Heidi Montag Goes Christian in Iraq

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Statistically speaking, Christians can be annoying. That's according to a poll cited in the new book Lost and Found, in which religion researchers Ed Stetzer, Richie Stanley, and Jason Hayes reveal that 46 percent of non-church-attending young adults agree with the statement, "Christians get on my nerves."

It's not surprising that pushy evangelists and holier-than-thou Jesus freaks are an irritant to many. What's surprising is the stat: Only 46 percent? The researchers could have recorded a far higher rate of annoyance had they identified specific Christians: Heidi Montag and Spencer Pratt get on my nerves. Agree or disagree?

That's the only conclusion one could draw following an active fortnight of on-air proselytizing from Montag and Pratt, the married stars—collectively known as "Speidi"—of the MTV reality series The Hills. This two-headed publicity monster has dominated the celebrity news cycle with Gosselin-like ubiquity this week, dishing out Christian drama and name-dropping Jesus Christ like old-time celebvangelists.

"If Heidi were my daughter, and professed to follow Jesus, I'd tell her that we live in the era of fig leaves and she needs to put some clothes on," says one pastor.

In case you've only been paying attention to Iranian elections and other events that don't merit coverage in Us Weekly, here's a recap: Last week, the couple appeared as contestants on the first two episodes of NBC's I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here, during which Montag prayed with Patti Blogojevich (wife of the disgraced Illinois governor), Pratt got baptized by fellow contestant and born-again Christian Stephen Baldwin, and the two of them generally annoyed the other D-list contestants. Then they quit the show. Then they unquit, and then quit again. At some point, Montag was rushed to the hospital with a gastric ulcer, and Pratt alleged that they were tortured. Then he took it back, presumably for contractual reasons.

Montag recovered, thankfully, in time for the publicity tour, during which we learned that the couple is still very committed to Jesus, and that Montag posed for the September issue of Playboy. "God made humans naked," she told Ryan Seacrest on Monday. "We weren't even born with clothes!"

But the couple's awkward public embrace of religion has left some true believers flummoxed. The pro-Christian message that Speidi is espousing becomes garbled when blended with TV's need for sensation and sleaze. Then again, in an era where the church could use a PR boost, Montag and Pratt are providing Christianity the type of pop-culture credibility that could wrangle new followers. Whether this tradeoff is worth it depends on who you ask.

Michael Criner, pastor of a college ministry near Baylor University in Waco, Texas, thinks Playboy was probably not the best decision, and that the God-made-us-naked analogy only goes so far. "If Heidi were my daughter, and professed to follow Jesus," he says, "I'd tell her that we live in the era of fig leaves and she needs to put some clothes on." Despite her possession of a beautiful God-given (surgeon-assisted) body, Criner believes parading it around as an object of sexual desire is not a Christ-affirming choice.

Other Christian leaders worry less about potential lust and more about Montag's self-image. Mike Foster is a Los Angeles-based author and speaker, and the co-founder of XXXChurch, which ministers to people in the pornography industry. "Without question, she's following a path many young and attractive celebrities have had success with," he says. "I see someone like Heidi believing that her worth and value are found in her body—not in who she is as a person." Sexy photos don't necessarily say much to prove or disprove her faith, he says, but reveal more about how she sees herself and hopes to attain happiness.

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• young turks
• cenk uygur
• ana kasparian
• heidi montag
• christian
• iraq

[Sexplosion858]

A real beautiful, slim woman. We just should ignore the envious haters of her.

[Bellinom]

Heidi is fucking hot!

[Freckle47]

@Sexplosion858 So true. She is really beautiful! Envy is the sincerest form of recognition …

[Markohoppis]

I like finding drug addicts and people desperately in need of money. I tell them that if they renounce God and blaspheme the holy spirit and declare that their god is money and Satan is God, then I give them a large sum of money. If there is a Christian, Islam, Jewish hell, then I have proudly sent many souls to it. It is amazing how weak humans are.

[OneWhoHatesToSleep]

@Sexplosion858 She has no real beauty. Plastic surgery, heard of it?

[OneWhoHatesToSleep]

@LadyGagasMonsterFan .... or maybe he just doesn't speak English well? 

[bettydaw1970]

@Sexplosion858 or not...

[MeinNameistMohamed]

she will get hotter in the life hereafter

[LadyGagasMonsterFan]

@Sexplosion858 ..im guessing by your english now that you're from a third world country, anyways, come to the western world, everyone thinks shes ugly (:

[Sexplosion858]

@LadyGagasMonsterFan Hahaha, what a loser, dumb and aggressive, so jealous of beautiful blonde women ...