Upwards of 20,000 Christians have signed a petition calling for Netflix to cancel the fantasy series “Good Omens.” But the TV series, adapted from Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s 1990 satirical sci-fi novel, is distributed by Amazon Prime, not Netflix.
The petition was first launched by the Return to Order campaign, a Christian organization under the U.S. Foundation for a Christian Civilization, in which members argue that the show attempts “to make satanism appear normal, light and acceptable,” adding, “this type of video makes light of Truth, Error, Good and Evil, and destroys the barriers of horror that society still has for the devil.” In the six-part series, Crowley, a demon played by David Tennant, and Aziraphale, an angel played by Michael Sheen, work together to prevent the coming of the antichrist and an imminent apocalypse.
Some petition-signers’ concerns lie in the show’s portrayal of God, which they criticize for being “voiced by a woman” (Frances McDormand) and of the Antichrist, which they wrote is depicted as a “normal kid.” In concluding the petition, the members called for Netflix to cancel the show, seemingly confused by which streamer actually put out the series.
Gaiman, who adapted the book into a screenplay after Pratchett’s death, responded to the petition on Twitter, saying, “I love that they are going to write to Netflix to try and get #GoodOmens cancelled. Says it all really. This is so beautiful … Promise me you won’t tell them?”
This isn’t the first time Return to Order has launched a campaign attempting to combat the purported normalization of Satan. In April, the organization launched a petition calling for Walmart to stop selling “Satanic products” and catalyzed a protest in 2018 against an ice cream chain called “Sweet Jesus.”