The Buddhist moment on ‘The Bachelorette’ — and why it matters

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Fifteen years ago, “The Bachelor” franchise disrupted its religious routine by picking Jason Mesnick to star in its 13th season.

Like other bachelors before him, Mesnick was well-spoken, charming and handsome. Unlike other bachelors, he was Jewish, although he was open to dating women from a variety of faiths.

According to Mesnick, who spoke about religion and “The Bachelor” during a 2020 appearance on the “Love to See It” podcast, showrunners were fine with Judaism but unsure if viewers would be. They apparently worried that the predominately Christian audience wasn’t ready for a non-Christian lead.

And so references to Mesnick’s faith were cut from his season, while references to Christianity were left in, such as when one contestant’s dad lectured Mesnick about the Bible during a hometown date.

“I think it was a business decision reflecting where things were at in the world at that time,” Mesnick said on “Love to See It.”

Well, the world seems to have changed since then, at least in the eyes of “The Bachelor” team.

During last week’s episode of the current season of “The Bachelorette,” producers not only kept in a reference to lead Jenn Tran’s non-Christian background, but showed her discussing her connection to Buddhism at length during a date.

“I’m Vietnamese. I’m also Buddhist. These are things that are part of me that I want to be able to share in a relationship,” Tran said at the beginning of the date.

She later continued, “My parents are Buddhist. There’s a lot of traditions there that I want to bring into the family. ... We go to temple every Lunar New Year and some other holidays and that’s something I want to instill in my children.”

Tran’s suitor was supportive of her parenting plans, as were viewers. Many of the people I follow who report on “The Bachelor” franchise praised the show for embracing religious diversity at long last.

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Term of the week: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, or AMDG, is a motto that’s often invoked by Jesuit Catholic leaders. It’s a Latin phrase that means “for the greater glory of God,” according to America magazine .

In his column for America about the phrase, the Rev. Brian McDermott explains that he’s wrestled with it throughout his life, struggling to understand what it looks like to live according to the motto. Does it mean you think God likes you more than everybody else? Does it mean you work harder and harder to impress God?

The Rev. McDermott explains that he ultimately decided that living according to the motto means working to promote the flourishing of others. Your job as a Christian, he explains, is to take care of yourself and others because you’re part of God’s glorious creation.

What I’m reading ...

As it becomes less common to regularly attend church, faith communities are adjusting their summer programs for kids, which are often called Vacation Bible Schools, to make them more welcoming to young people who’ve never attended church before, according to NPR.

Christianity Today recently spoke with Olympic wrestler Kyle Snyder about how becoming religious changed his athletic career. “But God, he freed me from my identity of being a wrestler and from my value coming from winning wrestling matches,” Snyder said.

My friend Holly Meyer wrote a delightful story for The Associated Press about how a church in Houston prays for its members who are astronauts , including the two working on the International Space Station right now. The two astronauts in space recently appeared via video at a church service and led the congregation in a performance of “Amazing Grace,” the article said.

Odds and ends

Here’s a wild stat from Daniel Silliman at Christianity Today: If McDonald’s was a type of church, it would be the fifth largest denomination (in terms of number of locations) in the U.S. after the Southern Baptist Convention, the Roman Catholic Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the United Methodist Church.