913: BLOOD AND GOATS

Missions:
13: Become a Healer

My comments:
    This was a very hard episode to watch. If it were not for my desire to have a complete summary of all Road Rules episodes I would not have even watched it. In my worship of God I realize that God asked the Jews to sacrifice animals for atonement. But in this episode the cast members had to sacrifice two animals just to heal believers, this is wrong in my belief and the worst thing that happened in this episode was that the cast was made to eat of the sacrificed animal. This is wrong because God said that any animal that was sacrificed to him was not to be eaten because it belonged to God. Know that I have that off my chest I will do the summary of this episode.
    The episode starts out with the group trying to find their next mission mayor. When they find her, she tells them that they are going to learn how to become healers. The group is taken in a bus to the mayor's village where the training will start. Their first training is to sacrifice a goat, and Theo and Laterrian refuse to do it and are told that they do not so they go off on their own. Theo just says that he does not want to do it, but Laterrian says that it is against his religious views (the same reasons that I stated above). When everyone else is doing the training Laterrian and Theo go exploring a waterfall.
    After doing a traditional dance the rest of the cast have to sacrifice a bull. Kathryn little upset when they killed the goat but she is even more upset when they kill the cow, but she still goes through with it. The next morning the rest of the group finishes their training by learning to read the bones. After all the training is over Msaada starts attacking Theo and Laterrian because they did not take part of the mission because of (in her own words) stupid religion.

What Bunim Murray had to say about the episode:
   As the Road Rulers continue their travels through South Africa, they find themselves faced with a mission that doesn't test their physical strengths but rather their spiritual. A Spiritual Healer from a local village explains that they must complete a ceremony in the traditions of her community to win the 6 coins. They all agree to do so but when things begin to involve animal sacrifice...Theo and Laterrian change their minds.
   Unable to reconcile their own spiritual beliefs with the ritual, they both choose to leave the mission. The two have a wonderful day with some of the local children and find a beautiful watefall. Meanwhile, James, Holly, Kathryn and Msaada complete the ritual, watching two animals be killed. Afterwards, Msaada chastises Laterrian for leaving the mission but Laterrian explains that he is not going to do something that he is uncomfortable with and which goes against his beliefs.

What MTV had to say about the episode:
    The Road Rulers continue their South Africa adventure with an unusual mission that requires them to learn ancient healing techniques. Laterrian and Theo refuse to participate in the mission when they find out that they must sacrifice a goat, symbolizing communication with their ancestors.
    Kathryn, Holly, James, and Msaada take part in a ritualistic tribal dance followed by the slaughtering of an ox while LT and Theo enjoy a visit to a scenic waterfall. The next part of the mission lets the Road Rulers predict the fortunes of the tribe members by "the reading of the bones".
    After the mission is over Laterrian and Theo defend their decision to not participate to their fellow teammates.

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