I don’t know whether I’m supposed to laugh or cry about this.
In the wake of reality TV couple Jon and Kate Gosselin’s highly publicized divorce in December, Zondervan will release a new book by Kate Gosselin on April 13.
I never watched the show so I was surprised that this woman was a professing Christian. It never occurred to me that such an exhibitionist would be a Christian. Again, I’ve never even seen a clip from the show, so when I say “exhibitionist” I simply mean the kind of woman who would allow camera crews into her home to film her family life.
From this article we read:
“In I Just Want You to Know, Kate reveals a less familiar spiritual side.”
So I guess her spiritual depth wasn’t evident to all viewers. But from this Christianity Today article by Julie Vermeer Elliott, I learn that the show, Jon and Kate Plus Eight, was a magnet to Evangelicals. This article makes this point that is worth considering:
It was not until the recent allegations of sexual impropriety arose that a significant number of Christians began to question whether Jon and Kate were indeed the examples of faithful living that we had imagined. Somehow most of us missed the long trajectory that was, day by day, moving them farther from a life of Christian virtue. Sexual immorality—whether actual or merely suspected—caught our attention, but the materialism, narcissism, and exploitation of children that preceded it was largely overlooked.
So who wants to read what Kate Gosselin has to say? I don’t know her and I don’t think it’s impossible that she is a Christian, but with all the wonderful missionary women in the world, and with all the wonderful mothers who are faithfully taking care of their families without a camera crew following them around, who has time to read this:
The new hardcover book, which will retail for $22.99, will feature excerpts, prayers and memories from Gosselin’s journal, “offering an intimate look at the heart of a mother during the three years her family transitioned from obscurity into the national spotlight,” Zondervan said.
The book will also include eight individual letters–one addressed to each one of her children, covering a variety of topics such as the disappointment that comes when life does not go as planned and God’s faithfulness during times of change.
The heart of a mother? Is Kate’s mother heart one we should be studying? If she’s writing letters to her children, why on earth are we all reading over their shoulders? I wonder how well she knows all those eight children. I wonder where she finds the time to know them all with all the speaking engagements she’s apparently been doing for years. At churches, no less. What are churches thinking, taking this young mom away from her kids? And what are publishing companies thinking, publishing her?
