“Please God, let me win the food challenge.” “If it was in God’s plan, I would have come in first place.” “God won’t let her win because she’s evil and goodness always wins out over evil.” These are just a sampling of the many phrases I’m tired of hearing on reality TV.
Reality
TV “stars” often spend more time asking for God’s intervention than they do
actually playing the game or enjoying the experience. If only they devoted that much brain time to
the game, they might actually win a challenge instead of excusing themselves by
claiming “God’s Will.” I watched in
horror as Big Brother 8’s Jameka, and
newly-born Amber, spent hours praying to God and asking Him to
use His super powers so that they could win the food challenge. I was so completely insulted that they had
the audacity to ask God to help them win a challenge in a game while the world is plagued with famine and war, and the
diseased.
Many of
these reality shows are built around dishonesty and deception and the
self-proclaimed Christians on these shows rarely hesitate to compromise their
faith by participating in antics meant to manipulate and humiliate their fellow
mates to further their own cause. These
so-called Christians are quick to judge people and condemn others to Hell while
ignoring their own sacrilege. I don’t
even have the column space to get started on the crazy religious lady on Wife
Swap.
In I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here,
Spencer and Heidi stopped just short of proclaiming themselves warriors of
Jesus, invoking His name whenever they thought they were on camera. Heidi says that she wants to be like Mother
Theresa, who didn’t need material possessions. Shortly after, Spencer was “baptized”
in a river by Stephen Baldwin and proclaimed that he was a changed man and felt
all the sin washed off him. Maybe I should
start swimming in muddy rivers with Stephen Baldwin. Janice Dickinson finally stated what we at
home were thinking all along, “I didn’t realize I was signing up for I’m a Holy Roller, Get Me Out of Here.” Later, Heidi and Spencer “quit” the game because
they’re too rich and too famous (I just recently found out who they are) to be
in the jungle. So much for Heidi mirroring
Mother Theresa.
Sadly, these
are who represent the majority of “God’s Children” in America. They’re the worst kind of Christians. They’re the ones who ask for everything and
give nothing back. They’re lazy and they
pray for selfish, material goods without giving back, helping their community
or contributing anything positive in return.
Instead of praying for guidance or for answers, they pray for cash and
cars.
A-list
celebrities are not immune to praising God’s name, either. They often thank God for winning their
awards. They might think by mentioning God, they’ll be perceived as good
people, but what it says to me is, “God cares more about me because He made me
rich and famous. He even gave me an
award for it. Too bad you’re not rich and famous like I
am. Sorry, God loves me more.” But what I also hear is, “I actually have no
talent, which is why God had to intervene in this famine-plagued world to give
me an award.”
Your relationship with God or Allah or Buddha or Shiva is your own. Stop invoking His/Her/Their name on TV for your own selfish advancement. Because if there is a God and He is watching…He’s awfully ashamed.
**While I’m not religious, I have a religious background. I grew up Catholic, I went church every Sunday and attended Confraternity of Christian Doctrine (CCD) classes, religiously (no pun intended). I went to Catholic school in 5th grade and even had the “privilege” of being an altar boy bestowed upon me. But I eventually started asking questions of my baptized faith and when it came time to make my Confirmation at 13-years old, I told my mom, “How can I choose my religion for the rest of my life when I don’t even know what I’m going to wear to school tomorrow?” Luckily, my mom understood and allowed me to be the first person in my entire extended family to skip my Confirmation. I went on to study religions of the world and am happy I didn’t confirm myself to Catholicism, or any organized religion, for that matter.
So true! What's really sad is that not only does it happen on reality shows, but it also happens in real life! It's sad...
Posted by: Paul | June 05, 2009 at 11:17 AM
I'm a Chrisitan who is increasingly appauled by the behavior of those self-professed Chrisitans in popular and political culture who abuse faith for greed. I'm even more thankful for people like you who recognize this for what it is, and don't automatically assume this is the norm for Christians. Thanx for blogging about this shameles "religiosity" with such sensitivity and without lumping us all together.
Posted by: Cali | June 05, 2009 at 02:00 PM
Very true. i also love how everybody focused on christianity on American Idol this year and made statements such as "danny or chris will win because they are christians"...um did anybody ever ask adam if he was a christian, no they just assumed because he was gay he couldnt possibly be a christian.
Posted by: Clayton | June 06, 2009 at 03:14 AM