Firstly, I would like to discuss the amount of airtime religion receives on these shows. On Days of our Lives, attending regular church services, while it occurs, is not a common practice. Salem citizens are seen in church only during weddings, for confession, and during Christmas. Most Sunday mornings are spent cheating on spouses and plotting murders. Passions characters are shown to be present in church significantly more than their Days counterparts. Attending mass is common, and many Harmony residents simply go the church to pray or speak with Father Lonigan. This is done in addition to the weddings, confessions, and Christmas services attended.
On Days of our Lives, characters such as Alice Horton, Caroline Brady, and Hope Brady often pray or speak to God. They show a reverence toward religion, and are able to find peace and encourage others through their prayer. Other Salem residents like Belle Black-Kiriakis and Mimi Lockhart mention their beliefs in God frequently, usually when faced with a difficult situation that requires faith to overcome. Passions characters such as Pilar Lopez-Fitzgerald and Grace Bennett are constantly mentioning their religious morals. These women, through their frequent prayer, demonstrate their deep faith. Other characters including Whitney Russell and Theresa Lopez-Fitzgerald mention how they were "raised in the Church" and that they should be trying to live by the Church's teachings. It can even be said that nearly all Harmony residents have been shown to have a spiritual dimension, having expressed some belief in God.
Both soaps display a fairly generous quanity of religious content. It seems, however, that Passions has embedded a spiritual basis into the show, and for that, Passions wins this round.
Next, I will focus on the quality of the content and determine which soap's subject matter coincides most consistently with a religious perspective. Days of our Lives writers incorporate a broadly secular view into its characters, along with the inclusion of immoral deeds (ie. betrayal, brainwashing, murder, etc.). Passions, while most characters are not deeply religious, manages to show spirituality more often in its characters. However, Passions writers have been known to cross many lines in their scripts, shocking viewers with the issues tackled. The most prominent example of this is that of the supernatural element. During Kay's "deal with the Devil" story, she travelled to Hell, and consented to sell her soul to a witch. While Days of our Lives writers created a drawn-out storyline about the possession of Marlena, plots such as these are a rare occurrence.
More simply, Passions deals with issues that do not agree with religious thought more often than does Days of our Lives. Such plots include bizarre sex antics (ie. Julian Crane and Rebecca Hotchkiss' roleplaying), Simone's homosexuality, and gruesome acts of violence (ie. disturbing rape/assault scenes). Days of our Lives appears to operate within borders and does not go outside them. For example, sexuality is not shown in a peculiar or grotesque way, and in this way, would be favoured over Passions' portrayal in the religious community.
From a religious standpoint, the quality of Passions subject matter is poor. Days of our Lives, dealing with many of the standard soap topics, manages to subdue that which Passions exacebates.
Finally, there is the issue of consistency of good moral behaviour. Which soap opera displays more of it? As stated previously, some Passions characters are deeply spiritual. But exactly how uniform is their religious behaviour? For example, Pilar often expresses her faith in God and also frequently shows her children the way they should live - in the way of the Church. In a recent storyline, Pilar becomes enraged as she discovers her husband has had an affair with another woman. She is shown to frequently confront the mistress, sparing her from no nasty name. Pilar then returns to her spiritual self. Another example of this hypocrisy occurs in a very recent episode of Passions. Grace Bennett, having learned that her daughter Kay knew the truth about a plot to break up her marriage to Sam but said nothing, has this conversation with Kay:
Kay: Just calm down, Mom.
Grace: Calm down? I'm just getting started. Who are you? My first-born daughter was raised with love, was raised in the church. She knew the difference between right and wrong. But you sided with Ivy, my greatest enemy. You tore your own parents' marriage apart. You broke up your home. You cost your brother and sister their mother. You're sick!
Kay: I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I know what I did was horrible. There's no excuse.
Grace: Absolutely none. I mean, what kind of malicious little bitch stabs her own family in the back? What could make you so mean, so vindictive, so cruel?
Grace is referred to by Harmony citizens as a kind, compassionate woman. In fact in that very episode before Grace telephones her daughter, Kay's fiance, Fox attempts to assuage her fears that her mother will be wrathful by assuring Kay that "Grace is a forgiving woman." From this dialogue, would you deduce that Grace is the forgiving type? Through this example, Passions presents a hypocritical view of religion. Grace claims to live by the teachings of the Church (for example, compassion, grace, etc.) and asks her children to do the same. Grace's spirituality is also inconsistent; she is gentle and kind in everyday life but when she is betrayed, all morals go out the window. Using Grace and Pilar as examples, it can be said that while faith in God on Passions is unchanging, religious morals are not.
Days of our Lives characters like the Hortons and the Bradys, unlike the women of Passions, maintain both a strong hope in God and good morals when faced with adversity. Referring again to the story about the loss of J.T. Brady, a consistent faith in God is found. Caroline, attempting to console her grandson says:
"Oh Shawn, don't give up on yourself. Don't turn your back on your faith and your family. Hey, we're all here for you, and you just stand with us on this hardest of days and we'll all get through this together."
Shawn-D's uncle Mickey further attempts to restore faith through a Scripture/religious reading:
Mickey Horton: "If God is for us, who, then can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all. How will He not also graciously give us all things? For I am convinced that neither life nor death, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the the future nor any powers, neither height nor death nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God."
Maggie Horton(Shawn's aunt): Or the love of each other.
Julie Williams(Shawn's grandmother): Amen.
The Bradys and the Hortons could be very angry with God and with the individuals involved in this terrible mistake, however maintain their good morals. The preservation of religious morals is a visible pattern that emerges in Days of our Lives. Of course, like all soap operas, most characters do experience lapses in ethical behaviour, for example Hope's sustained anger with Chelsea Benson, the young girl having accidentally hit and killed Hope's son with a vehicle. In Hope's defense, such reactions are these are very normal, even for devout members of a religious faith. Also, Salem residents do not display the level of hypocrisy shown by Passions characters. When Grace confronts an enemy, for example, the exchange is very spiteful and vulgar, the polar opposite of how she, as a Christian woman, should act.
Days of our Lives!
