ABC’s What Would You Do? Features Angry Atheist Yelling at Praying Family in a Restaurant
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2015/07/19/abcs-what-would-you-do-features-angry-atheist-yelling-at-praying-family-in-a-restaurant/ If you havent seen ABCs show What Would You Do? and you wont want to after this the premise is pretty self-explanatory. As the shows website states, it establishes everyday scenarios and then captures peoples reactions. So you might see a segment in which an actor clearly steals an item from a store and the cameras zoom in on the other customers to see how they react: Do they tell someone or do they ignore it? You get the idea.On Friday night, the show started out just fine. A military vet went to purchase diapers for his baby, but the cashier told him his credit card was declined. Will anyone help the poor soldier?! (Spoiler: They will! Yay America!)But the next segment took a strange turn.The setup featured a family (of actors) in a restaurant praying before a meal.Another actor, portraying an atheist, freaked out and started yelling at them to keep their religion to themselves. (I have a right to eat without you forcing your religion down my throat!)The show wanted to see how the other diners would respond.But thats irrelevant. Lets step back and admit thats an awful scenario to begin with because its completely implausible. Its as if the producers asked themselves how they could portray atheists in the worst way possible and then ran with it.This isnt a government meeting. Why the hell would we care if anyone prays at a restaurant? We might not do it ourselves, but anyone who complains in that situation is an asshole, plain and simple.Am I overreacting? I dont think so. This isnt an everyday scenario at all. Its a situation that only exists in the fantasies of the Religious Right.I know a hell of a lot of atheists and not a single one would ever treat a praying family at a restaurant with that much disrespect.They ran the scenario four separate times, and each time, the patrons lashed out at the atheist for getting in the middle of the familys grace. Im glad they did. But its worth noting that a lot of atheists in the same situation would have done the exact same thing.Unlike the other segments, where theres some ambiguity about what might happen, this was a no-brainer.All we learned here was that Christians are awesome and atheists are jerks.Again, my biggest problem with the segment is that the show tells viewers that these are common situations they might find themselves in one day. in this case, thats not true at all.Not that theyll care, but if youre as frustrated as I am, you can send your feedback to the network right here. When it asks you to select the program, youll have to scroll down to Show Not Listed.Lets hope thats a sign of things to come.***Update***: Theres a huge backlash to this segment on the shows Facebook page.
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I would quietly get up and tell the manager/assistant/supervisor to tell them all to STFU.
I love this show! Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it's kinda scary, and sometimes it makes you feel good about people.
I do think some of the scenarios are super fake, as in they aren't very real like. I saw one where a guy slips a pill into a girl's drink to see if anyone would tell her, and they did. The reason it bothered me is because that's not just wrong and bad, it's illegal, and faking crimes in front of people is rather dangerous. Somebody could get hurt.
I'd steal your moped - not to save the atheist - I've just always wanted a moped. It'll look cute next to my Harley
I'd probably just sit there smiling viewing it as entertainment.
I think the point of the show in general is being missed. To me , it takes situations that in all probability , have no chance of actually happening in most cases , but could happen if someone becomes too close minded or over zealious .
To me the show in general is produced to make someone ( the viewer )think, and decide for themselves what they would do if confronted with such a situation no matter how mundane , or outrages.
Lets change the scenario to a gay family saying grace and its an extreme follower of the bible and its writings (Westboro Baptist church type), does that change things a bit? as the shows title , what would you do ? more importantly how would you do it? see what I mean by its meant to make one think about their own personal actions?
I had no idea that ABC knew of your exploits Hal ...
"... the show tells viewers that these are common situations they might find themselves in one day."Do you seriously think that shoplifting or slipping a girl a pill in her drink at a bar are situations that have 'no chance of actually happening?'
It's been fun watching your perpetual anti-Christian tantrums on NT . And the way you hide that by pretending you are against all religion ... hilarious !
You are excellent about deluding yourself ... no doubt .
Hal,
Though we are often at odds on viewpoint and politics, I agree with you completely here. I see many people, especially older ones and families, bow their heads and pray before eating in restaurants; I've never seen anyone, ever, stand up and protest the action. As you know, I live in the Deep South, and praying before meals is pretty common here, even in nice restaurants.
This episode was scraping the bottom of the barrel.
The premise of this entire segment doesn't reflect any scenario I've ever witnessed in restaurants. I've seen people pray over their meal even my family has on occasion, but I've yet to hear any patrons complain or protest. It was a cheap shot at atheists as they were depicted as intolerant, even to the point of being spiteful, angry individuals.
Certainly not an "everyday scenario".
Dear Friend 1st Warrior: Harley Hogs.
Takes me back to my grad school days.
Ridin with the wind in my hair.
(I had hair then).
Ah, great memories of bygone times.
E.
I've watched this before and found few of them to be everyday situations... Like you, I can't imagine a family that is quietly praying upsetting anyone.
I, too, dislike how atheists are depicted in that scenario, and feel it should have been better thought out.