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Eminentoes
Charlie Sheen Redeemed
On closer inspection, Two and Half Men co-star Angus Jones’ idea of “filth” may leave something to be desired.
If you thought Charlie Sheen’s cocaine-induced antics were out of this world, wait until you meet Sheen’s other “half.”
Since 2003 Angus Jones has been better known as Jake Harper, his character in the hit television sitcom Two and a Half Men. The role has made Jones a multi-millionaire, but his newfound faith has led Jones to reconsider his riches.
Earlier this week a video surfaced of Jones in a testimonial denouncing the show that made him millions. “Jake from Two and a Half Men means nothing,” he says as he pleads with viewers to stop watching “filth.” Cue the media circus.
Once the video went viral, Christianity Today published an interview where Jones admits to struggling with the show’s “very inappropriate themes” and even says he’s a “paid hypocrite.” Jones also tells the interviewer that he’d rather be an organic farmer for the homeless. Bless his bleeding heart!
In another testimonial, this time for The Adventist Channel, a Stepford-like interviewer takes Jones through his faith journey as if it were an infomercial. Jones stammers his way through some church-shopping in what he calls his “valley of decision.” Jones was “looking for a church with a lot of fire.”
He settled on the “friendliest church in San Fernando Valley,” Valley Crossroads Seventh-day Adventist Church. The pastor’s messages, Jones says, are “tailor-made” for him. The Adventist Bible studies make “so much more sense” than anything else he’s studied. The people of Valley Crossroads are “so loving, so accepting.”
Perhaps Angus Jones should have stayed in his “valley of decision” a little longer.
The first Seventh-day Adventists were known as Millerites because they followed William Miller, a 19th century Baptist obsessed with Biblical prophecies. Miller was especially convinced that the end of the world was to be on October 22, 1844. Needless to say, a “Great Disappointment” arrived and the Millerites split up. Ellen and James White led the group that Angus Jones would later join.
Ellen White developed an eschatology frankly too complex and bizarre to go into here, but just know that the Adventists are still rather gripped by the Book of Revelation, insist on Saturday as the Sabbath, and believe the Apocalypse is “imminent.” No wonder Jones told The Adventist Channel that he regularly trains with a group called End Times Like These Ministries. How Branch Davidian of him.
While this all may not seem like mainstream Christianity, it is “far from a cult,” Christopher Hudson told The Daily. Hudson is the man behind Jones’s Forerunner Chronicles testimony and has some YouTube videos of his own. Hudson’s ministry is dedicated to the “three fold message of Revelation 14:6-12” which, according to Hudson, encourages “mankind to shun the worship system of the first beast of Revelation 13:1-9, which is a prophetic symbol of the Roman Catholic Church.”
Whoops. Maybe Jones’s Adventist journey hasn’t gotten to that part yet. Or maybe it has. In Jones’s testimony, he admits to watching other Forerunner videos and exclaims, “All the information is so great!” Jones says to Hudson. “Your videos have no doubt been a blessing to me.”
The Huffington Post’s Cavan Sieczkowski began tortuous work of actually watching the rest of these videos. Sieczkowski found some real gems: Jay-Z is a Freemason and his albums are a part of some Satanic plot. Obamacare “embodies” Adolf Hitler’s healthcare plan. New Yorkers devastated by Hurricane Sandy may soon be forced to cannibalize their babies.
What about the Roman Catholic Church? Unholy. The Pope? Whore. The Vatican? A Red Light District for politicians. Little old Jesuits? Savages.
All this because the Pope celebrates Mass on Sunday?
Not exactly the language all Seventh-day Adventists would use, but even the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists states it “cannot erase or ignore the historical record of serious intolerance and even persecution on the part of the Roman Catholic Church.” Ultimately, Adventists are “convinced of the validity of [their] prophetic views” where Catholics will “align themselves with the forces in opposition to God and to the Sabbath.”
Maybe Jones’s friends at Valley Crossroads are “so loving, so accepting” — at least until they learn you sleep in on Saturdays.
