Kevin's Watch

Dear friends,

Back when "Survivor" was a new show, WWJD bracelets were very popular.
It really made me think. (More about what people think about Jesus than about Jesus.)

And one thought I thought were like this:
What would Jesus do if he were on "Survivor"?
Actually, just kidding. I never thought of that until recently - it just sounded cool.
With all the malicious messing with people's heads and prodding their urges to selfish ambition and covetousness_ maybe the best moral choice is just to decline.

But more interestingly, what if someone tried to go on the show with the express goal of doing good?
Like, real good to the other people on the island?
The people nearest to him or her - the nearest neighbours, so to speak.
Unfortunately I could never get anywhere interesting with an answer to this question.

So I put it to you all.
Create a story or piece about how someone with a particular worldview or philosophy would live through Survivor in accordance with his/her beliefs.
Feel free to choose a specific real-life person to write about their time on Survivor.. Gandhi, Billy Graham, Harriet Tubman, SRD, Buddha, Angelina Jolie.
Choose you on format. (video dialogue from an imaginary "Survivor" episode, an article about this person's choice not to appear on Survivor, un-aired gossip, etc., etc.)

I'll give WGD's greater than or equal to HALF the amount I have now to the winner.

Unfortunately, it wouldn't work. Survivor isn't a philosophical experiment. It's a game. It is true the nice guy can win, but not with philosophical discourse.

The only example I know of is the soccer player. (I forget his name.) His strategy was simple. He said, on a soccer team, the players hate the coach, and the coach hates the players, but everyone likes the assistant coach. He identified the guy everyone hated and became the intermediary between that guy and everyone else. The strategy worked, and he started a charity with his winnings. He was probably the nicest guy to ever win, but he still played the game.

A carpenter would be great to get the shelter built but then I'd vote Jesus off first.
He'd be the biggest threat winning every water challenge, providing plenty of food (fish) and drink (wine).

I've never seen the show - thought I was familiar with the basic concept, but apparently it's not enough to work with. I think Jesus would probably have an unfair advantage, but I think people would probably be afraid to vote against him. (Which would also be an unfair advantage.) As to what Jesus would think or do about that sort of situation, I think I'd probably end up firmly in blasphemy territory if I tried to make a story of it.

Gandhi might work. He would probably find a mango tree, sit cross-legged under it, and meditate. He would fast, so that would eliminate the energy drain of searching for grubs and electric eels. Occasionally he might let an aphorism drop. He would make it until like the final 4 because no one would see him as a threat.

--A