30 Days (part 1?)

Alright, so today my wife and I discovered a show called '30 Days'. It is one of the most interesting shows I have ever seen. The concept is that it takes a person with a set of beliefs, and places them somewhere that is outside of those beliefs. The concept is really entertaining, as it seems like it is intended to show people how to be open minded, and the show is exactly as entertaining as I thought it would be.

The first episode we viewed was about a devout Christian in America going to live in a Muslim community, also in America. We selected this one because it seems to be a very relevant topic at this time, and we hoped it would be entertaining to watch. It certainly was. Initially the Christian was incredibly close minded and bigoted, afraid that this religion was all about hating Americans and violence. It was very interesting to watch him confront the fact that these are just ordinary people with different beliefs, and beliefs that are actually very similar to his own at the heart. I enjoyed learning more about the Muslim faith myself, and about how similar their beliefs are to ours. The strangest thing I think was the separation of men and women. Women prayed behind the men because having them pray in front, and having to lean forward in a kneeling position, would be a distraction to the men. While I honestly couldn't fault the logic, I find it strange to dictate this behavior. By far the weirdest example of this is when the male of the hosting family leaves, and says that the visiting man cannot stay at the home while he is gone, because women aren't allowed to be alone with men who are not their husbands. I found it very strange that mistrust of your spouse was built into the faith. If you trust your spouse to not cheat on you, it seems that it doesn't really matter who you leave her with, unless you're concerned they are a rapist. But again, I got all of this from an hour long TV show so I may not have the whole picture. I was very impressed by the discipline and devotion displayed by the Muslim community, and the visitor also mentioned how impressive it was at their services. The services were not about hate, violence, or anything political. They were just about reverence for God, and it seems like that is how faith should work.

The second episode was about a straight man staying with a gay man in an area heavily populated by gay people. The visiting straight man also happens to be a Christian who believes that being gay is a sin. This was another episode we were looking forward to (obviously, since we picked it out to watch). It was hilarious when he first showed up and we saw the room he was staying in. It was about dorm room sized, and the host stated it had been his closet until two days ago. First, I found it hilarious that he had a closet that size because it just fits the idea of a gay man so well. And just to go further, he had also gone all out. There wasn't a sofa, mattress on the floor or blow up bed. He had fully furnished and decorated this room very tastefully, for a very temporary guest. It was really sweet that he had gone to such lengths for this random stranger, at the same time it was just so fitting, in the same way that it was fitting when the straight guest turned the room into a mess while the host was keeping the rest of the house clean. The guest ended up being a bit hard headed though. When he went to a gay bar he got rather aggressive when he was hit on, when it seems like you should be expecting that to happen. Personally, I would find it very entertaining and flattering, maybe a bit odd, but nothing to get angry about. Later, he was speaking to the head of the local gay church he seemed unable to wrap his head around an alternative view point. Eventually he ended up being swayed at least somewhat. Personally, even if you believe being gay is a sin, it's not your business what other people do. And if you are going to make other people sinning your business, maybe focus on more severe sins, like murder for example, or people who break the Ten Commandments. Why pick only on gays? It doesn't make sense. My only issue with this episode was the gay church. In the above paragraph I mention how the faith was all about revering God, and yet it did not hold true for the gay church. They seemed focused almost exclusively on how gays are treated, rather than on faith. I thought it odd that it seemed more like a social club for homosexuals than a church, but this opinion is based on an hour episode, again. Maybe they just edited it to appear that way, but from what I saw, it seemed strange. Personally I don't see how someone could be okay with straight men and women sleeping around and cheating on each other for fun but be against two men or two women being together out of love. Of the two situations, I know which I find more offensive.

Lastly (that I will mention here) was the episode about an Atheist living in a Christian household. It sure seems like Christians are being put on the spot a lot, but hey, someone has to be. This was slightly more frustrating to watch just because the two sides seemed incapable of imagining the thought processes of the others. The Atheist kept saying things along the lines of  'I don't believe people get all their morals and thoughts from a book'. I don't think there is a person alive who derives every thought and moral from a book. It is mildly insulting to imply that religious individuals are that unthinking. But on the other hand, her host family did little to dispute these kinds of remarks. The Christian hosts would ask things like 'If she isn't teaching her kids based on the foundation of God, what is she teaching them?' She is teaching them LITERALLY everything ELSE. If every aspect of your life, from right and wrong to finances and your job, is based solely in religion, then you really need to get a mind of your own. The Bible (or any other book) doesn't have all the answers to every question. If we weren't meant to think for ourselves, we wouldn't possess the capability to. The idea that you can't be a moral person, a good and kind person, without some form of religion is utterly ridiculous. So I am happy to say the two groups ended up learning from each other (after some seriously painful discussions) and ended up with more open minds. The worst moment of the episode was when they were eating dinner with other Atheists and discussing how Atheists are persecuted by the government for their religion. Apparently they were trying to open an Atheist church and the state claimed that to be a church, they had to believe in some kind of deity. So they would not get funding. The Christians did think this was wrong, and a follow up question was asked of them along these lines: 'if the dollar bill said that there is no God, rather than saying In God We Trust, how would you feel?' A fair question, but the Christian would not answer. He simply kept saying 'Well it doesn't say that, it says In God We Trust.' And at one point even said 'if you don't like it, move.' Incredibly disappointing from an otherwise impressively intelligent and open minded individual. You should be able to answer a simple damn hypothetical question.

Anyway, those were my experiences today so far. We are still watching episodes, so there might be a follow up post. I am a huge fan of controversy and discussion for the further understanding of other human beings. If you dislike anything I said, please feel free to politely and articulately say so in the comments. I welcome debate, discussion and argument, but I am not prepared to tolerate trolling, flaming or hateful comments. If anything I said came across as prejudicial in any way, it was not intended as such, and please let me know if anything offended you so we can discuss it, though I won't likely apologize for it. It isn't my job to make sure I don't offend anyone, because then I would it would be impossible to say anything ever. There will always be someone to take offense, and the Constitution guarantees my right to say what I want, NOT your right to hear only what you wish.