About the Author
Nicholas G. Hahn III is deputy editor of RealClearReligion.org. Follow him on Twitter @NGHahn3.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (39) | Leave a comment
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Appleby| 11.29.12 @ 7:02AM
The guy is a child, for heavens sake. I got swept up in the Mormon church at the same age, because they had an on-campus "house" where young people were welcomed and could "hang out" and people didn't drink, do drugs, curse or talk endlessly about Vietnam and sex ... and because I was 3,000 miles from home and had left most of my friends behind. It took me three years to find out what Mormons really believed and, since I have a pretty good background in theology due to attending Bible College and hanging out with people who could read the Bible in its original autograph, I soon found that the Mormons either didn't know these things or brushed them off...and I knew enough to get the heck out of there and back to Christianity. And by the way, it's pretty rare these days to find an authentic Christian church where the people are friendly to strangers. Maybe if the local Catholic church had been kinder to this kid, he wouldn't have gone astray.
SUBVET| 11.29.12 @ 11:20AM
Try.........Church at Rocky Peak.....Chatsworth CA.
Rhoetus| 12.2.12 @ 10:46PM
It's Stony Point?
Peppermint Tea | 11.29.12 @ 8:49AM
Nick, I reject the tone of this article, which seems to be that "religions are crazy, except mine" (see Appleby above), and that if Jones rejects the sex-cheapening messages of a sitcom, he is somehow anti-money; hence an idiot.
Jones = Charlie Sheen? Really? Sheen had his harem of sex goddesses and criticized the show for not bowing to his epic genius and manliness. Jones was appreciative of his fellow workers; he just does like the message anymore. Most adults would agree. Probably half of the workers on the show would agree.
frino| 11.29.12 @ 9:02AM
Tea party gotsta sign dat boy up right now. He be Senator candidate fo sure.
Bob Grant| 11.29.12 @ 5:02PM
You're breaking my heart Frino!
Louis Jenkins| 11.29.12 @ 9:16AM
I resent the tone of the article, Mr. Nicholas G. Hahn, the III. My spouse is a 7th Day Adventist, so you tread on unsteady ground. The congregation is an accepting body of worshippers, and to claim that it is a weird cult is completely off key. Having attended some of the worship services I find they are closer to real life than many of Christian faiths. "Ohhh, they go to church on Saturday!" In fact, Saturday is the proper day of worship. Go do some reading, and yes, they've had some shakey dealings about 175 years ago. But then so have many of the current faiths. I bet you accept Islam as a bonafide religion too.
Stkman| 11.29.12 @ 11:02AM
Wow, what a hateful column. Here you have a 19 yr old trying to find some answers for his life. He isn't looking for drugs, he isn't lashing out at anyone, he's just looking for some meaning in his life. He finds something that seems to speak to him and the author of this column, like so many written about this subject become venomous towards Angus Jones decision.
So Nick, how screwed up were you at 19? Looking at your picture I can tell you aren't much more than 19 now. Instead of bashing Angus Jones and a peaceful religion, you should be praising him for speaking out against all the trash Hollywood dumps in our living rooms every night.
I for one support Angus Jones. He should fulfill his contract to Two and half Men and then quit the show if he means what he says. I for one hope he does. I wish some of the folks in Hollywood would stand up for him and take a stand against all the trash and filth that Hollywood puts out there. We wonder why some peple in the world hate us, well, Angus Jones has pointed out a big part of it. Too bad you fail to see the real story Mr. Hahn. The real story is that Angus Jones is right.
bedazzled| 11.29.12 @ 11:10AM
I am really amazed to find an article with this tone in the Spectator. It sounds more like something you would read on HuffPo or Slate.
I am not a Seventh Day Adventist, but I find your disdain for them offputting. So they have church on Saturday? How wierd! So do Jewish people. He calls the Catholic Church unholy? Wow! Nobody's ever done that before, except perhaps the Founder of the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther who called the Pope the Antichrist.
So William Miller wrongly thought that Christ would return in 1844? Many medieval Catholics wrongly believed that Christ would return in the year 1,000.
