History Main / ArtisticLicenseReligion

* ''Series/{{MASH}}'': Definitely PlayedForLaughs in "Tuttle" when filling out the InventedIndividual's paperwork, in which Hawkeye lists "druid" for religion, then explains to Radar and Trapper "they worship trees." {{Druid}}s were the priests of the ancient Celtic religion, rather than a catch-all term for followers or the religion itself. Rather than worshipping trees, the Celts had an extensive pantheon of gods, with cognates to other Indo-European mythologies which were later syncretized by the Romans (or adopted as-is in the case of Epona).

* An episode of ''Series/GreysAnatomy'' revolved around an Orthodox Jewish girl who was unable to receive a heart valve transplant from a pig due to the animal not being kosher. However, under Jewish law, one is not only permitted but ''required'' to violate virtually any commandment if doing so is necessary to save a life. The episode drew swift criticism from Jewish religious leaders, with some even saying it endangered the lives of Jews who might avoid receiving medically necessary treatment due to the claims made in the episode. Additionally, while ''eating'' pig is forbidden (except in life-saving situations), thid does not apply to pig parts entering one's body by other methids, such as a transplant.

** In "Providence", Roger meets Father Alexandre Ferigault, who's a French Catholic priest held captive by the Mohawk because he offended them by not performing baptism on the son he fathered with a woman of their tribe. He tells Roger that is Catholic doctrine as he's not in a state of grace, due to violating his vows by conceiving the boy. This is wrong, though. Catholic doctrine says that a sacrament stays valid regardless of the spiritual state of the person who performs it because in their belief it's God, not the human being, who has done it. The opposite view, called Donatism, is actually condemned as a [[UsefulNotes/HeresiesAndHeretics heresy]] by the Church. Although it's implied that the priest's own self-loathing for having an affair is what's really motivating him and making him a DeathSeeker.

* Played for laughs in the ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' episode "The Three Days Rule", in which Barney explains the allegedly biblical origins of the titular rule:

* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'': Very many in the Bar Mitzvah episode: the fact that the service ends after Frederick finishes reading his ''haftara'' (there is a whole other prayer service that follows); the fact that a dinner is apparently served then (this service is in the morning); Martin taking photos in a synagogue on the Sabbath (even in a Conservative synagogue he would be asked to stop). In-universe, Frasier gets tricked into phonetically reading a prayer in what turns out to be Klingon.

** In another episode, "Perennials," the suspect believes himself to be the reincarnation of a serial killer who died the day he was born, in the same hospital, and is killing the people he believes are reincarnations of the dead killer's victims, placing fly larvae by their bodies in the belief that it will make their souls be reborn into these instead of humans, so ending the cycle. Morgan states that "See, a fundamental tenet of reincarnation is that you can come back in any life form, not just human." Wrong- in some reincarnation beliefs, such as Hindus', this is true; others like the Druze, though, believe people are only reborn in human bodies, not animals. They also differ on whether people can be reborn into different sexes than they had before.

** The episode "Minimal Loss" deals with a hostage situation involving an isolated, self-sustaining religious commune that is similar to the real incidents at Waco and others, states the group had begun as libertarians, before turning religious-[[SarcasmMode because, of course, "Libertarians aren't religious."]] Uh, no-many libertarians ''are'', though granted, the movement itself is not religious. While a group could go from being libertarian to authoritarian regardless of having religious beliefs or not, the scenario the episode lays out seems pretty unlikely, to shift from libertarian community to apocalyptic cult.

* The portrayal of UsefulNotes/{{Wicca}} on the episode 'Red Rum' of ''Series/TheMentalist'' was a source of much outrage to actual Wiccans and Neo-Pagans. In their eyes, the [[InNameOnly "Wiccan]] [[CloudCuckooLander priestess"]] on the show was pretentious, irresponsible, and utterly immoral. It goes without saying that while every religion abhors murder, using magic (considered a sacred gift from the God and Goddess) to murder someone is beyond blasphemy. The characters consider the religion of Wicca and the practice of witchcraft as interchangeable (though [[TruthInTelevision this mistake is made in real life too]]) and have very dismissive opinions on it. Rigsby even goes so far as calling it an "alternative lifestyle like [[Franchise/StarTrek Star Trek]] or yoga". While it could be seen that the "priestess" was an [[AlternativeCharacterInterpretation attention-seeking girl with no understanding of the faith she claimed to follow]], viewers were not shown any contrast to this image, which is essential in portraying something that most viewers know little to nothing about.

* The ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial "The Daemons" implied that Beltane was a night for evil spirits when it, in fact, was a day for purification, transition, and fertility rituals.

** A more specific example: in the episode "3", a character writes "John 52:54" on a wall, and Mulder is immediately able to bring the verse to mind. Problem is, it's actually "John 6:52-54" he's thinking of; "John 52:54" doesn't exist.

** The worst example was probably the laughably bad portrayal of Judaism in "[Recap/TheXFilesS04E15Kaddish Kaddish]]", but attempts to portray AgentScully's Catholicism or any other forms of Christianity tended to run headlong into the writers' total lack of research.