In what must surely rank as an all time low in human decency, the popularity of “Reality TV” shows has resulted in such programming flooding the market, as all the major networks try to cash in on this insulting form of “entertainment.” From surviving in the wilderness to marrying a total stranger, these shows attract millions of viewers. But just when we think the media could not possibly stoop any lower, they do—proving us wrong in the process.

The latest “reality venture” comes in the form of an Internet group that is asking twelve contestants to board an on-line “Noah’s Ark” for forty days and forty nights. The Web site is promoting this as “11 sinners and 1 winner” (with the “1 winner,” of course, raking in big bucks at the end of the extravaganza). Each of the twelve people will portray a biblical character. The Web site boasts that this “reality gambit” will have “twelve biblical saints and sinners rubbing shoulders on the world’s most famous floating zoo.” Need a more in-depth description? Read on.

On the main deck, Jezebel is arguing with Moses over the 10 Commandments. Downstairs in the galley, Samson and St Peter are gossiping about who will be next to walk the plank. Meanwhile, on the animal deck below, someone forgot to lock the hutch doors, and a massive breakout of gerbils is wreaking havoc in the contestants’ cabins.... But what else do you expect when 12 of the Bible’s greatest heroes and villains are locked up together for 40 days and 40 nights—with bleating sheep and aromatic skunks for company? (see Jenkins, 2003, ellipsis in orig.).

Simon Jenkins, the man in charge of the Web site promoting this travesty, noted:

We’re creating a gameshow that will put a bunch of tricky characters into a hothouse environment accompanied by lots of fur and feathers—and that hasn’t been done since the original Ark hit the water. Theology meets showbiz meets cowpat (2003).

Is it any wonder that children grow up with no knowledge of, or respect for, God’s Word? We live in a world where people seek pleasure and entertainment above everything else—including (especially!) their Almighty Creator. People have recast God and the Bible in a perverted way in which there is no wrath, no fear, and no judgment. The real “reality show,” however, will arrive when Jesus returns, and every knee bows (Philippians 2:10).

REFERENCES

Jenkins, Simon (2003), “The Ark,” [On-Line], URL: http://ship-of-fools.com/theark/game.html.

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