The second season of American Horror Story, Asylum, is set in the 1960s and follows a number of mental patients who have been placed in an asylum run by the Catholic church.
The Catholic church's in relationship to the insane asylum goes way back [7]. Through this time period, nuns often took care of mentally ill patients, which was seen as a humanitarian effort. The treatments for mental illnesses were based on religious practices. So, already the asylum itself is a strong link to Christianity.
Some other huge themes throughout this season are the relationship between good vs. evil and possession. One of the main storylines of the season involves one of the nuns who help facilitate the asylum, Sister Mary Eunice, getting possessed by the devil and wreaking havoc patients. See the video clip below [8].
After having been possessed by the devil, Sister Mary begins to take on the role of the devil. At first, she is slyly mischievous, but soon after, becomes hostile, cruel and dangerous to anyone she encounters. She also denies the existence of God.
As mentioned before, the premise of this series revolves around a nun, someone who is highly involved with religion and specifically Christianity, being possessed by Satan. This, in turn, creates an ethical issue, with this issue being that the writers and creators of the show have put the role of the anti-christ, into a person of "holiness." Essentially, they have replaced the role of 'good' with the role of 'evil'. Below is another clip [9] in which Sister Mary expresses her newfound revolt against the church and against God. This scene shows Sister Mary taking off her ring and throwing it on a dresser. She also takes off her rosary and throws it at a cross hung on the wall. Uncoincidentally, she's also dressed in red.
So, the question posed here asks whether it is morally sound to put the role of stan into the appearance of a nun.
Again, for it's "anti-religious" content, the show faced flak from religious groups. An article posted on The Hollywood Reporter details the response from the Catholic League in which they condemn the show for its"anti-Catholic" content, calling the plot "sinister" [10].
It is important to note, however, that this point of view is coming from a highly conservative perspective and that this does not reflect the views of the majority of the viewership. In the article, Donohue of the Catholic League seems to be implying that the characters on the show themselves are the reasons that he is dissatisfied.
But, even if a television show does have "anti-religious" characters, does that mean the show is inherently bad? Does this mean the show in and of itself is explicitly anti-religious or anti-Christian?
Some conservative religious groups seem to think that the answers to those questions would be yes.