The Ugly American Goes to China

Few examples in recent popular culture have been able to encapsulate everything that's bigoted and narrow-minded and intolerant about American fundamentalist Christianity quite as well as last night's premiere episode of Survivor: China:

Leslie Nease, the woman who rudely walked out on a Buddhist welcoming ceremony because her religious faith is so weak that the mere exposure to the spiritual (note I didn't say religious) practices of others is sufficient to corrupt her own beliefs, has a Christian radio talk show in Charlotte, NC. She runs some kind of ministry called "Potential Unlimited" and has endowed herself with the title "AFC", which stands for "Ambassador for Christ." Nice fucking ambassador she is.

It's always cringeworthy to watch the American, largely actor/model contestants on this show, as they watch their first exposure to the local culture of the show's host country. That this group (which promises to be the most loathsome group of people in the show's history; Yau Man Chan, where art thou?) attended a Buddhist ceremony at the Mi Tuo Temple, when the Cbinese government has been doing its best to eradicate Buddhism in Tibet for years, and two cast members proceeded to walk out (Neese) and behave disrespectfully (New York waitress Courtney Yates, who ought to know better) is no small irony.

But the distasteful sight of Neese walking out of what was clearly explained was not a religious ceremony, but a welcoming one ("Na Muo A Mi Tuo Fu" being a verbal expression of compassion and respect) on the grounds that the ceremony represented "idol worship" was a harbinger of things to come this season. It is useful to note, however, that Neese's aversion to "idolatry" and spiritual traditions that are not hers, didn't extend to aversion to the show's immunity idol, nor did it extend to the immunity challenge's incorporation of elements of the Chinese Lion Dance, which in the Southern part of China, also has a close relationship with Buddhism.

You know, I can't begin to tell you how many Christian funerals and weddings I've sat through where the primary message from the guy at the front of the room was "Nyah nyah nyah, we're going to heaven and you're not" -- including that of my own father-in-law. I recently went to a Lutheran funeral where the Bashing of the Unconverted was so relentless that I too wanted to walk out. But I didn't, because there's such a thing as being respectful in someone else's house -- even if it's a house of worship. And especially if what you're attending is not a specifically religious ceremony.

As with so many American fundies, Nease's outrage is highly selective, and her strong religious belief doesn't find any problem with trashing a local culture while participating on a television game show where backstabbing your way into a million bucks is not just encouraged, but mandatory. And it took her five tries before making it onto the show, so she's been lusting in her heart for those million George Washingtons for a long, long time.