The point I am trying to make is that your comments do not just disparage this young man, but show a deep antipathy for religious belief generally. You see his sincere beliefs as bizzare and dangerous, but the Adventist movement, while not mainstream, has not proven to be a hotbed of radicalism in its history of over 150 years. Its people live normal happy, healthy lives. And, while I do no subscribe to their theology, I do not appreciate religion bashing. People often find the beliefs of other religious groups strange or incoherent, just as many of us find certain secular beliefs strange and incoherent, but unless someone is acting out in a way that is destructive to themselves or others, they have a right to their beliefs.
Denver Todd| 11.29.12 @ 11:20AM
In other comments I see some very common arguments about the validity of the SDA church, and it goes something like this: SDA is good because I have a relative who is one.
Another discourse goes like this: SDA is a cult. No it isn't. Yes it is. No it isn't. For Mormonism, the argument goes like this: We are Christians. No you aren't. Yes we are. No you aren't.
What I see is a very common practice among celebrities with newfound faith: not acting wisely. Jones should quit the show if he doesn't believe in it. Otherwise, he should keep his mouth shut until he knows his faith better.
Daniel| 11.29.12 @ 11:20AM
This article is beneath the dignity of this website. It is religious hatred and intolerance and better suited to MSNBC and the vile rantings of Al Sharpton.
Stkman| 11.29.12 @ 11:35AM
Mr. Hahn,
i just noticed that your title is "deputy editor of RealClearReligion.org". I'm assuming that in your opinion the only "clear" religion is what you say it is. How can anyone who belives in free speecha dn freddom of religion write what you have published here. How can anyone with any sense of Christianity scold another for turning to God like Angus Jones is doing. Mr. Jones may be confused, he may be searching for answers, but he did one thing right. He turned to God for his answers and you have the audacity to critisize his choice. His choice was God, and you're critisizing his choice of God. What does that make you Mr. Hahn?
Stkman| 11.29.12 @ 11:36AM
It makes you trhe reason so many turn from God, thats what it makes you.
Dave Williams| 11.29.12 @ 12:09PM
"I used to be all messed up on drugs....now I'm all messed up on the Lord."
Pathetic.
TheJones| 11.29.12 @ 12:24PM
A young boy turns from alcohol and acid to the seventh-day-adventist church, and Nicholas G. Hahn thinks the seventh-day-adventist church is the bad thing.
Bravo, Nicky. Bravo. Your tolerance and kindness are amazing. I thought I was reading The American Spectator, not The American Heckler.
Drunken Sailor| 11.29.12 @ 12:52PM
Oh joy another religous hypocrite who claims his religion is right and how dare this young man find some morales.
Just because he doesn't share your brand of Christian religion does that mean he is wrong about the show being filth?
Not one little bit. He is dead on but what the hell, lets bash a young man for searching for what is right in life and lampoon his religion. I mean it's not like he accepted Christ as his saviour or anything is it?
Very Christian of you.
WRTolkas| 11.29.12 @ 1:11PM
Dear Mr. Hahn:
I was a member of a "Main Line" Church until the elders told my daughter to lie about an episode and all would be forgiven. During that incident, I was taking university classes at Andrews University. Part of my curriculum was eight hours of religious studies. I was impressed by the message of the SDA Church and my classmates that represented the church. After talking with my family, one Sabbath about 20-years ago we switched Churches and a few years later were baptized into the SDA Church.
For the Sabbath, I'll go toe-to-toe with you or anyone else about the sanctity of the True Sabbath.
I read your article. I have from your writing learned that you know nothing about the SDA Church except that which you read from Wikipedia.
And I must thank you for validating my belief that anyone with a III behind their name is descended from forebearers without imagination and are usually jerks.
dominic1955| 11.29.12 @ 2:15PM
Me thinks some folks here protest too much. If you look at all the asinine garbage SDAs (official and various sectarian offshoots) have put out about Catholicism, one little article that merely points this out ruffles too many feathers. It is good that the SDA has been pretty clear with what they believe, it is very respectable even if wrong.
