New Survivor Cast revealed. Two "Celebs" and 3 returning players

[dr.strangelove]

http://insidetv.ew.com/2012/08/20/survivor-philippines-cast-lisa-whelchel-jeff-kent/

Not really spoilers, other than the ID of the castaways in this link.

[truebrit71]

1. Seriously? Still sticking with the Abercrombie and SI swimsuit model theme?

If Colton is one of the three returning players i will NOT be watching this season...

[dr.strangelove]

3. I have heard that it is not him

I don't want to spoil anything, but if you want to know who it is, let me know. Three people previously removed due to injury.

[truebrit71]

5. Sure, go ahead and PM me...

...won't spoil anything for me!!

[oregonjen]

2. Looking at the cast....I'm not sure I'm going to watch

Born-again Christian former actress Lisa Whelchel is one of the Survivors. Shoving religion down our throats makes me sick.

[dr.strangelove]

4. Is she the type to shove religion down our throats

I have been surprised by people upset that they show praying and such on survivor. I personally don;t find that to be shoving it down our throats. I am as atheistic as one can be, but I have no problem with those who are devoted to any faith. I expect christians to pray to the christian god and muslims to pray to the islamic god. It would annoy me if someone said they were voting someone out due to their faith or if they refused to be in an alliance with someone of a certain faith. But showing people praying and such never bothered me. It happens in real life, so I expect it to happen on the show. I hope she is not one to be a jerk, but if so, it would bother me as well.

[truebrit71]

7. I find it offensive when allegedly religious people pray to "god" on a fucking game show..

...and I say that as an atheist...and if I were a believer in that faith i think I would be FURIOUS with anyone that demeaned the over-riding message of the teachings of christ to win a fucking gameshow...

[dr.strangelove]

8. I'm not sure I understand

I mean if you were the same faith as the person, maybe you would have a better understanding of exactly what that person believes. But even in large umbrella religions like christianity, there are a diverse set of beliefs about the make-up of the deity, specifically his role in everyday life. Many christians, and many non-christians, believe their deity takes an active role in impacting the life of its followers. They believe the deity helps them with very personal and individual needs. Whether its helping them find their lost car keys or helping their son make a basket in a kids ball game. I don;t see how a reality television show would be any different. People who pray to god seem to obtain some personal satisfaction from it. I think its a similar satisfaction to what I get from my morning coffee looking out on the field behind my house. If anything, I'm glad they can find personal satisfaction in life. Its hard for many people to find personal satisfaction. If it comes from praying to a deity, go for it. Just because I don;t believe that such a deity exists, I'm not gonna knock anyone for doign something that makes them have a better approach to life. In a stressful physical and social situation like survivor, I would think such activity would be needed more than ever. If I were on survivor, I think I would need some alone time every day to prepare myself for the challenges ahead. If instead Blair Warner wants to pray to her god, why would anyone care.

I fail to see how it is demeaning a teaching that you yourself admit that you do not believe, to pray to god on a game show. How does it demean the christian teaching, which as far as I know is one of obtaining personal salvation by showing kindness to others. If its that participating in the show itself violates that teaching, well I its just a game and no one is actually being hurt. Just like its okay to play football and be a christian, even though you have to tackle your fellow man. Its just a game and everyone there knows exactly what it is and consents to playing the game. I'm not sure how the game and praying are mutually exclusive.

[truebrit71]

9. All of the examples you made demean and belittle the very same faith they profess to believe in...

...it's the screaming hypocrisy that bothers me more than anything else, you know "Hey God, help me win a million bucks, screw the suffering and dying anywhere else, my need for money is greater"...

I have no problem with people being religious or spiritual, I think it's just like sex, it should be done behind closed doors by consenting adults.

[dr.strangelove]

10. How?

I was raised in a christian family. I do not think any christian I have ever met would suggest that asking the christian god to help you secure financial well being for you and your family could possibly be considered demeaning or belittling the faith that they believe in.

I think its very possible to both want your deity to help you achieve financial security and at the same time to want the deity to help the "suffering and dying anywhere else." Someone who believes in an all-powerful deity would find it easy to think such a being has no limits on who it could help. I think they would believe that god could do both, and that its okay to both want to have personal security and want positive results for those in need.

I don't think asking god for your team's field goal to go through the uprights in any way means that you want poor and weak people to suffer. It just means you want some personal gain, and there is nothing wrong with personal gain. I tend to think its more practical to seek personal gain through hard work, education and original thinking, rather than putting it in the hands of an invisible being that lives in space, but to each his own.

