I don't watch American Idol

But I did, last night. It's a strange thing to watch. At first it's very entertaining; you get a good laugh from the really bad people and you get a spine tingle when the talented people sing. One girl, a Paris Bennett (click for clip), was just amazing with a Billie Holiday tune. She was so good that asked her to sing a second song. She should win, for she was far and away better than anyone else I saw. But, I won't watch the show so someone needs to tell me if she wins.

The problem I run into is that after awhile I start to feel bad for laughing at all these people for their embarassing and to some humiliating experience of auditioning. As a musician, I know that the most terryifing thing in auditions is for people to watch you. But as a Christian, I wonder where our line is for watching people do bad and laugh at them for it. It doesn't line up with our belief system, does it? Maybe Alibob can address this in his theological debates. My question is if you laugh at American Idol people when they sing poorly, are you falling into the category of coarse joking that Paul talks about? To me, a laugh can be just as damaging as an insult.

Well, I'm done being serious now. While you're here, notice my new links. I've added Jason Upton, and on the polar extreme, a link to the entire script for Monty Python's Quest for the Holy Grail! Isn't that amazing?