The Amazing Race Connection
by Motte Brown on 12/12/2006 at 7:00 PM
The season finale of the CBS reality show The Amazing Race 10 was aired this past Sunday. I note it because, as Steve blogged earlier this year, one of the contestants, Dustin Konselman, is a Focus on the Family Institute grad from 2003. She and her teammate, Kandice Pelletier, were known on the show as the "Beauty Queens" or "The Blonds."
I can't remember Dustin referencing her Christianity nor was she labeled a Christian by CBS or the other contestants. But knowing of Dustin's confessed faith, I was interested to see how she treated the other teams and responded to intense circumstances. For the most part, she represented herself very well. This was refreshing since in past seasons, Race "Christians" were simply awful, slandering the other teams and even praying that bad things would happen to them.
As Race fans know, the blonds came in fourth, unable to overcome a "marked for elimination" penalty to make it to the final three. What Race fans may not know is that Dustin is now married and works for CBS. Well done Dustin.
1. Jacob said the following at 7:30 PM on Dec 12:
While I've never met her, I have met her brother, Derek, through staffing for Worldview Academy (www.worldview.org). If she's half the frisbee player her brother is, I'm sure she did well on the show (which I've never seen). It's a small world....
2. Jake said the following at 7:10 AM on Dec 13:
"What Race fans may not know is that Dustin is now married and works for CBS."
This may be a bit off-topic, but it's a serious point. If these had been professing Christian men, Boundless would be attacking them for not being married yet. According to that webpage, Miss Pelletier lives in New York City, is the reigning Miss New York, and is a Rockette -- seemingly a somewhat worldly resume. And while it's nice that Dustin is now married, working for CBS -- who, according to their website, are responsible for the Victoria's Secret fashion show -- is hardly the humble homeschooling housewife lifestyle. I'd like to know how those who advocate that as soon as Christians are done with their education, perhaps even before, they should set about getting married and having children instead of spending their twenties "living it up" and enjoying the single life, statements with which I agree, feel about this. Should there be condemnation of these young women for not going to a Christian college, getting their MRS, and being pregnant with their second or third children by now? And if not, why not?
3. Steve said the following at 9:47 AM on Dec 13:
Looks like Jake wants to stir things up. The Monitoring the Future report shows that between 80 and 90% of High School seniors believe getting married and starting a family one day is very important to them. Boundless affirms the pursuit of family as worthwhile and something requiring a lot of intentionality within a culture that is often hostile to the pursuit of family. It's our goal to provide vision and preparation for family. I don't think our observation about how a former Institute student handled herself on the Amazing Race undermines that vision.