I was going through the castings for Survivor: China recently to see Ashley Massaro’s biography when I came across this biography of Leslie Nease.
What really struck me about this particular contestant was not her looks, not her ‘typical big Christian family that Dobson would love’, but the fact that her occupation is listed as being:
Christian Radio Talk Show Host
from 9 AM until noon at a radio station in South Carolina. The first thing that really came to my mind was the ‘typical Christian reaction’ if Leslie does not win Survivor. I wonder if the Christian mindset would be (based on what you believe):
Leslie got robbed by anti-Christian ‘hatred’. Boycott CBS
or
Leslie sold out her soul to the Devil (pronounced ‘debble’ or ‘deb-bull’) for fame and fortune. God ‘got her’.
Like what happened when Dirk Been got eliminated during Survivor: Borneo 2000 or when American Idol contestant Phil Stacey was eliminated. We went back to the comfort of conspiracy theories while acting like sore losers because our pragmatic ‘attempt at mass saving of all in one shot’ plan was foiled leaving Christians to feel like somehow after thousands of years, Christianity will now die. If Leslie ends up winning, the whole world will not get saved. Just because Leslie claims to be a Christian does not mean in the ‘official Christian worldview’ that she should be the ‘winner by default’. If another contestant outperforms her, he or she should be the winner of Survivor: China.
What if Leslie ends up winning, will American Christianity place unfair and highly-impossible expectations on her to be the leading voice for some Christian causes such as overturning Roe vs. Wade, eliminating the Democrats, tax breaks for large home-schooled families, faith-based initiatives, and eliminating the ‘no talk about politics’ from the pulpit rule?
In the end, winner or loser, Leslie needs to be Leslie and not some ‘Christian clone’ telling us what Christians (really it’s only the theo-political pastors and the big wigs of biased Christian media want) need.
Enjoy the show, It’s only a show. Christianity will still survive whether Leslie gets eliminated or wins Survivor: China.
I watched this last night and was impressed with what she did at the beginning of the show. While contestants were made to go into a Buddhist temple for what was termed to be a welcoming ceremony and not a worship ceremony, Leslie got up and walked out when it became apparent that it was a worship ceremony. She also professed her faith in Jesus Christ (by Name, twice) and explained that she couldn’t worship idols.
Leslie survived
Ashley survived (got sick and appears to more than likely be eliminated next week)