In his heart a man plans his course, but the LORD determines his steps. Proverbs 16:9

Friday, March 7, 2008

Moment of Truth

On Wednesday after watching American Idol, I was flipping through the channels...all four of them...and I came across a show called Moment of Truth. I had never heard of this show and neither had anyone else and so we started watching out of curiousity.

It is a reality gameshow where contestants are asked something like 50 questions prior to the show while hooked up to a lie detector. Then they are brought on stage in front of their family and spouse, a studio audience and an annoying host. The idea is for them to answer all the questions they are asked truthfully, according to the results of the polygraph in order to win money. They have to answer 21 questions which get increasingly personal to win $500 000. If at anytime they don't tell the truth, they lose all of the money.

Now I am all for honesty, but the questions that are asked on this show go beyond all reasonable limits. This is entertainment that has the potential to cause siginficant damage to a person's relationship with their loved ones. Some of the questions asked are "Do you think you are a better mother to your children than your mother was to you?" "Would you sleep with your former boyfriend (asked to a married woman) if you knew you would never get caught?" "Do you love your mother or your father more?" All these questions are asked in front of the people they are being asked about. The contestants are well aware of the questions they will be asked, seeing as they already had to answer them while hooked up to the lie detector. It just amazes me that people are willing to answer these types of questions just for money. I could go on some long tangent about how stupid our society can be sometimes, but instead, you can watch this video of the show and make your own judgments. I for one think some questions are better left unasked. Is greed induced honesty really honesty at all?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with you! The concept behind this show is a sad commentary on what our society values. The love of money is indeed the root of all kinds of evil. Perhaps a show like this is a wake-up call for us as Christians to show the world what it means to really love one another.

alissa said...

i agree completely! those contestants are not only destroying their own lives, but also the lives of their loved ones, just for a few extra dollars. and the sad thing is that millions of people love to watch them do it!