I was having coffee with my friend Chris yesterday and he asked me what I thought about the news that Donald Trump had allowed Miss California Carrie Prejean (pictured here with Larnelle Harris at the 40th Annual Dove Awards) to keep her crown. To be honest, I hadn’t heard that she was going to lose her crown. But apparently after her solid stand on marriage during the Miss USA pagent (which prompted blogger Perez Hilton to take the situation to another level with his response, making him look like the bigger boob), some topless photos of her made their way to the internet. Oooops!
Personally, I thought it was a gutsy move on her part to be so brazenly politically incorrect during the pagent; regardless of whether you agree with her or not, I applaud someone who stands firm in their belief.
What was bizarre was the way the Christian entertainment industry rallied to add her to its roster; she went from the pageant to the Dove Awards at warp speed in just days. How quick we are to exploit a celebrity to substantiate our own religious views.

The Patrol’s David Sessions writes in a very thought provoking article: “In its ever-eager search for sympathetic pop icons and cultural martyrs, the Christian world reacted predictably to Prejean’s rambly gay marriage answer: with a showy open-winged embrace … Her presence at that and other Christian gatherings was met with a hero’s welcome.”
He goes on:

Not that one should ever expect theological or political seriousness from the Christian culture industry, but it’s impossible to measure how damaging spectacles like this are to serious Christian efforts to have a voice on cultural issues, whether it be improving relationships with the gay community or politely insisting that our nation’s legal definition of marriage is not something to be altered lightly.

In other words, did the Christian music industry’s hasty embrace of Carrie Prejean backfire in their face, and in the end do more to damage the gospel than spread it?
For example, at a press conference, Keith Lewis, co-director of the Miss California USA pageant, chastised organizations for

“Shame for taking this young woman and exploiting her to further your own agenda; shame for not preparing her for the firestorm you knew you were creating; and most of all shame for doing it all the while knowing that you placed her in a position where she stood to possibly lose her crown not for her beliefs as you so screamed but for the breach of contract you so willingly encouraged,” said a visibly upset Lewis. Prejean has given several interviews, including an interview with Focus on the Family’s Dr. James Dobson, spoken at Christian events, appeared in a television ad for the National Organization for Marriage, and appeared on the Dove Awards in April.
Not all Christian organizations were in a hurry to make her the family values spokesperson.
“I really don’t get some of my fellow Christians trying to turn her into some sort of modern day Mother Teresa,” Randy Thomas, executive vice president of Exodus International, said on his blog. “I am so proud of her for standing up for marriage. She deserves major props for that. However … Did you see the bikini she wore that very same fateful night?”
But what happens now? Will gospel music continue to celebrate her as their poster child for traditional marriage? Or will everyone just pretend like she never existed and never invite her to another event? My hunch is that there’s already a book deal signed and sealed and almost ready for the press. A book, and probably a devotional. Al about how she’s a persecuted beauty pagent queen.
But what do you think? Are we too hasty to haul any celebrity or public figure who looks like a Christian onto our bandwagon? Should the stage at the Dove Awards be reserved for Christian music artists, not the celebrity spokesperson du jour? Or was it a good move to have Carrie Prejean appear at the Dove Awards?
Click here to subscribe to Gospel Soundcheck by email and have the Gospel Soundcheck headlines delivered daily to your email inbox. And don’t forget to follow me on Twitter!