Have you been fogaled?

Pastor Kevin Sorensen at Random Thoughts from a Clutter Mind posts about the not so Christian antics of Pastor Brad Fogal and his family on NBC's Treasure Hunters. It seems that the Fogals have publicly screwed two other teams, accepted help without reciprocating, and agreed as a family that lying is OK as long as they pray for forgiveness later. Sorensen points out that we should not judge all pastors by the example pastor Brad and his overachieving family demonstrates. I agree - I know a different Pastor Brad quite well; he is not at all like the Fogals.

Sorensen observes - It seems that this family, the Fogals, have back-stabbed, cheated, lied and been caught on camera as saying, “It’s okay to fib a little; we’ll ask for forgiveness later.” The other contestants are now asking one another if they’ve been “fogal-ed” by the Fogal family.

Sorensen goes on to ask the question – why would a pastor even do this?

B-Side at TVgasm has a different take on the Fogals:

Luckily, there was one bright spot in last night's show: the continuing villainy of the Fogal Family. They're shaping up to be the second coming of The Weaver family, and while it will be hard to top Linda, Rolly, Rachel, and Rebecca, this pastor and his clan sure will give them a run for the money. Now, if only we could care about the rest of the show as much.

B-side sees the Fogals as pure evil entertainment. I am not so sure he is very far off the mark. The show seems to be playing up the dark side of the Fogals. I wonder how much of it is editing and how much is the real thing.

Cheese Says observes that the Fogals seem have a lot of faith but are not good people. He asks, should the faithful stand by the Fogals or call them to account?

…but to be dirty after you have been helped out is just plain disgusting. Then afterwards saying a prayer to help you deal with your guilt, I wish the producers would have done a little fun editing with this and after the Fogal’s prayed, there was a little voice from above that said NO to their prayers. That would have been classic.

I've always felt you can gauge the true character of a person by how they respond to stress. I have been in several intensely stressful situations over the years. Like a few years ago when a key business system failed and a friend and I were left trying to save the business for another friend who could live up to his responsibility. Ten days of intense stress and the worst that happened between us was a lighthearted competition to determine who could smoke the most cigarettes and drink the most coffee. What about our other friend then - well, if you cannot trust him, how can he be a friend?

There is an old joke about me that says I only trust people after I’ve got drunk with them. This is not true of course. The real story is that I only trust people after I’ve had a chance to test their mettle under stress. I would never trust the Fogals.

Stephen Winzenburg who writes TV’s Greatest has some insider gossip – perhaps the Fogals are getting the shaft.

Producers love to set up caricatures of people but this was particularly shocking. While the other teams worried about working with each other, the Fogals seemed to be the ones with the most "game strategy," namely the most willing to cheat and lie. What a disappointment for Christian characters.

Nah. The show captured Pastor Brad admitting he would lie to win. You make your own bed...

The Fogals go at it in episode three tonight. My prediction is that they will face the wrath of the other teams and lose. That is not to say that the Wild Hanlons don't deserve a quick death too. They are idiots of the highest order. The Wild Hanlons may take the fall tonight instead of the Fogals, but the Fogals deserve to lose.

The best catch phrase of the show so far "Fogal me once and it is my fault, Fogal me twice.."

One last comment on the show - it blows, but at least you get to solve puzzles.

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