So apparently there's been a lot of hype over this MTV American Idol & Christianity story...so much that MTV posted a follow up article. Here's a clip:

Over at MJsBigBlog.com, one of the leading "Idol" fan sites, the discussion about the story was fierce, with nearly 150 responses. Commenter Tess said she was "appalled and offended" by the article. Tess had particular scorn for a comment from writer CJ Casciotta, who was quoted in the story as saying he thought some Christian viewers might go with their faith if presented with a top two featuring a pair of equally talented singers in which one was Christian and the other was not.

"If I wasn't a sane, God-loving individual, I would not vote for any of the listed contestants (Danny, Michael, Kris, Scott, Matt and Lil) just out of pure spite," Jess wrote. "I knew the country was going to be divided on this issue, but for the Christian right to pronounce that they support an us-vs.-them philosophy is absolutely outrageous."

Many readers vehemently stated that they thought religion should remain a personal, private matter, not fodder for stories, while others, like Lys, said they don't feel that the singers should have to hide their beliefs "any more than they should hide their hair color. If it's truly a part of who they are and if they want to talk about it, fine."

Read the full article here.

Another comment on MJsBigBlog.com piqued my interest from a user called "Baxter": 

"Tess…You took the words right out of my mouth. The above quote from the same article pissed me off as well. Are Christians the only people allowed to help others??? I thought first and foremost, helping another person was just being a good human, I didn’t realize that by helping someone I must be a Christian.Just let them sing and i’ll make uo my own mind regardless of any label being attached to anyone."

Here's a response I wrote up this morning that I posted on MJsBigBlog.com and would like to share here as well.

To Tess, Baxter, and everyone else who's contributing to this conversation:

First of all, thanks for voicing your opinions and calling this stuff into question. I think that's extremely important for our culture to do rather than just accept what's spoon-fed to us.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed talking to the journalist and thought he wrote a good story, like many articles, the quotes used were only part of a larger conversation we were having over the phone and don't represent my view as well as I had hoped.

Let me clarify
1) I completely agree with Baxter - you don't have to be a Christian to do good and help others. We do that because there's something deep within us as humans that makes us feel alive when we give life to others. You see it everyday. I personally think that it's Christ who instills this in every human's soul, regardless of their religion or background. That's why I follow Christ and his story... of giving everything he had (even his own life) to humanity so that we could live with freedom and fullness.

2)  A lot of people got hung up on the last part of my quote. What I said is that if hypothetically it came down to two singers with equal talent and a voter just couldn't decide, human nature would probably set in and that voter would choose the person they relate to most (whether they be a Christian, a homosexual, from the same state as the contestant, etc). If we were honest, that's kind of the sensationalism behind Idol isn't it? We vote for someone not just because of their ability, but the whole package (how they come off as a person, what they do behind the scenes, their style, their story). HOWEVER, I HOPE Christians aren't out there judging contestants on whether someone is a Christian or not. That's ridiculous. Christians should vote on how talented someone is regardless of their beliefs. At its core, that's what this contest is about.

3) My main point when being interviewed was that I thought it was awesome that Christians seem to be moving away from "copying culture" and actually starting to help create it. For far too long we've heard Christian bands that sound like less talented versions of mainstream bands. We've made the word "Christian" a genre rather than a person. A few years ago, Christians would have foolishly boycotted a "secular" show like American Idol and probably would have just come up with a safe, alternate version shown only on "Christian television." I think it's a small step in the right direction when Christ followers step out of the church and enter a mainstream contest like American Idol, endeavoring to impress people with their talent rather than their beliefs.