Last week . . . on Survivor

My family has watched Survivor for years now. (Yeah, yeah, I know. Get it out of your system now before proceeding.)

Survivor is actually a really well produced show filmed in exotic locales and the interaction between the players is usually very interesting. Even so, we've pretty much seen it all by this point and were considering dropping it this season. We didn't, though, because last season turned out to be really good and they set this season in China. Ignoring the bizarreness of them having to "survive" on their own in a country with over 1 billion people, the setting was enough to get us tuning in again.

So, the China season started last week. There's a typical mix of contestants including, as required by law, a bartender. There's a professional poker player whose strategy, confided to the camera, is to sleep all day and be grumpy in order to make himself look really weak and lame so that when he starts performing better later, people will want to keep him around. Good luck with that, Einstein.

Then there's Leslie, the "Christian Radio Host" and Sunday school teacher. I suspected she'd be annoying from the first minute and it appears I was right. (Go me!)

As the players arrived in China, they were escorted into a Buddhist temple for a welcome ritual. The host, Jeff Probst, made it clear to the players right off that this was NOT a religious ceremony but a traditional welcome which involved some bowing, chanting etc. Of course, after a couple of minutes, Leslie couldn't take it any more and hightailed it out of there. It was tough to leave, she said, But I did the right thing. (not exact quote)

When questioned afterwards, she justified the rudeness to her hosts with the following:

”I’m not a religious person, but I have a relationship with Jesus Christ, and the only time I’m gonna put my face on the floor is for him.”

Oy. She's not a religious person but has a personal relationship with Jesus. Okaaaay. Apparently this is a common thing said by evangelicals, which doesn't mean it's a smart thing to say.

Hey, I can do it too! I'm not a gamer but I do have an abiding love of games and like to play them at every opportunity. That works. I'm not a racist, but I was shocked at how diners at Sylvia's in Harlem didn't swing on the chandeliers. Yep! Or how about, I'm not a pedophile, but I do love . . . I think you get the point.

On the one hand, Leslie had the courage of her convictions and didn't do something she was uncomfortable with. I guess I can respect that. On the other hand, she was rude to her hosts even though assured it wasn't a religious ritual. I think it very likely that if she had Buddhist guests to her home she would invite them to attend her church and then get pretty upset if they walked out. But I guess that would be okay because her religion is the correct one.

On last night's show, Leslie was upset at one point because she didn't have her Bible. She said she needed to spend some time reading the Bible and being with God. Uh, isn't God supposed to be omnipresent? Isn't she ALWAYS with God? Needing the Bible to commune with God seems to smack of idolatry to me.

Finally, a contestant on the other team, Jamie, was given a clue to an immunity idol hidden in Leslie's camp. Jamie was instructed to give the clue to someone on Leslie's team. As the clue would give that person a huge advantage, Jamie picked someone she thought was a weak player, Leslie.

What did Leslie do? She immediately gave God the credit for Jamie's gift, as if it's inconceivable that Jamie could have thought of it herself. Apparently, God wants Leslie to win Survivor. Of course, whenever Leslie is voted off, she'll declare that it was all due to God's plan.

Leslie may not win Survivor, but for God, it's a win-win situation.