What he says is true, if irritating to some folks. SDAism is a spin off of a spin off of the myriad sects that the Protestant Revolution spawned. If Sabbatarianism is right, then all of the Christian groups spawned from the revolt against the Catholic Church are wrong. However, much like the Mormon story, their "god" is pretty pathetic if he couldn't manage to keep something as important as Saturday Sabbath keeping going a few short decades after his death and resurrection. Then, seemingly magically, some random folks in 19th Century Awakened America like Miller and the Whites all of a sudden get it right! A folksy down home American Protestantism/Evangelicalism alloyed to some quaint and sanctimonious Jewish-inspired practices to set them apart. Add some golden tablets and a generous ignorance of history and we have a rather more familiar story.
As to Mr. Jones-he's young. Good thing for him that he's cleaned up a bit. Hopefully once the friendly high fades he'll do some more serious reading about Christianity.
David T| 11.29.12 @ 2:42PM
Exactly right on every point, dominic1955. And let's hope when the young Mr. Jones' high fades (as it will), that he does look deeper into the Christian faith, rather than walk away disillusioned.
Tafuna| 11.29.12 @ 3:53PM
This has got to be one of the worst columns I've ever seen at this website. Instead of criticizing this young man who now sees that the disgusting TV program on which he acts is disgusting, Hahm bashes him over theology. Mr. Hahm, please quit fussing over the speck in young Angus Jones' eye and worry over that log in yours.
Tafuna| 11.29.12 @ 3:55PM
Sorry, I misspelled Mr. Haln's name not once but twice-- even after previewing and checking my comment.
RCV| 11.29.12 @ 4:18PM
Thanks, Mr. Hahn, for a great piece.
Drunken Sailor| 11.29.12 @ 4:21PM
RCV,
You agree that the church is a cult or that the young man is foolish for searching for a morale compass and admitting the show is filth?
We usually disagree but you did not strike me as a religous bigot.
RCV| 11.30.12 @ 12:21PM
I'm not a religious bigot, and I have nothing against this paricular denomination, aside from their hateful attitude toward Catholics. I disdain the easy use of "cult" which is often used to disparage a different theology we disagree with (for example, Mormonism).
What annoys me about this particular guy is his utter hypoicrisy. He thinks the show is filth -- and it is
-- and yet he's happy to take the big bucks to continue participating in the filth, and telling the show's producers how grateful he is for the opportunity.
Chef Schnauzer| 11.29.12 @ 4:57PM
He's a kid trying to find his way. God Bless and Protect him on his journey. The show he is on is crap, but so is 98% of television. It took me 37 years - I hope it takes him far less. I'll look around my sphere if there is a young adult in a similar situation I'll try to help as a way of honoring Angus Jones' struggle. Peace.
Jane Chingo| 11.29.12 @ 5:35PM
The snark clinic called. They want to know how you escaped.
Occam's Tool| 11.29.12 @ 6:39PM
19 year old kid with some acting talent, trying to find his religious beliefs, not doing cocaine, meth, stealing, DWI'ing, or assaulting people. He gets screwed over in the Conservative Blog.
Meanwhile, on TAS, the epic of Kim Kardashian, who is most famous for a sex tape featuring her being sodomized (and enjoying it), no comment. Guy selling products on the internet featuring HIS DAUGHTER in compromising poses, no comment.
What is the matter with TAS? No wonder our asses were kicked in November.
John Osborn| 11.29.12 @ 11:04PM
I have been a Seventh-day Adventist all my life and this piece unfortunately paints everybody with one brush. There are skeletons in our church history (let me know if you have a denomination in mind who doesn't have those), but in my experience, people like Hudson are far outnumbered by more mainstream Adventists. Our church has let this kind of thinking thrive more than it should, so I think we deserve the bad PR to an extent, but it still seems unfortunate to see an entire group of people cast with the same broad brush. If you were to meet Adventists you'd find some people like Hudson, but I think you'd most of us pretty much like conservative Evangelicals who go to church on Saturday. We've been around for 160 years and that has produced a lot of different kinds of Christians all just trying to make sense of the universe and the faith of their forefather, like all of us.\
Finally the post is entirely wrong that we hate Sunday keepers. While it's true that our more traditional theology is the same as traditional Protestant theology regarding the RCC this does not mean hate, anymore than it's hateful toward Muslims to think Islam is a false religion. The idea that it's bigotry against a person to hate their religion is post-modern BS. We could both hate each others religions (FTR I don't hate Catholicism, but for the sake of discussion), and it means one of us is wrong, but it doesn't mean either one of us hates the other one.
