I'm Not Mad at Big Brother's Jameka For Praying -- I'm Mad at CBS For Showing Us

Faith has been a big issue this season on Big Brother, and as it becomes more and more likely Jameka will be the houseguest eliminated tomorrow night, I'd like to reflect a bit on the way faith, and specifically Jameka's faith, was portrayed on the show this year.

From the very start of this season, Jameka made no effort to hide the fact that she is a deeply religious woman. She is certainly not the first devout Christian to be featured on reality television, and she wasn't even the only religious person on this season of Big Brother, but from the get-go CBS painted her as "the religious one." Think about it -- what do you really know about Jameka, other than that she is religious? Of course, it must be acknowledged that they were aided in this effort by Evel Dick, who took every opportunity he could to berate her for her faith.

Now, I am not particularly religious, but I can absolutely respect the fact that Jameka is. And, truth be told, if she needs to pray to get through her time in the unquestionably maddening Big Brother house, than by all means she should do whatever she needs to do. I take a bit of issue with her articulated notion that the game has already been decided by God, but if that is what helps get Jameka through the day, she certainly has the right to believe it.

What I do have a problem with, however, is CBS' insistence on showing her praying. Prayer, by definition, is a private communication between a person and whatever their idea of a higher power is. Yes, the whole point of Big Brother is that every move is being watched, but by repeatedly showing Jameka praying, they are damaging some of the sanctity of her prayer. Show it once -- fine. Twice -- okay. Almost every single episode? Not cool.

Prayer IS NOT performance.

Amber didn't seem to quite grasp this -- she would address God, in monologue form, while she was sitting in the Diary Room, so it became unclear whether she was praying to communicate with a higher power, or putting her "confessional comments" in the form of prayer for the viewers to see. Either way, it rubbed me the wrong way.

But Jameka has tried to maintain privacy in her prayer, and CBS steps on that every chance they can get. She doesn't get on a pulpit -- she escapes quietly to a bedroom, or to the corner of the yard. Not only does CBS allow Dick to berate Jameka for her religious beliefs, but they consistently air (on the tri-weekly television shows) Jameka's talks with God. Would it kill them to respect her, her faith, and the faiths of millions of Americans by giving her a bit of privacy?

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