"God or the Girl": reality tv's cry for help or an all-time low?

while flipping through the channels today, i came across a segment on Entertainment Tonight that was featuring a sneak-peak of a new reality tv show called God or the Girl - conveniently set to air on Easter weekend.

five young men in their 20s (who appropriately enough, *just happen* to be good-looking) must decide between serving in the priesthood or living a life free to date and mingle with girls - the gist of the show is to follow them through a series of days and "trials" that are supposed to help sway them towards making *the* decision, of which the final verdict will be declared on national tv at the end of the show's duration.

now, sure; i admit that i do enjoy watching reality tv every so often and allow myself to be sucked into the craziness (and perhaps stupidity) of it all. but c'mon now - does anyone else find this particular concept even the least bit disturbing and just plain... weird? has reality tv actually come to the point where they've finally run out of ideas - i mean, i thought the train unofficially made its final stop at MTV's Surreal World - yeesh, i guess i was wrong.

one clip that i found particularly uncomfortable to watch was of one of the guys who felt that he had to serve his penance by carrying a life-size wooden cross on his back while travelling 80 miles on foot as a result of his guilt for lusting over a girl at one point in his life; unworthy because of the things he had done in the past - and meanwhile, he had his own coaching squad guiding him through the long trek as if his very life depended on it.

after watching that 5-minute preview, i just felt really... sad - not only for him, but for the possible reactions that could potentially evolve from this show. though some viewers could take this show "seriously", others could and probably will consider this show as the punchline to their daily conversations. and what doesn't help much at all is that this is the type of thing that usually feeds into into all of the negative views and stereotypes that people have towards religion, especially with regards to Christianity/Catholicism.

perhaps i'm being bias to this whole thing due to the idealogies my own spiritual upbringing has instilled in me, but maybe - just maybe - reality tv has gone a little too far with this one.

by the way, has anyone had a chance to watch passions in the past couple of days? apparently whitney saw God in the chapel of her convent, who she claims told her to brutally flog herself in order to pay penance for her sins of committing incest with her half-brother, chad.

and with that, i leave a resounding OY.