(Display Name not set)January 2006 Archives

Although it may surprise a lot of people, I find the new face of religion on TV in the form of the “Dog: The Bounty Hunter” (Tuesdays at 9), A & E’s highest-rated series ever.

The show, which gives us a look into the often-misunderstood world of bail bonding, focuses on Duane “Dog” Chapman and his family of bounty hunters, including wife Beth, two of his 12 children, Leland and Duane Lee, and friend Tim Chapman (no relation). A former sergeant-at-arms in a motorcycle gang called “Devil’s Disciples,” Dog explains on his website how he got his cool nickname:

“We [had] a guy in the gang who’s always mad at God. He’s always flipping God off. So I started praying for him. Since we already have a ‘Preacher’ and a ‘John the Baptist’ in the gang, I became known as Dog—God backwards.”

Although he went to prison for two years for the murder of a drug dealer he insists he didn’t commit, Dog has left his gang life behind and is now a born-again Christian, motivational speaker, and the self-proclaimed, “Greatest Bounty Hunter in the World,” with over 6,000 captures under his belt during his 27-year career. Dog and his family pray every time they go out on a bounty hunt to track down someone who has skipped bail. He knows his job is dangerous, but he trusts that God will keep him safe so he can come back home to his children.

Throughout the show, Dog utters little bits of advice or wisdom, which he calls “Dogisms.” One of my favorites is, “I like to hear that God goes before us, because he is the biggest bullet proof vest of all."