I think reality shows should show reality. And the reality is people pray for money and pray for happiness. As for doing it behind closed doors, while I can live without the praying, I hope they keep showing lots of sex and nudity on TV. Its why I pay for HBO and Showtime!!!

Anyway, no disrespect intended to you at all. I greatly appreciate talking with you.

[truebrit71]

11. I was raised that you never pray for god to give you money, or enrich you in some way..

..other than spiritually...God isn't supposed to be about personal gain, especially not of the financial kind...kind of makes a mockery of the whole 'blessed are the meek" thing...

No disrespect inferred or taken...i have enjoyed the conversation as well!

(My other niggle with the religiosity is that it appears to be solely of the christian variety, i think that it is tolerated because it is 'christian', but if there was a Muslim that went on the show and proselytized the same way the fundie-nuts do, I think CBS would be at the receiving end of a boatload of hate mail...and I think that's bullshit...)

[dr.strangelove]

14. Its a christian super majority in the country

CBS isn't a governmental body that has to follow the first amendment. They exist for one reason, to make a profit for their stockholders (the biggest of which are obviously on the BOD). Since the country is super-majority christian, it would make sense that showing christian faith would resonate with the biggest possible audience. But I've never seen survivor display or promote behavior that cats any other faith in a negative light. On the contrary, one of the biggest fan favorites from the Big Brother show was a devote muslim named Kaysar, who cbs showed doign his daily prayers, discussed his avoidance of alcohol and swearing and had some honest discussions with a jewish cast member about the historical conflicts between persons of those two faiths.

I think CBS cares about ratings, and if there was a muslim praying on survivor that they could garner ratings with, they would jump at the chance. I think it helped big brother that Kaysar was extremely personable and very easy on the eyes. A good looking guy without his short on is a lot easier to sell that a geeky chubby atheist like me.

But even when survivor showed religion last year, they made a point to show how it was part of the game. Two different survivors discussed how they were not really into religion, but that they participated in prayer sessions so as to develop social bonds and better play the social game. Survivor is about lying, and sometimes lying is not just about your job or whether you will vote someone out, sometimes its a lie about being religious. Religion is a part of life, so it should be a part of reality games.

I do not think cbs got much hate mail from Kaysar's two stints in the big brother house, but I could be wrong.

[truebrit71]

16. As a geeky, chubby atheist myself, I hear you!

[FarPoint]

13. I'm really turned off by the Jesus prayer God rants.

I won't watch the show due to that very reason. Sprituality should be personal, private and not marketed on a tv game show. I see the christian rants as a veil or shield from judgement by thoses watching....Reminds me of the GW *bush scam.

[dr.strangelove]

15. um, its a game

If I was on and I thought jumping up and down and paying to jesus could help me win the game, or nab the $100,000 awarded by fans after the game to the favorite player, I would JUMP and pray every day. You do what you need to do to win.

[catchnrelease]

17. I was one of the complainers in the past

The season with Coach and Mini Russell was the worst for me. I have absolutely no problem with people believing, praying etc even on a reality show, but that one just was too much. I am sure CBS included it for the 'drama' and ratings, but I think they overdid it there. It just seemed to be highlighted in that season. It especially rankled with me that Coach, who had seemed to be a 'new-age' kind of guy with his martial arts and Eastern style beliefs all of a sudden was this over the top Christian. I know those things don't have to be mutually exclusive but it just seemed too fake to me. I guess as you said, maybe he was just using it to persuade the other tribe members of his sincerity, *cough*. I did find it interesting the torment Brandon went through, trying to be 'good' and reconciling that with what you kind of need to do to progress in the game. I think that kid is pretty messed up, unless a lot of that was drama too.

I know that there have been players in the past that have mentioned their religious/spiritual beliefs and how those beliefs played a part in their lives and behavior. That was not a problem for me, it just seemed like there were a couple of games in a row where the overt praying was really shown more than in the past, and I think the show just kind of went overboard with that. The reality is that I will still watch, I'll just gripe more if it gets too preachy. Can't wait for the new game to begin!

[truebrit71]

6. I was kinda hoping that Jeebus wouldn't be a returning competitor...

...but I'm sure there are a few Muslims to even things out though, right?

[Inkfreak]

12. At least it's gonna be sans Russel or someone in his family

I love, love, love survivor tho. It's a blast to watch.