Atheism

Let spendi work himself into a froth.

Keeping with the original thread premise, I had a thought about how media has failed to ever show something which I think is crucial to atheists being accepted.

Can anyone think of an atheist family in a movie or television series?

Chocolat is easily catagorized as just another "chick flick", but it even more easily captures you in it's magic and ambiance. The lead played by Juliette Binoche and her daughter are outsiders in their new home. To gain acceptance they appeal to the towns people's earthly happiness in direct defiance of the church. It is hard to like the church when their are so many delicable treats that come without guilt.

John Lennon said that the thought of what his money could buy in New York frightened him.

Can anyone think of an atheist family in a movie or television series?

Actors: Ralph Waite, Andrew Duggan (pilot)
Profile: The family patriarch, John is a hard-working, industrious man who runs a small family sawmill on his acreage at the base of Walton's Mountain. He is normally very good-natured and wise, and is fearless, ready to stand up to a challenge and tell it like it is. These personality traits sometimes cause him to be very brash, even towards his children and wife on occasion, and he is prone to falling into the mindset of a workaholic when greatly stressed. He is a World War I veteran. Despite his Baptist upbringing, John is somewhat non-religious (the main point of contention in a few episodes) in contrast to his wife, Olivia. The pilot episode indicates that he dies in the year 1969, although the final reunion movie indicates he is still alive and apparently healthy in 1970.

Olivia Walton
Actresses: Michael Learned (Seasons 1–8), Patricia Neal (pilot)
Profile: While John is the tough-skinned, opinionated husband, Olivia is his soft-spoken, patient and loving wife. She is gentle by nature, but firm and unafraid to speak up or administer discipline when needed. Like Grandma, she is a devout Baptist who is often immersed in activities involving the church. This element of her character is probably one of the reasons why Olivia is usually the first person to take in a friend or stranger in need. It should be mentioned that Olivia's background and heritage were never really examined closely in the series, whereas John's was often observed in great detail, and was a plot element on a number of occasions.

Can anyone think of an atheist family in a movie or television series?

How would we know? We can't look into their heads. So there's no way of telling if the family we're seing consists of atheists, or if they just don't happen to go to church while the cameras are on.

Sister Mary Augustine: Why is it so difficult for you to believe in God?

Gregory House: What I have difficulty with is the whole concept of belief. Faith isn’t based on logic and experience.

Augustine: I experience God on a daily basis, and the miracle of life all around. The miracle of birth, the miracle of love. He is always with me.

House: Where is the miracle in delivering a crack-addicted baby? Hmmm? And watching her mother abandon her because she needs another score. The miracle of love. You’re twice as likely to be killed by the person you love than by a stranger.

Augustine: Are you trying to talk me out of my faith?

House: You can have all the faith you want in spirits and the afterlife, and heaven and hell, but when it comes to this world, don’t be an idiot. ‘Cause you can tell me you put your faith in God to put you through the day, but when it comes time to cross the road, I know you look both ways.

Augustine: I don’t believe He is inside me and is going to save me. I believe He is inside me whether I live or die.

House: Then you might as well live. You’ve got a better shot betting on me than on Him.

Augustine: When I was 15, I was on every kind of birth control known to man, and I still got pregnant. I blamed God. I hated Him for ruining my life, but then I realized something. You can’t be angry with God and not believe in him at the same time. No one can. Not even you, Dr. House.