Rhoetus| 12.2.12 @ 10:42PM
Thank you John, I was once a SDA.
Simon Templar| 11.30.12 @ 10:26AM
So, what is the point of this article? To discredit the young actor as a nut so therefore any of his criticisms are invalid?
I could give a crap about what he believes or does not believe, he has a first amendment right to do whatever in that regard.
Eye on the ball. Is the show trash, filthy, and immoral or is it not? Apparently it is OK to judge his religious beliefs but not the television industry, Hollywood, or Liberal television writers.
OT hit it the issue on right on its head?
No wonder our asses were kicked in November...
Rhoetus| 12.2.12 @ 10:40PM
The show is funny, get a grip. Sheen was never my role model & neither was Oliver "the commie" Stone.
montfort| 12.4.12 @ 6:27PM
The show is funny? Really? Oh, good grief.
I can't even imagine a level on which the show could be conceived of as funny. It seems sort of like a satire of comedies, where you have things that sort of sound like jokes, but they seem to be purposefully unfunny. OK. That's fine, but a whole half hour of it? How much of a freaking cynical hipster do you have to be to get entertainment out of a send up of classic American entertainment? It's like Calvin's snowman, Bourgeois Buffoon. "I'm making fun of the lowbrows who can't appreciate great art like this."
Or maybe it is meant to be funny. You have the kid with no personality. You can't relate to him in any way. You have the "sassy" housekeeper. She makes sarcastic comments, but there is no reason to care one way or the other if her character gets hit by a bus. The Charlie Sheen character had lots of sex, but so what? Is that supposed to be shocking or endearing or what? And there's the "nerdy" character who isn't nice enough to like and not mean enough to dislike.
Without reason to empathize with any of the characters, the show lacks any strong basis for comedy. You can have very shallow, stupid, not-quite-humor that reads as hipsterish anti-humor, but that's it.
There are videos online of the show without the laugh track. Without the cue for the trained seal reaction, it comes across as really dark and painfully awkward. See if you think it's actually funny and not just mind-destroying antitainment.
Rhoetus| 12.2.12 @ 10:36PM
This sordid article is an example why I no longer go to church with the Psalm singing hypocrites like brother Nicholas. God bless you Nick regardless of your narrow minded BS.
montfort| 12.4.12 @ 6:07PM
Good. You won't have to worry about singing hymns in Hell.
Rhoetus| 12.5.12 @ 8:15AM
That's all you can say? Pathetic.
montfort| 12.5.12 @ 11:32AM
Pathetic how? Your comment was lacked substance. I responded with an over the top response, which was every bit as inane as your original comment. See how that works?
Oh, what am I talking about? Of course you don't. You like Two and a Half Men.
montfort| 12.4.12 @ 6:06PM
I would remind all of the sophists here playing the, "un-Christian" card that Jesus had some pretty tough words for His critics, too.
Strongly disagreeing with somebody's religion is not bigotry. Nick goes through a list of questionable ideas that the SDAs -- and specifically, the church that Jones goes to -- have espoused.
There are plenty of non-religious folks spinning conspiracy theories about the Masons (albeit, probably not about Jay-Z and the Masons). We don't give the secular tin-foil-hatters a pass.
So, Catholic Nicholas Hahn has critical things to say about people who are virulently anti-Catholic. According to the niceness police, this means Nick is being a bigot because he actually pushes back. Oh, boo frickity hoo. Grow up, all of you.
joemack| 12.4.12 @ 7:25PM
SDA folks are fine. Don't get too bogged down in the anti Catholic stuff. They believe in Jesus as Savior of all, good enough for me.
Doubt any of us has it all right, hope we get the main point and not fight over the less important.
P.S. Julius Caesar could have twitter using Pontiff Maximus for his user name!
montfort| 12.5.12 @ 11:42AM
Oh, yes. Don't get bogged down in their bigotry. That's what I tell my Jewish friends about the Neo-Nazis. They're nice guys once you get to know them. Don't get bogged down in the anti-Semitism, guys!
P.S. Caesar Augustus could have used Son of God as his Twitter name.