User Reviews

30 Days by Morgan Spurlock is a T.V series where Morgan himself or others have a new experience for 30 Days. The episode, "Atheist" was about a woman named Brenda Frei, an Atheist who lives with a Christian family for 30 Days. Brenda was originally a Christian, but converted into an Atheist. Michael and Tracey Schores, Brenda's host family gladly accepts Brenda, but has many problems due to their differences in view of God. During Brenda's stay, Brenda experiences a Christian lifestyle, and learns about Christianity. She goes to church every Sunday, and has a Bible book talk with the home-stay's neighbors. Through this, Brenda is given an opportunity to experience something new. Although having many problems, Brenda and the Schores family both come together, and has a great time. Most important of all, Brenda learns about Christianity in depth, and accepts the Christian perspective. Brenda's stay benefits the Schores family as well because as Brenda asks many questions, it makes them think about their religion more in depth.

The general definition for Atheism is that Atheism is a religion that is a "free religion", and has no or little belief in God. Christianity the opposite of Atheism and is a monotheistic religion, where they believe in only one god. Because of the completely different views on God, their thoughts clash and they have a difficult time understanding one another. Brenda shares her bitter experience with Christians, and try to give more of an understanding to the Schores family about what they are going through. Almost living together for a whole month, Tracey starts understanding not only about Atheism, but also about Brenda's life. Tracey becomes very compassionate, and understanding even though they are "different". Having to go through a completely different lifestyle, Brenda feels awkwardness with going to church, and talking about the bible. Although she faces many challenges living with a Christian family, Brenda becomes very open-minded and is willing to learn new things and venture out of her comfort zone. This allows Brenda to become more open-minded which will help her later on in life. Although Brenda and her host family had many arguments, they were able to understand one another, allowing them to have the best experience possible.

From watching this movie, I had a question that I want to ask Brenda. Brenda mentioned that she was originally Christian and she converted to Atheism. She did not answer clearly, but I was wondering how she converted from a monotheistic religion to a religion that does not even believe in God. Christianity and Atheism is the complete opposite where one religion believes in God, and the other doesn't. I am Christian myself, and I believe in God. I cannot see how I can turn into an Atheist where I do not accept the existence of God. This movie allowed me to have more of an open mind when approaching something. Instead of denying other people's perspectives, I listen to it and share my own thoughts on it. I really found this movie interesting because, I was able to see how a person interacts with a family that is the completely opposite religion for a whole month. It was really interesting to watch how Brenda grows in person on how she becomes more open-minded and becomes willing to learn and shows acceptance in other religions. Brenda makes a tremendous different from the beginning of the movie and in the end. She starts off as a close-minded person. She did not believe in the existence of God, and did not accept the existence. However, Brenda has a great experience by learning about Christianity, and gradually opens her mind and accepts other people's perspectives. All in all, I enjoyed watching this movie and was very informative.

Summary: The 2006 film Christian vs. Athiest, is part of the 30 days series by Morgan Spurlock, from Supersize Me. This film follows Brenda Frei, and atheist, who spends a month in the house of Michael and Tracy Shores, exposing herself to the Christian faith in a country which is 75% Christian, and merely 5% Athiest. Before filming, Brenda has agreed to certain terms, which require her to attend Sunday church and bible study sessions in a book club with the host family's neighbors. Brought up in a Christian family, Brenda did not remain Christian throughout her adult life, and believes in the morals of peace and compassion, as apposed to Michael and Tracy, whom have strong roots in Christianity, and have integrated daily prayers and bible readings into their family's everyday life. This episode of the iconic series 30 days exposing the different stereotypes these two group have about each other, as well the differences they have, and the importance of acceptance.

Review: Even through just the first 10 minutes of the film, the assumptions that the two groups have for one another are already quite prominent, mainly from the Christian host family, towards the atheist Brenda. It is shown that many Christians view atheist as in fact, not atheist, but as anti-theist. They do not understand that in fact, and atheist is simply one who does not believe in the existence of God, not all atheist are in fact, anti-theists whom actively portray their atheistic beliefs and tend to show some aggression towards the religious community. Many Christians, like Michael and Tracy, as well as followers of various other religions, choose to be a part of it, as being a part of religion has given them a sense of community, as well as answers to questions, and a purpose in life. For them, daily bible readings and prayers, as well as weekly church services, provide a sense of, 'You're not alone'. It is human nature to be social and to feel lonely without community. It is also human nature to want to know our origin, as well as where we will go after death. These give one a purpose in life. This may also be the reason why atheists are so ostracized by mainly Christians, as shown in the film, Tracy and Michael had a hard time believing how Brenda could be happy and living her life without having a spiritual purpose, and without religious practices integrated into her way of life.

Throughout the film, there were many heated debates and discussion between Brenda and the Shores as well as member of the Christian book club. This is not unexpected, as any two of opposing sides are bound to have disagreements, also shown in another 30 days film in which an Christian lives in an Muslim community. The constant feud between the Christian and Atheist communities of America are endless, and the numbers of atheists grow. I think that what is portrayed in the video is merely a small-scale portrayal of this continuous battle. This disagreement plays roles in various current affairs, such as governmental elections. For example, in the U.S. many primarily eastern states, whom have a strong base in Christianity, strongly dislike any atheist candidates, and it is not uncommon for Christian candidates to have an advantage amongst those states. This film just represents this ever-growing feud at a small scale, simply between one woman and her host family. With the amount of disagreements they had, imagine how much that would increase on a national scale. On a global scale.

Rating: 4/5 I think the concept of the whole 30 days is very interesting, as it encourages one to understand someone else, or another perspective. Most of the people who go on the show, in their final interview, like Brenda, Michael, and Tracy state they do not necessarily change their faith, but instead gain a better understanding and respect for the opposite party. The whole film wasn't too long and draggy, but gave just enough information to portray the issue. The reason why I gave a 4/5 was because I didn't think it was a completely fair portrayal, as Brenda had a Christian upbringing and thus, if it was an atheist without any religious upbringing, the amount of disagreements may increase a lot. Brenda generally seemed quite understanding, and only defended herself when necessary, and that may be because of her Christian childhood, which helped her to understand Michael and Tracy's perspective.

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I really liked this T.V. show because, being a Christian who does not follow their belief system, I have never imagined myself following the values in a disciplined way. I cannot imagine myself one day to suddenly start, studying the Bible then have discussions about it, and go to Church every Sunday. I found this very interesting, because I can compare my situation to Brenda's and experience through her eyes what it would be like if I was in her position. Throughout these thirty days, Brenda learned a lot, and also learned to accept other religions for what they are. This movie helped me learn the same thing as Brenda, and that even if I do not follow the beliefs that other religions believe in, I can still accept their religion. Another point that I really found interesting was the assumptions the Christian family made. The father of the family automatically assumed that Brenda had a negative view on Christianity, just because she is an Atheist. The neighbors of the host family also took Brenda's responses very personally, as if Brenda insulted Christianity. This helped me to understand and realize how easily Atheists are judged. Right after that, when some people on the streets were asked what they thought of when someone said the word "Atheist", one response was that they need help. This reveals and exposes how easy it is for one in the United States to judge Atheists, as if they are wrong. I thought this was really interesting as well, because it helped me to contrast what the United States' Bill of Right states. It states free exercise of religion. Even if they say that, Christians don't necessarily follow this amendment, they tend to believe that Atheists are wrong.