Mind the Gap

Okay, I admit it: I watch “Survivor.”

It’s one of my guilty pleasures. I mostly only watch shows that have some writing merit (”Lost” is a surprising example) — I’m a sucker for a good story. But Survivor is just one of those mindless shows that I watch because it requires absolutely no intellectual investment.

Last night was the Survivor China season premiere, and as they introduced the new contestants, they made particular note of one, whom they described as “the Christian talk-show host.” They immediately contrasted her with the next contestant, a “gay Mormon flight attendant.” Oh boy, I thought. Here we go….

Sure enough, not ten minutes into the show, the contestants were required to commence their adventure with a “traditional Buddhist ceremony.” The host made a point to assure the contestants that this was not a “worship” ceremony, but instead, a cultural tradition.

All of the contestants entered the Buddhist temple and filed up to the gigantic statues of Buddha. They were to kiss some sort of offering and bow to Buddha as they laid their offering in the bowl at his feet.

The Christian girl was, of course, uncomfortable with this, and quietly stepped outside of the temple.

After the ceremony, the group gathered as the host talked to them about their experience. He pointedly asked the Christian girl why she left, and she said, “Because, regardless of what you said about it not being a worship ceremony, I refuse to bow down before anything or anyone except Jesus Christ.” The blonde waifey waitress from New York rolled her eyes. The tanned surf instructor with perfectly capped white teeth smirked. There were other murmurings, and then the host asked, “So, do you think that this is going to harm your chances of winning?” She replied that she didn’t care, that her beliefs were more important to her than winning a million bucks.

Watching this, the thought struck me that if she had been Muslim, or Hindu, or even Mormon, I suspect that everyone on the show would have lauded her as brave and uncompromising. They would have all nodded and said, “Oh, yeah, like, wow, I totally see how you would want to stand up for your beliefs. That’s, like, so amazing!” It was another frustrating reminder of the total hypocrisy of our “open-minded” society.

David and I were in New York a few years back and had the opportunity to hang out with one of our favorite bands. They are Yale-educated musicians, excellent songwriters, they have a gold record under their belts, they’ve toured with the likes of Sarah McLachlan, etc. I was invited to play cello with them for a show, and we spent the day with them learning their songs and sharing music. It was amazing.

We went out for dinner, and the post-dinner conversation turned to spirituality. They shared with us their beliefs, gushing on and on about their meditation time and psychic energy how it helped them as artists. They were a married couple like us, and they talked of their Fridays together in which they would meditate together and then would write and paint, having gained inspiration from their meditation time. We listened intently and respectfully, and then David got up to get a drink, leaving me alone at the table with them. As soon as he left, the woman asked me, “So… do you guys meditate? Because if not, you should really try it. It’s amazing.”

I shifted in my seat. My heart began to pound. Great, I thought, here’s my chance to look like the idiot fundamentalist right-winger from Texas. I really wished David was there to bail me out. I swallowed and said, “Well, yeah, sort of. See, David and I are Christians, so we do meditate, but it’s a little different than your meditation. Our meditation is on Scripture, so it’s more of an active meditation, and we pray, so….yeah, that’s what we do,” I finished quickly, knowing full well that my words sounded so… Ned Flanders. I looked at them. They were looking at me blankly. Crap, I thought. Now I’ve gone and done it. The gig’s off for sure.

Then, something amazing happened: they both smiled and nodded. “Oh!” she said, “that’s so cool! We have so much in common!” I breathed a sigh of relief. For once, my honesty was rewarded with some respect. The conversation shifted to the writing process, and I told them about my morning pages and even threw in how it was very zen to write morning pages, and they heartily agreed and smiled more. I walked away feeling conflicted: on the one hand, I felt like I had passed the test; on the other, I was beating myself up for even caring about their opinion of me.

Of course, we’ve been warned by Jesus that the world will hate us, and (surprise!) they do, and that’s that. There are certain things we can do to be more Christ-like when we come in contact with the world and its agendas (Richard Muow’s latest blog addresses this), but ultimately we just aren’t going to be “normal,” and, you know, so what?

I’m not sure how the rest of the season of “Survivor” will play out… for the moment, the token Christian girl isn’t overly preachy or impossibly “holy”…not yet anyway. But I was challenged by her simple act of devotion, and I will be watching with interest with the hopes that she is able to hang in there and be the best dang token Christian “Survivor” has seen.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 21st, 2007 at 5:33 pm and is filed under life in the subculture. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.