, and am seriously thinking that she was NOT simply "acting". This was simply not "in character", this was her. The real Lisa. Hurt. You could not mistake the pain, the emotion in her voice. Blair was becoming Lisa, and Lisa was becoming Blair.
As I recall, Lisa's parents divorced, I am assuming, around that date she gave in the episode, in 1973. This is significant, as she also became a born again Christian that same year, at the age of ten, a profoundly devoted one, deeply passionate about it, at that. Perhaps becoming a Christian was her way of coping with divorce. Blair was probably still too devastated to acknowlege God's purposes in this.


Welcome to the real world, people. Try reading the Book of Job, and read about a guy in real soul-wrenching circumstances and his struggle with trying to understand God.

I did preface my claim by saying "Borderline" and regardless of what reasoning she had, a "deeply painful experience" can easily make someone a borderline God hating atheist. And if I remember correctly Lisa was a born again christian at a young age while she was in Church and claimed that the holy spirit touched her and made her begin balling in the middle of mass (according to her book The Facts of Life and other lessons my father taught me). I read the book years ago, but I don't remember Lisa at that time in her life ever describing such feelings of hurt towards God when she was a born again Christian at this time.

I did preface my claim by saying "Borderline" and regardless of what reasoning she had, a "deeply painful experience" can easily make someone a borderline God hating atheist. And if I remember correctly Lisa was a born again christian at a young age while she was in Church and claimed that the holy spirit touched her and made her begin balling in the middle of mass (according to her book The Facts of Life and other lessons my father taught me). I read the book years ago, but I don't remember Lisa at that time in her life ever describing such feelings of hurt towards God when she was a born again Christian at this time.
Oh, you'd be surprised. After what I've heard Lisa say in her presentations and in her books, she has a LOT of pain, I've read about such things in her book about Adult Friendships. She even questioned God when she felt she was getting married in a hurry over 20 years ago when it was too much out her control. Was God a capricious, cruel God? she agonized to herself. She'll admit she has had her struggles with God. It's part of the Christian experience. I have gone through that all year myself. Painful, confusing times. But God is faithful.

Oh, you'd be surprised. After what I've heard Lisa say in her presentations and in her books, she has a LOT of pain, I've read about such things in her book about Adult Friendships. She even questioned God when she felt she was getting married in a hurry over 20 years ago when it was too much out her control. Was God a capricious, cruel God? she agonized to herself. She'll admit she has had her struggles with God. It's part of the Christian experience. I have gone through that all year myself. Painful, confusing times. But God is faithful.
Amen!

So we all know that the only episode Lisa was absent in was "The First Time" due to the conflicting message with her own personal/religious beliefs. BUT, why didn't she have a problem acting as a God hating borderline atheist in "Best Sister"? I feel like it's a considerably bigger deal to portray a character who claims people are "gullible" for believing in God and says that "God is a legend" then to simply be in an episode where someone has premarital sex...
I have great respect for Lisa Whelchel. She seems like a nice person. She was a great actress, and probably would have continued to be had she not left the industry. However, to answer your question, "The First Time" dealt with improper sexual conduct, "Best Sister" did not. To hear many Republicans tell it, you would think G*d only cares about fornication and homosexuality. BTW, I am a Jew.

it's called acting, look it up.

Please don't hate on Lisa. She is a saint. I met her once and she is a SAINT. It forever changed my life. Lisa of Arc is my nickname for her.

it's called acting, look it up.
For the most part, I agree with you. Objectively speaking, we know that Lisa Whelchel does not agree however. I do not believe I am "hating" on Lisa Whelchel.

For the most part, I agree with you. Objectively speaking, we know that Lisa Whelchel does not agree however. I do not believe I am "hating" on Lisa Whelchel.
Do you think that it is beyond the realm of possibility that Lisa could
identify, however, with people who have problems with their faith? That she herself may have undergone times and periods of intense turmoil and questioning?