‘The Bachelorette’ is one of the most beloved television series today. This year’s season with Hannah Brown has been no different, drawing in millions of viewers each week. One question has risen from this series though – is it a show for Christians?
Brown, this years bachelorette, is a proud Christian. She has spoken about her faith with many of her dates on the show and isn’t afraid to call herself a woman of God. She had many issues with contestant Luke Parker, who she believes manipulated her faith. This opened up the eyes of many viewers about their own spiritual journey.
“I wanted a man of God that had those same values. But then that was almost weaponized against me. I was, at the end, threatened by the shared faith that we had. Unfortunately, the people that believe the same thing I do, do that a lot sometimes, using the same words and the same things that we believe to call out specific things and poke,” she said.
“The basis of what I believe is love and loving others and understanding and not shaming. His love was contingent on if I did the things that he wanted me to do as he thought a wife should do, not an unconditional love,” she said.
While it’s great to have Brown in the public eye talking about her faith apologetically, the premise of the show overall isn’t one that Christians really should be supporting.
As the Bachelorette, the woman is thrown into a situation with 30 men who she is to date all at the same time. With only a few short weeks, she is then expected to find her soulmate and love of her life. It makes the holiness and pureness of marriage a joke.
Modern dating is now akin to test driving new cars. God wants us to keep marriage held to a high standard, which means not treating each person we date as a someone that’s easily thrown away and discarded. The show does not glorify God but rather glorifies fast-dating culture and infidelity.
As Christians, we should not be encouraging such a show to be on our televisions. It promotes sins from the Bible that God explicitly prohibits. Though it’s great to see a strong Christian woman on this season, there are other ways that God can get His Word out to those who need it the most. The show is simply not “harmless” entertainment.