Could a Catholic Participate in The Amazing Race?

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pensmama87

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So, The Amazing Race is one of my guilty TV pleasures. While it is reality TV, it does show a lot of neat places around the world and challenges for participants that involve strategy as well as a variety of practical and intellectual skills. My husband and I like to watch and discuss what we would be good at, when we would be bickering in front of the cameras, etc. 😛 Plus see all the great locales which we are unlikely to be able to visit in real life.

The show does usually present a few pairings not living a moral lifestyle (seems like every season lately has a gay couple, for example), but despite that I’ve never had a problem watching the show because apart from stating the nature of each pair’s relationship at the beginning of each episode it typically doesn’t matter after that. But I do wonder if it would be moral for Catholics to participate based on one thing - sometimes the challenges feature participating in some kind of religious ritual that is open to the public (I think this season it was making something and then presenting it for a blessing in a Buddhist temple). Obviously most of the pairs didn’t think much of it besides getting to experience part of another culture or that it was something vaguely neat and “spiritual.” Other seasons have featured visits to monasteries or churches, but in those cases the task was not overtly religious (which makes sense considering Catholic theology) - things like copying religious texts the way it used to be done, or doing the work done by the religious who reside there, etc.

There have been pairs who identified as “devout Christians” on the show before who have participated in these things, but I wonder if it would be appropriate for a practicing Catholic.

(It’s not the only thing stopping us from sending in an audition tape, but I do wonder sometimes. :p)
 
Honestly, there is something to be said about learning other faith traditions (even Popes have gone to Jewish and Muslim religious ceremonies when visiting the Holy Land). And part of learning about other religious traditions includes observing or participating in their tradition. Thumbing one’s nose at them is an immediate turn-off and may shut their ears to your message. At the same time, one must be confident enough in one’s faith to not be won over to the tradition that you are visiting.

The most important thing is, though, is that if a Catholic were selected for the Amazing Race (or any reality show for that matter), he/she should go to his/her pastor and get a dispensation for the time that he/she would be on the show.
 
I think my particular concern isn’t actually visiting the places or even observing services, because I think there is a lot of cultural and historical value to doing something like that (and clearly a lot of the places attract tourists because you see them in the background when the contestants are there). What concerns me specifically is being asked to *participate *in religious ritual that has meaning to the religion’s adherents. When it comes to false religion, it’s my understanding that participating in these types of activities has the possibility of opening us up to influences from the occult, even when we don’t believe in them.

That’s why I noted a distinction between the challenges and activities contestants have participated in at Catholic churches or monasteries, where there is no explicitly religious component to what they are doing, usually historical/cultural. I’m not sure who’s behind those decisions - whether it’s the show producers, Church officials, or both, but it makes sense that Catholics wouldn’t ask non-Catholics to participate in religious ritual solely for the purpose of winning a televised contest. There have been challenges like that in other faiths with no “faith component” if you will, and I have no objection to that. My concern is related to participating in religious rituals only.
powerofk said:
The most important thing is, though, is that if a Catholic were selected for the Amazing Race (or any reality show for that matter), he/she should go to his/her pastor and get a dispensation for the time that he/she would be on the show.
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This is a very good point!
 
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