Photo: Effie Nidam/CNN
The Donald has spoken: controversial Miss California USA, Carrie Prejean, gets to keep her crown. Trump is the co-owner of the Miss Universe pageant, which governs the Miss California USA contest. Prejean has been in the eye of a media storm since April 19, when she was asked for her opinion on same-sex marriage during the interview segment of the Miss USA pageant. Prejean stated her preference for traditional marriage — between a man and a woman, which ruffled the feathers of one of the judges, gossip blogger, Perez Hilton and upset or hurt the feelings of a lot of other folks.
For the past few weeks, racy and seminude photos of Prejean have been popping up all over the Internet. Even today, a new crop was posted on the celebrity website, TMZ. Also, the 21-year-old San Diego Christian College junior got into a dust-up with Miss California USA officials over missed appearances and her involvement with an anti-gay marriage organization. Prejean was in serious hot water and facing the possiblility of losing her title and crown, when Trump came to her rescue.
Today Trump was given the task of making the final decision on Prejean’s fate and he decided “… Carrie will remain Miss California.” At a news conference in New York, Trump praised Prejean for speaking her mind and said those photos, even though admitting some were risque, did not violate her contract.
Prejean gave a passionate and sometimes tearful speech about her beliefs and faith in God:”I am a model and I am a Christian.” Prejean discredited some of those racy photos as doctored and defended others as never meant for public view. She insisted she did not break any pageant rules: “I answered truthfully that I had not been photographed in a nude or partially nude situation.”
My feelings about Prejean are mixed. At times she makes me cringe, other times, I want to cheer her on. I’m a Christian and it bothers me that Prejean uses her Christian faith and “the way she was raised” as reasons for her belief in traditional marriage. I wonder if she was “raised” to show-off her body in skimpy underwear or tiny bikinis by her parents. I suspect this is a personal choice like her views on marriage.
Also, most everybody knows there are plenty of modeling jobs for an attractive woman like Prejean, which do not require her to pose in front of cameras wearing only a few strips of material. The Apostle Paul wrote in the Bible, 1 Timothy 2:10, that Christian women should dress “… appropriate for women who profess to worship God.” I wonder how Prejean balances this with her modeling gigs. Bottom line, it irks me and a lot of people to see Christians apply their faith to only selective areas of their lives.
Yet, I agree with Prejean when she said it’s great that “… Americans are able to choose one or the other” when it comes to same-sex marriage or traditional marriage. However, problems arise and bitter battles develop when some folks attempt to deny this right of choice to some Americans on religious or whatever grounds.
Hopefully, Prejean will serve out the rest of her reign quietly and pass on her crown to the next Miss California USA in November without anymore controversy. Oh, and I really don’t want to see Prejean sprawled in the pages of some glossy nudie magazine under the title “Modern Christian Woman.”
