God Warrior vs Hippy Partridge Family

That source of quality television Fox, has hit a new low (or high) with their show “Trading Spouses: Meet Your New Mommy”. The show, has families from different backgrounds trade mothers for a week and are then awarded money which the visiting mom decides how it is split up and awarded amongst the family. The last two episodes featured an exchange between a spiritual hypnotherapist and an evangelical “God warrior” who owns a dance studio. The show’s web site has a run-down of the episodes (Part 1, Part 2).

The shows have been getting attention due to the complete melt-down of the evangelical mom when exposed to the spiritual-but-not-religious lifestyle of the D’Amico-Flisher family.

“Marguerite Perrin, a dance-studio owner and loud, devout Christian, continually complains about the D’Amico-Flisher’s affinity for astrology, horoscopes, tarot cards, and the like–all of which were, of course, “of the devil.” She also calls her temporary spouse and kids “a hippy Partridge family.” She objects to a big star (made of what looked like Christmas lights) hanging on the family’s barn, prompting one of the D’Amico-Flisher children to actually say during an interview, “It’s not like it was a witchcraft star. Not that anything is wrong with that…” When asked to participate in a summer solstice party that the family was throwing, Perrin watches skeptically from the sidelines while guests throw pieces of paper with their “good intentions” into a fire as drums beat loudly.” – Dena Ross, Idol Chatter

As one can expect there isn’t much pity for Marguerite Perrin, who seems to freak at even the hint of something non-Christian.

“Alas, poor Marguerite. Thrown into a pit of godless pagans, and forced to… um… let me think… well, I guess they did put her in the same room as a psychic. His name sounded like Tristan Rimbaud, which suggested to me that more than just his aura might have threatened Marguerite. Apart from that… oh yeah, she attended a solstice party. There were bongos, and… um… a little dancing. Satanic!”

But despite how “good” the non-Christian family ended up looking, I’m with Kris Rasmussen from Idol Chatter who asserts that this sort of coverage does no belief system any good.

“If we who have spiritual beliefs really believed the depictions we see of ourselves on reality TV, we’d be convinced that we are all either freaks or geeks, losers or lunatics.”

Religious interactions shouldn’t be edited to portray a “us” vs “them” popcorn-worthy fight for television viewers. Nor should believers of any stripe naively think that a reality television program will give anyone a fair shake. A medium centered on spectacle will create one if one isn’t presented. I should hope that any modern Pagan family will think twice before agreeing to such a Faustian bargain.

Tags: Neopaganism