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By Scott Ellis
As a reality television fan, this past summer I was excited to watch one of the greatest games ever played: Big Brother. It is a three month power struggle where houseguests compete to stay in the house through competitions and strategy. The goal is to be voted the winner of 500,000 dollars by a jury of seven people whom the contestant had a hand in evicting. This season, my favorite house guest Dan Gheesling conquered the competition. He zigged and zagged his way through the game and manipulated nearly every player in the Big Brother house. However, when it came time to vote the jury was bitter, and several times we heard talk of the morals and integrity of Dan.
As a political science major I find myself making many connections between the game of Big Brother and politics today. Although one is a game centered around a television show with no lasting effect, the other has ramifications that can affect us all; our government officials’ morals are an important topic and should be researched. There have been political scandals throughout history involving love interests, election fraud, and tax evasion. I feel that as people of faith it is our duty to pray for those we have elected, no matter what party. We should pray that the habits our officials form in their lives are ones of integrity, and that their decisions don’t compromise themselves, their families, or us as a nation. The book of Luke contains a verse that is very applicable to the lives of politicians: “One who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much; and he who is dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much.” Luke 16:10
Hi Scott,
As a Christian minister, Dan’s morality in BB14 was of particular interest to me also. Spoiler: my wife and I were rooting for Dan the whole time, and were quite disappointed when he did not get the vote to win.
While I agree with the standard line that it’s a game, and the rules are different in a game than in real life, I also think there’s more to the morality of Dan’s game-play, and that it *does* relate to the morality of real life.
In fact, I’ve written the first part of a two-part article taking a Biblical and spiritual view of Dan Gheesling’s game play in my blog. If you’re interested, please stop by:
Dan Gheesling: Judas, Jesus, . . . or Jacob?
http://leewoof.org/2012/09/22/dan-gheesling-judas-jesus-or-jacob/
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts!
–Lee
Sorry, I just noticed this now, but I thought your piece on Dan was excellent. That was a great Biblical analogy and yet another way to better understand his game-play within the context of life. Too bad some of the jury members couldn’t have read it before.
Thanks, Scott. Glad you enjoyed the piece. Unfortunately, people like you and I don’t get to influence the votes of the jurors!
Dan tells me he’s printed out my piece. I’ll be interested to hear his reactions once he’s had a chance to read it.