10/23 TAR 19 Episode 5 **West Coast Spoilers**

[pikachu]

IMO, the snowboarders did a Kanye West.

"Hey, Buddhists, I'm happy for your little temple but Christianity is the best religion of all time!"

Their comments, while they have a right to voice their opinion, came off as condescending and disrespectful.

[Fanny Mare]

I was sad to see the twins go, I think they were very sweet.I find the father and son team very irritating.The father is very condescending.I dont care for the brother and sister team either. Ma and Pa I like, but really I am not enamoured by any of them.I was a little bored last night

[princess07]

And I spoke just minutes too soon....now the Snowboarders are getting cranky about the Buddhist altar task and talking about one true God. C'mon, can't they find anybody who was raised Christian who's still tolerant of other religions to be on these shows. I know perfectly well such people exist.

At least they weren't snotty right to the faces of the Buddhists and confined their remarks to the interview portions of the show, but still.....

I guess I wasn't paying too much attention to any of the Christian comments as some of the other poster were, I guess it was because I was focusing too much on whether the teams remembered how to put the statues back together. I did think the dad was beside himself with the comments to the son. I got tickled when the football guy made the comment that he didn't want to get in a foot race with the older couple because they can really run fast. Glad that the twins got back to the pit stop safely because being in a foreign country with no money and your's walking is soo not good. Hate to see them leave but we are coming down to the wire now.

I still don't think they are performing enough tasks because they sure do make it to the pit stop awlfully early. I mean the show is over before I could finished my peach cobbler lol!! Where's all the jumping off building and eating awlful things or dancing around several times until you're dizzy and then solve a clue????????? WHAT GIVES??

[mushybrain]

It's sad to me that the snowboarders being Christian makes some people automatically not like them when they had previously liked them. Would you feel the same if you found they were Buddhist, or Muslim, or Jewish, and stated their held beliefs?

Please don't misunderstand. My comment about being disappointed in the snowboarders has nothing at all to do with them "being Christian". I think it is very clear that comments from others who have expressed discomfort with what the snowboarders said also have nothing to do with them "being Christian." I was disappointed that they spoke words that sounded arrogant and intolerant.

I think that Tilden's latest post summed up my feelings exactly.

[TripleGemini]

Please don't misunderstand. My comment about being disappointed in the snowboarders has nothing at all to do with them "being Christian". I think it is very clear that comments from others who have expressed discomfort with what the snowboarders said also have nothing to do with them "being Christian." I was disappointed that they spoke words that sounded arrogant and intolerant.

I think that Tilden's latest post summed up my feelings exactly.

Ditto. I was taken aback by the snowboarder's comments about "one true God". When they (the snowboarders) got stuck because the teacher walked away with their clue, I told my husband it was karma ;-)

I haven't been all that impressed with the brother and sister (including their disappointment at being fourth last night...I think we were "wired" to believe they'd also be excited because we had seen Ma's and Pa's reaction to coming in second by...um...seconds), but I was really impressed with Jennifer's comments when rebuilding the shrine. I'm very fond of respectful actions :-)

[buglover]

I think we have to remember that we may not be seeing the entire conversation either. For all we know the beginning of his speech was about people having a right to believe what they believe and that he himself only believed in the one true God because that's what he has read in the bible. If the snowboarder's comment is the most offensive thing they have done all season, I'm still on board with them. They have shown to be pretty good men so far.

The one thing I cannot stand on these shows is how ignorant we as Americans tend to come off while traveling in other countries. So far it hasn't been too bad this season but other seasons have made me cringe with the comments our racers have made about other countries. The twins.....wow! Their parents raised them to be beautiful on the inside and outside. Truly amazing young women with hearts of gold. Their father is smiling down at them right now for sure!!

[Newsboi]

Not if their father was a Buddhist.

[CCL]

IMO, the snowboarders did a Kanye West.

"Hey, Buddhists, I'm happy for your little temple but Christianity is the best religion of all time!"

Their comments, while they have a right to voice their opinion, came off as condescending and disrespectful.

That's hysterical.

[Tilden]

I think we have to remember that we may not be seeing the entire conversation either. For all we know the beginning of his speech was about people having a right to believe what they believe and that he himself only believed in the one true God because that's what he has read in the bible. If the snowboarder's comment is the most offensive thing they have done all season, I'm still on board with them. They have shown to be pretty good men so far.

The one thing I cannot stand on these shows is how ignorant we as Americans tend to come off while traveling in other countries. So far it hasn't been too bad this season but other seasons have made me cringe with the comments our racers have made about other countries. The twins.....wow! Their parents raised them to be beautiful on the inside and outside. Truly amazing young women with hearts of gold. Their father is smiling down at them right now for sure!!

You're right, we don't know the complete context of the Snowboarders' comments, so we don't know if what they said before or after was better--or worse. We never know that about any of the racers, so we have to go by what we do hear. And, to me, that kind of remark in someone else's place of worship where those who worship there could hear it, and the woman judging the competition was standing right there, is being culturally insensitive. They can think or believe anything they want to, but they might want to consider more carefully where and how they choose to state their views. Does it make them horrible, irredeemable people? No, it doesn't (though I didn't like it when one snowboarder suggested sharing information about correct answers with teams they liked in order to control who stuck around either). But those comments still made me cringe as do comments other racers have made about customs, traditions, and behaviors in other countries in other seasons.

[Lucy van Pelt]

Yeah, put me on the "snowboarders were arrogant, condescending, and rude with their comments" bench. See Tilden's post # 38 for further explanation. I totally agree.

I don't really have any "favorites" in this group. I have been annoyed by the bro/sis team, but they were fine this week. As if they realized how they'd been coming off. You can bet we'd have seen it if they had any further blow ups, so they seem to have (at least temporarily) cooled that down.

Regardless of whether it was karma or "God's will", what were Andy and Tommy doing at that place? Was it a school? Just a poor choice of a place to ask for information? And perhaps this is my own little cultural insensitivity, but WTH with the woman going off with the clue, telling them she'd be back in a few minutes and then going to teach a class?!?!? Really, isn't that RUDE anywhere, regardless of whether they're in a hurry or not? I just do not get that. And there seemed to be a white guy there (did he sound a bit British? Accents are not my forte); didn't HE at least have an idea of what a dopey thing that was? Perhaps it is a cultural thing. Is it a loss of "face" if you admit you don't know the answer if asked a question? It does seem as though racers are constantly being told by local people that Yes, they know the place, and then sending them completely to the wrong place. Anyone else notice that?

I noticed in someone's cab, the seat upholstery was a gold brocade with hot pink piping! Snazzy! I couldn't tell if it was actual silk brocade, or a vinyl made to look like brocade. I don't take cabs often at home, but when I do, they're invariably dark grey or blue vinyl, and usually ripped and "repaired" with duct tape.

In general, I've liked Zac and not actually disliked his father. Until this episode. Over the temple and taking notes -- Dad was a big whiner. BIG thumbs down to Dad. Thumbs up to Zac for how he dealt with it.